An Analysis of Euphemism in Yoruba Death-Related Discourse Among the Egba of Ogun State

Death discourse in Yoruba culture is heavily mediated by euphemistic language that simultaneously acknowledges mortality and upholds communal emotional and spiritual norms. This study analyses the use of euphemism in Yoruba death-related discourse among the Egba people of Ogun State, South West Nigeria. Using a qualitative ethnolinguistic design, data were collected through participant observation at funeral ceremonies and in-depth interviews with community elders, clergy, and bereaved family members across Abeokuta South, Odeda, and Ewekoro local government areas. The corpus of death-related expressions was systematically documented and subjected to semantic analysis using conceptual metaphor theory and politeness theory as interpretive frameworks. Existing scholarship on Yoruba euphemism has addressed political and erotic domains, with comparatively less work on thanatological language. This study contributes new textual evidence from an understudied community context. The research examines the range of metaphorical constructions used to describe death, burial, and the afterlife, and investigates whether these constructions differ across religious affiliations, including traditional Yoruba religion, Christianity, and Islam. Findings are expected to reveal a rich repertoire of euphemistic expressions rooted in agricultural, travel, and spiritual metaphors, with notable variation across religious communities. Recommendations will address how documenting euphemistic discourse can contribute to the preservation of Yoruba expressive culture and to counselling practice in Nigerian grief contexts. Keywords: euphemism, death discourse, Egba Yoruba, Ogun State, conceptual metaphor.