Euphemism and Taboo Language in Yoruba-English Bilingual Communication in Ondo State

Euphemism and taboo language represent the linguistic management of culturally sensitive topics, reflecting community norms about what may be said, how it may be said, and in which language. This study examines euphemism and taboo language practices in Yoruba-English bilingual communication in Ondo State, focusing on the domains of death, sexuality, bodily functions, and financial embarrassment. Data were collected through a questionnaire elicitation instrument presenting forty scenarios requiring responses about sensitive topics, administered to two hundred participants in Akure, supplemented by ethnographic note-taking during naturally occurring conversations in domestic and community contexts. Language choice analysis examined whether speakers deploy Yoruba or English for taboo-adjacent topics and which code is preferred for direct versus euphemistic reference. Results show a consistent pattern in which Yoruba is preferred for conventional euphemisms about death and spiritual matters, reflecting the culturally embedded nature of Yoruba mortuary vocabulary, while English is more frequently used for direct reference to bodily and sexual topics, suggesting that English's perceived distance from local cultural norms provides a register of social neutrality. The study documents a corpus of over sixty bilingual euphemistic expressions not previously catalogued and discusses their structural forms, which include semantic transfer, loan translation, and indirect reference strategies. Implications for health communication and counselling in Ondo State are discussed. Keywords: euphemism, taboo language, Yoruba-English bilingualism, Ondo State, bilingual communication.