Swear Words in Southern Kurmanji – Types, Functions and Attitudes

Swearing is a linguistic phenomenon that exists across all cultures and societies. The Kurdish culture is one of those cultures in which swear words and expressions are abundant. The current study examines the types, functions and instances of swear words and expressions and the attitudes Kurdish people of southern Kurdistan, whose dialect is southern Kurmanji, have towards this aspect of language. To collect data on swearing in Kurdish language, 208 participants answered a questionnaire and 80 of those participants partook in unstructured group interviews. Results indicate that Kurmanji speakers of southern Kurdistan use swear words primarily as a means of venting out anger. The participants swear mainly with acquaintances and friends targeting their character and intelligence. The participants believe that swearing is wrong but a necessary evil, i.e. they are reluctant to resort to this linguistic phenomenon under certain circumstances (e.g.: anger and frustration). Speakers seem to avoid taboo or sexual swear words or expressions presumably due to the religious and cultural background of the participants. In addition, the use of swear words and expressions tends to be age and social status related, i.e. speakers, when using swear words and expressions do so minding age and social status of the other. This study will hopefully provide some insight into and highlight the sociolinguistic and cultural significance of this language phenomenon among speakers of southern Kurmanji dialect of Kurdish and Kurdish speakers as a whole.