Menstruation as a Verbal Taboo among the Akan of Ghana

Bibliographic Data

ID3040970
AuthorsKofi Agyekum (0000-0002-6177-2819), Kofı Agyekum (0000-0002-7903-5390, corresponding author)
Year2002
Volume58
Issue3
Pages367-387
Publication date2002-10-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Anthropological Research (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0091-7710 • E-ISSN: 2153-3806
PublisherUniversity of Chicago Press (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1086/jar.58.3.3631182
OpenAlexW1564723939
LanguageEN
Citations received31
References cited8

This article discusses menstruation as a verbal taboo among the Akan-speakers of Ghana and considers the theory behind this phenomenon. The use of euphemisms is the most popular verbal Taboo Avoidance Technique (TAT) among the Akan, and the euphemisms used for menstruation are outlined. The article then examines the semantic and metaphorical relations between the euphemisms and what they denote. Among the Akan, euphemisms for menstruation follow two basic models: (1) negative (indisposition and seclusion of the woman) and (2) positive (transition and fertility and the arrival of a protective visitor). With urbanization, modernization, and the adoption of Western religions, some of the Akan euphemisms for menstruation have become fossilized, and others no longer have referential reality. I argue that changing patterns in the use of the euphemisms and drastic changes in the current generation's knowledge of them reveal much about societal changes in the Akan speech community

Cultural phenomenon · Epistemology · Menstruation · Modernization theory · Phenomenon · Political science · Psychiatry · Seclusion · Sociology · Taboo · Anthropology · Language, Discourse, Communication Strategies · Law · Medicine · Multilingual Education and Policy · Philosophy · Psychology · Social Psychology · Swearing, Euphemism, Multilingualism

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