In terms of ethnic and cultural identity, Sudan is frequently grouped together with other Arab countries. Yet, Sudan is a highly distinctive civilization, with cultural values and traditions that often diverge significantly from those of the general Arab world. This makes studies based on Sudanese linguistic culture particularly worthwhile. The paper addresses the problems associated with determining levels of offensiveness (based on the Arabic within the Sudanese linguistic culture). As the direct determination of word offensiveness remains a challenging task, this study aims to assess the potential for some Arabic lexemes by determining their admissibility for males and females in a particular dialect. To achieve this objective, a survey was conducted among native speakers of Sudanese Arabic. The initial selection of 15 swear words was then subjected to an examination to determine their admissibility for different communicators in three communicative situations. The findings of the study demonstrated that in Sudanese Arabic linguoculture, there is a significant difference in the perceptions of acceptability of the same word by men and women, and this discrepancy has the potential to serve as a conflictogenic factor. In addition to the significance of invective research, the study indicated that a larger scale of research would necessitate the utilization of more effective methods.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)218-235
Number of pages18
JournalEtnografia
Issue number1 (27)
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 Apr 2025

    Research areas

  • invective, swearwords, offensiveness, admissibility, Arabic, Sudanese, taboo

    Scopus subject areas

  • Language and Linguistics
  • Cultural Studies
  • Anthropology
  • Arts and Humanities (miscellaneous)

ID: 136165894