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Concept
Taboo on the dead
Résumé
The taboo on the dead includes the taboo against touching of the dead, those surrounding them and anything associated with the dead.
A taboo against naming the dead is a kind of word taboo whereby the name of a recently deceased person, and any other words similar to it in sound, may not be uttered. It is observed by peoples in many parts of the world, including northern Australia, Siberia, Southern India, the Sahara, Subsaharan Africa, and the Americas.
As part of funerary ritual, certain Aboriginal cultures in Central Australia, Arnhem Land and Cape York Peninsula prohibit anyone from speaking a person's name during the mourning period after their death. The mourning period varies according to the age and status of the deceased, from a couple of months in the case of a baby up to four years in the case of a prominent leader or lawman. During the mourning period the person can be referred to in a roundabout way (e.g., "that old lady"), by a generic skin name, by a substitute name such as Kuminjay, or by their family name only.
In some cultures, the taboo extends to the use of the deceased's given name in any context, even when referring to other people, places, objects and concepts with a similar name. This can have a long-term impact on the language, as words similar to those of the deceased are progressively replaced with synonyms or loanwords. Linguist Bob Dixon considered that this would have resulted in such significant vocabulary replacement over time as to hinder application of the comparative method in linguistics – though this is disputed.
Ethnologist Philip Jones says that adherents to this taboo believe that the spirit of the deceased is "potentially dangerous, toxic, wicked and mischievous" and must be encouraged to return to its source in the spirit-land. To speak the deceased's name is to risk calling the spirit back to the real world, where it may cause destruction. Over the past century, these beliefs have – for some communities at least – changed to include text, photographs and film as well as speech.
Source officielle
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