Taboos in speech

In every society it is considered impolite or “dangerous” to speak directly about certain things. In linguistics such a restriction is called taboo (a Polynesian word): the forbidden word is replaced by a gentler, indirect name. A taboo rests on three grounds. The first is fear: shrinking from naming something dangerous or bad and calling it differently (about death one says “olamdan o‘tdi”, “ko‘z yumdi”, “passed away”). The second is shame: not saying openly delicate bodily processes or illnesses (using soft names such as “hojatxona” or “yuvinish xonasi”, washroom, for the toilet, or saying “farzandli bo‘ldi”, “became a parent”). The third is respect: saying siz rather than sen to elders, not naming an older person but saying “akam”, “otam” (my brother, my father), and, in some customs, not saying a name at all. Taboos depend on culture and time: an expression forbidden in one society may be used freely in another.