Forbidden Words: Taboo and the Censoring of Language

6 Taboo, naming and addressing
One’s name is an inalienable part of one’s identity; it is the essence of self and it
is a means by which one is known to one’s fellows. An assault on one’s name is
treated as comparable with, or even worse than, an assault on one’s body. So
names are tabooed in many communities. Calling a name risks malevolence
falling on the name-bearer and the caller. Proper names are chosen with care and
many communities have constraints on giving names, such that they render the
individual identifiable with the community. Consequently, a person is stigmatized
by their name, a fact that has both positive and negative consequences. We
discuss styles of naming and addressing as they are affected by the speaker’s
attitude and by the perceived role and status, within the context of the talk
exchange, of the speaker and the person addressed or named. Inappropriate
naming, name-calling and addressing is subject to censoring and censorship.
Why names are tabooed
Personal names are (or have been) taboo among some peoples on all the
inhabited continents, and on many of the islands between them. The taboo on
names is a fear-based taboo. In the same way that malevolent magic can be
wrought with one’s person, bodily effluvia or shadow, so can it be wrought
when another person is in possession of one’s true name. ‘The name of a
person . . . is associated with the “essence” (to ?ofungana) of that person.’ 1 In
languages which distinguish alienable from inalienable possession, a name,
like a body part, is inalienable. For instance, in the Australian language
Pitjantjatjara, inalienable possession is marked with an accusative (ACC) case
suffix, but alienable possession with a possessive (POSS) suffix.
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