Citation
Morni, Affidah and Johari, Aiza and Ahmad, Johnny and Jusoff, Kamaruzaman
(2009)
The Linguistic Taboo between Malays and Ibans of Sarawak, Malaysia.
Canadian Social Science, 5 (3).
pp. 145-162.
ISSN 1712-8056
Abstract
This study attempts to determine the Malays’ and Ibans’ perceptions on
the use of linguistic taboo in their culture based on the specified domains and to
investigate the occurrence of linguistic taboo in different domains. The outcome of
this study would provide a useful understanding over the Malays’ and Ibans’
sensitivity over the usage of certain words which are considered taboo in their
community. Hence, avoid occurrences of embarrassment or offensiveness by the
speakers. Questionnaires were given to 40 Sarawak Malays and 40 Ibans of varying
educational background and age in Kuching area. They were selected randomly based
on convenience random sampling and the data were analyzed using SPSS 10.0. The
findings show that many respondents believed that taboo words should not be spoken
publicly or openly where certain topics should not be discussed in candid especially in
relation to sex, body parts, bodily functions, death and dying. Nonetheless, the
cultural norms, rules and the notion of politeness (and among the Malays the tenets of
religion) play significant roles in restricting the open use of these taboo words either
behaviourally or linguistically. Comparatively, the Iban respondents seemed to be
more expressive and candid in using taboo words in expressing their emotions, as
compared to the Malays. It is also apparent that the use of taboo words can be
acceptable depending on the domains and contexts.
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