Avoidance speech is a group of sociolinguistic phenomena in which a special restricted speech style must be used in the presence of or in reference to certain relatives, or in certain situations. Avoidance speech is found in many

Australian Aboriginal Aboriginal Australians are the various indigenous peoples of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland and many of its islands, excluding the ethnically distinct people of the Torres Strait Islands. Humans first migrated to Australia (co ...

and

Austronesian languages The Austronesian languages ( ) are a language family widely spoken throughout Maritime Southeast Asia, parts of Mainland Southeast Asia, Madagascar, the islands of the Pacific Ocean and Taiwan (by Taiwanese indigenous peoples). They are spoken ...

as well as some North American languages such as Anishinaabe-mowin, Highland East Cushitic languages and Southern Bantu languages. Chinese naming taboo prohibits speaking and writing syllables or characters that appear in the names of esteemed people, such as emperors, parents, and ancestors. Avoidance speech styles tend to have the same

phonology Phonology (formerly also phonemics or phonematics: "phonemics ''n.'' 'obsolescent''1. Any procedure for identifying the phonemes of a language from a corpus of data. 2. (formerly also phonematics) A former synonym for phonology, often pre ...

and

grammar In linguistics, grammar is the set of rules for how a natural language is structured, as demonstrated by its speakers or writers. Grammar rules may concern the use of clauses, phrases, and words. The term may also refer to the study of such rul ...

as the standard language they are a part of. The

lexicon A lexicon (plural: lexicons, rarely lexica) is the vocabulary of a language or branch of knowledge (such as nautical or medical). In linguistics, a lexicon is a language's inventory of lexemes. The word ''lexicon'' derives from Greek word () ...

, however, tends to be smaller than in normal speech since the styles are only used for limited communication.

Australia

Mother-in-law languages

Avoidance speech in

Australian Aboriginal languages The Indigenous languages of Australia number in the hundreds, the precise number being quite uncertain, although there is a range of estimates from a minimum of around 250 (using the technical definition of 'language' as non-mutually intellig ...

is closely tied to elaborate tribal kinship systems in which certain relatives are considered

taboo A taboo is a social group's ban, prohibition or avoidance of something (usually an utterance or behavior) based on the group's sense that it is excessively repulsive, offensive, sacred or allowed only for certain people.''Encyclopædia Britannica ...

. Avoidance relations differ from tribe to tribe in terms of strictness and to whom they apply. Typically, there is an avoidance relationship between a man and his mother-in-law, usually between a woman and her father-in-law, and sometimes between any person and their same-sex parent-in-law. For some tribes, avoidance relationships are extended to other family members, such as the mother-in-law's brother in Warlpiri or cross-cousins in Dyirbal. All relations are classificatory – more people may fall into the "mother-in-law" category than just a man's wife's mother. Avoidance speech styles used with taboo relatives are often called mother-in-law languages, although they are not actually separate languages but separate lexical sets with the same

and

. Typically, the taboo lexical set has a one-to-many correspondence with the everyday set. For example, in Dyirbal the avoidance style has one word, ''jijan'', for all lizards, while the everyday style differentiates many varieties. In Guugu Yimidhirr the avoidance speech verb ''bali-l'' "travel" covers several everyday verbs meaning "go", "walk", "crawl", "paddle", "float, sail, drift", and "limp along". Corresponding avoidance and everyday words are generally not linguistically related. Avoidance forms tend to be longer than everyday forms. In some areas, the avoidance style is used by both members of the avoidance relationship; in others the senior member may talk to the junior in everyday style. Behavior associated with avoidance speech is a continuum and varies between tribes. For the Dyirbal people, a man and his mother-in-law may not make eye contact, face one another or directly talk to each other. Rather, they must address a third person or even a nearby object. For slightly less restricted relationships, such as between a man and his father-in-law, avoidance style is used and must be spoken in a slow, soft voice. An extreme case of avoidance behavior is found in the Umpila, in which a man and his mother-in-law may not speak at all in each other's presence.

Secret languages

Children in these cultures acquire avoidance speech forms as part of their normal language development, learning with whom to use them at a fairly young age. Additionally, a few languages have another style, called a "secret language" or "mystic language", that is taught to boys as part of initiation rituals, and is only used between men.

Africa

A special system of avoidance vocabulary is traditionally used by married women speaking Highland East Cushitic languages in southwestern Ethiopia. In Kambaata and Sidamo, this system is called ''ballishsha'', and includes physical and linguistic avoidance of parents-in-law. Women who practice ''ballishsha'' do not pronounce any words beginning with the same syllable as the name of their husband's mother or father. Instead, they may use

paraphrase A paraphrase () or rephrase is the rendering of the same text in different words without losing the meaning of the text itself. More often than not, a paraphrased text can convey its meaning better than the original words. In other words, it is a ...

, synonyms or semantically similar words, antonyms, or borrowings from other languages. ''Ukuhlonipha'' is a traditional system of avoidance speech in Nguni Bantu languages of southern Africa including Zulu, Xhosa and Swazi, as well as Sotho. This special speech style and correlating respectful behaviors may be used in many contexts, but is most strongly associated with married women in respect to their father-in-law and other senior male relatives. Women who practice ''ukuhlonipha'' may not say the names of these men or any words with the same

root In vascular plants, the roots are the plant organ, organs of a plant that are modified to provide anchorage for the plant and take in water and nutrients into the plant body, which allows plants to grow taller and faster. They are most often bel ...

as their names. They avoid the taboo words phonologically (substituting sounds) or lexically (replacing words with synonyms, etc.). The ''ukuhlonipha'' system also includes avoidance of the names of certain relatives by all speakers and physical avoidance of certain relatives.

Notes

References

* * Fandrych, Ingrid. "Between tradition and the requirements of modern life: Hlonipha in southern Bantu societies, with special reference to Lesotho." ''Journal of Language and Culture'' 3, no. 4 (2012): 67-73. * * Finlayson, Rosalie. "Hlonipha—the women's language of avoidance among the Xhosa." ''South African Journal of African Languages'' 2, no. 1 (1982): 35-60. * * * Luthuli, Thobekile Patience. ''Assessing politeness, language and gender in hlonipha.'' PhD diss., 2007. * * Mous, Maarten. 2015. Laws of in-law-languages
Online
* * Prabhakaran, Varijakshi. "Hlonipha in Dravidian Languages and Society?." ''Language Matters'' (1998): 117-131. * Rudwick, Stephanie, and Magcino Shange. "Hlonipha and the rural Zulu woman." ''Agenda'' 23, no. 82 (2009): 66-75. * * * * Zungu, Phyllis. "Some aspects of hlonipha in Zulu society." ''Language Matters'' (1997): 171-181.

External links

One of three "LanguageHat" blog posts on the topic
{{Indigenous Australians Australian Aboriginal languages Taboo Etiquette Sociolinguistics Ritual languages