Italian Taboos and Reporting Practices: A Sociolinguistic Perspective

The taboo phenomenon is essential in fully understanding the system of moral, religious, ideological, and economic values belonging to a population. One of its functions is to offer a helpful guide on the conduct to follow in certain circumstances and thus provide order to social reality. The first section introduces the concept of taboo, mentions its evolution over time, and explores some points related to linguistic behaviors. The second section devotes particular attention to the variability of prohibitions. This variability occurs on several levels, including cross-national, historical, and situational ones. The third section explores the most common taboo categories in Italy, underlining their dependence on sociocultural factors. Finally, the fourth section focuses on the creativity of taboo avoidance strategies and the problems arising from their incorporation into reporting practices.