Noa-name
{{short description|Word used instead of a taboo or dangerous word}}
{{distinguish|Noa (name)}}
File:Playa Dias, Cape Point, Sudáfrica, 2018-07-23, DD 103.jpg named the {{lang|pt|Cabo das Tormentas}} ("cape of the storms") in southern Africa but the king John II of Portugal renamed it {{lang|pt|Cabo de Boa Esperança}} ("cape of good hope").|alt=A cape and a beach seen from above.]]
A noa-name is a word that replaces a taboo word, generally out of fear that the true name would anger or summon the force or being in question. The term derives from the Polynesian concept of noa, which is the antonym of tapu (from which derives the word taboo) and serves to lift the tapu from a person or object.
A noa-name is sometimes described as a euphemism,[https://glosbe.com/sv/en/noaord Noaord] at glosbe.com (Swedish) though the meaning is more specific; a noa-name is a non-taboo synonym used to avoid bad luck, and replaces a name considered dangerous.[http://www.saob.se/artikel/?seek=noaord#U_N445_162801 Noaord] at SAOB (Swedish) The noa-name may be innocuous or flattering, or it may be more accusatory.Gillis Herlitz & Per Peterson (2011) Vargen : hatobjekt och kramdjur. Liber AB. {{ISBN|978-91-47-09625-1}}.
Examples
- In the Germanic languages, the word for 'bear' was replaced with a noa-name meaning 'brown', the Proto-Germanic *berô, with descendants including Swedish {{Lang|sv|björn}}, English bear, German {{Lang|de|Bär}} and Dutch {{Lang|nl|beer}}.
- In Finnish, there are several noa-names for {{Lang|fi|karhu}} (bear), used instead of calling the animal by its name and inadvertently attracting its attention. The word {{Lang|fi|karhu}} itself is a noa-name, to avoid using the original (and now relatively uncommon) words {{Lang|fi|otso}} or {{Lang|fi|ohto}}. (See Finnish mythology.)
- In Swedish, the word {{Lang|sv|ulv}} ('wolf') was replaced by {{Lang|sv|varg}} ('stranger'). The spirits of the hearth, {{Lang|sv|tomte}} (corresponding to the Scottish brownie, or the Cornish pixie), were known as {{Lang|sv|nisse}}, 'dear little relatives'.
- In Irish folklore, fairies more commonly called sidhe are referred to as 'the little people' or 'the good people.'
- The Icelandic word huldufólk translates to 'the hidden people' and refers to supernatural beings otherwise known as álfar (elves).
- In English, the Devil has been referred to by a variety of names (e.g. 'Old Nick', 'Mr. Scratch') to avoid attracting his attention through his name.
- In Greek legend, the Erinyes (the Furies, the spirits of revenge) were commonly known as the Eumenides ('the benevolent ones').{{cite encyclopedia| title = Suda| script-quote = el:Ἄλλα δ' ἀλλαχοῦ καλά· παρόσον τὰς Εὐμενίδας ἄλλοι ἄλλως καλοῦσιν. ἄλλα οὖν ὀνόματα παρ' ἄλλοις καλὰ νομίζονται, παρ' ἡμῖν δὲ ταῦτα, τὸ ὀνομάζειν αὐτὰς Εὐμενίδας κατ' εὐφημισμόν, τὰς Ἐριννύας.| trans-quote = Inasmuch as different men call the Eumenides by different names. So other names are judged good by other people, but we prefer to call them Eumenides [Favoring Ones] by euphemism instead of Erinnyes [Furies].}} Additionally, Hades, god of the underworld, was usually referred to with euphemisms like Ploútōn ('the wealthy one') in order to avoid attracting his attention.
- Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain is one of the Ten Commandments in Abrahamic religion.
- The Lord is therefore used instead by Anglophone Christians, analogous to terms like the Latin {{lang|la|Dominus}}
- In Jewish culture, it is forbidden to speak the name of God (represented as YHWH) and the noa-name adonai, 'my lord', or HaShem, 'the Name', is used instead.
- To avoid the negative connotations of the left side and left-handedness, most Romance languages created noa-names to avoid Latin {{lang|la|sinister}}: see French {{lang|fr|gauche}}, Spanish {{lang|es|izquierdo}}, Romanian {{lang|ro|stângă}}. Also Greek created {{lang|grc|ἀριστερός}} ({{Transliteration|grc|aristeros}}), a derivation from {{lang|grc|ἄριστος}} ({{Transliteration|grc|aristos|}}, "best") to avoid {{lang|grc|λαιός}} ({{Transliteration|grc|laios}}).{{cite journal |last1=Schiefenhövel |first1=Wulf |title=Biased semantics for right and left in 50 Indo-European and non-Indo-European languages: Biased semantics for right and left in 50 languages |journal=Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences |date=June 2013 |volume=1288 |issue=1 |pages=135–152 |doi=10.1111/nyas.12124 |pmid=23742684 |s2cid=3421618 |language=en |quote=the words for left, usually never positively biased, were turned into euphemisms in three language groups (Scandinavian, Greek, and Avestan).}}
See also
- Apotropaic names are negative words applied to ward off evil.
- Avoidance speech, a sociolinguistic phenomenon found in some aboriginal languages
- Heiti
- Kenning
- The love that dare not speak its name
- Mokita, a Trobriand term that translates as 'the truth we all know but agree not to talk about'
- The evil wizard Lord Voldemort, typically referred to in the Harry Potter series as "He Who Must Not Be Named" or "You-Know-Who"
- The name of the William Shakespeare play Macbeth is, by longstanding theatrical custom, not to be mentioned in order to avoid bad luck; reference is instead made, for instance, to "the Scottish play"