The Linguistic Study of Euphemism in Ilami Kurdish

Euphemism is a linguistic style used by language speakers to substitute taboo words and expressions. Since it is a common phenomenon in all cultures, it is a ubiquitous feature for every language. The current article aims at studying the different domains of euphemism usage in the Kurdish Dialect of Ilam. To do so, the writer has turned to the questionnaire and library methods. For the former he selected 35 speakers randomly from all ages with different educational levels and for the latter he has scrutinized two available Kurdish-Persian dictionaries. The findings show that in the Ilami dialect, euphemism is used in the domains of fear, body, alcohol and narcotic drugs, as well as trading and swear. Moreover, the findings indicate that the most frequently used euphemistic expressions are related to sexual organs or issues. Furthermore, there is no euphemism for politics in the Ilam Dialect.