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COOU Journal of Arts and Humanities (CJAH) Vol. 5 No. 3, 2020

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Abstract: 
This paper qualitatively examines the euphemistic means of mitigating vulgarity in Nzema  
discourse. The paper focuses on certain expressions that involve the activities of sex, sexual 
organs and menstruation; with the intent to discussing how the people of Nzema use a 'fair' and 
'polished' means to engage in such 'tabooed' utterances in order to avoid unpleasant speeches. 
The paper adopts Goddard's (2006) Ethno-pragmatic model, which maintains that speech 
practices are best understood from culture-internal perspective. Data were collected mainly 
from a primary source, through recordings from interviews with native respondents. Some 
data were also tapped from spontaneous natural speech contexts as well as introspections 
based on the researcher's intuitions as an indigenous speaker. The paper reveals that the 
Nzema euphemistically describe the male genitalia as 'a stick/tree', 'a pestle', 'a gun' and 'a 
match', while conceptualising the female genitalia as 'mortar', 'Bible/book', 'property', and 
'chief's palace' among others. It demonstrates that the Nzema as part of their culture do not 
plainly utter vulgar words; especially those related to sexuality and menstruation. Rather, they 
resort to culturally established euphemistic strategies to cover up the tabooed words and to 
strip off the discomforts and embarrassments that might be caused when a listener hears such 
'plain' utterances. These polished means of discussing sexuality and its related notions are best 
understood by the people of Nzema as a cultural group. In essence, any member of the Nzema 
traditional society who explicitly makes such utterances without 'fairly beautifying' them is 
regarded 'uncultured' and lacking proper parental upbringing.

Key word: Communication, Vulgarity, Euphemisms, Linguistic Taboos, Ethno-pragmatics.

1.0 Introduction
Among the Nzema of Ghana, like in many other African societies and perhaps beyond, certain 
utterances are culturally regarded as taboo; which are not mentioned without linguistic hedges 
and safeguards. Agyekum (2002) describes taboo as a system of placing prohibitions and 
restrictions on certain acts and utterances in a society. Taboo may be behavioural or verbal 
(Agyekum, 2002; Agbedor & Johnson, 2009) which is a universal phenomenon practised by 
every human society around the globe; however, the concept of taboo is language and culture-

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EUPHEMISTIC-METAPHORS 
IN NZEMA DISCOURSE IN SEXUALITY

MOHAMMED YAKUB
yakubm88@gmail.com

Department of Akan-Nzema Education, 
University of Education, Winneba- Ghana

1Nzema is part of the Niger-Congo Kwa group of languages, which is spoken mainly in Ghana and some part of La Côte 
d'Ivoire (see Annan, 1980; Kwesi, 1992).The language and people who speak it are referred to as Nzema. The Nzema 
people occupy the South-West part of the Western Region of Ghana. 



specific, in that what may be forbidden in a particular society may be a norm in another society 
(Agyekum, 2002: 370). In the view of Wardhaugh (2006), taboo is a way through which a 
society expresses its disapproval of certain kinds of attitudes and behaviours that are believed 
to be harmful and destructive to its members, either for supernatural reasons or because such 
attitudes are violations to cultural and moral codes.

Describing linguistic taboos, Fakuade, Kemidirim and Nwosu (2012) opine that some 
expressions are to be avoided because resorting to their direct use in public is tantamount to 
disregarding certain moral ethics in terms of religious and cultural norms. This implies that 
certain concepts are banned to be spoken freely in the public domain. A part of such 
unmentionables, which shall be the focus of  our discussion, has to do with communications 
that involve human sexuality and menstruation, particularly among the Nzema of Ghana. 

Akanbi (2015: 173) avers that, the culture of a people can determine what to say and 
what not to say; and that there is always a kind of decorum in the speech of individuals. This is 
true of the Nzema, in that people do not make haphazard choice of words in communicative 
situations; rather, they display communicative competence by resorting to acceptable 
utterances in appropriate contexts of speech interaction. In Nzema traditional setting, matters 
concerning sexual activities and sexual organs are not discussed straightforward because they 
are perceived to be obscene, profane, and sometimes offensive; which largely come with 
embarrassment and displeasure in the ears of the listener. In this vein, the language speakers 
have established certain 'cover up' mechanisms in order to lessen or absolutely get rid of such 
unpleasant sayings, so as to sanitise their sexual-related discourses. These euphemistic-
metaphors are formulated based on the cultural values, norms, beliefs and cognitive 
experiences of the Nzema people.

Several scholars have posited various definitions on the concept of euphemism. For 
example, Allan & Burridge (1991, as cited in Al-Khasawneh, 2018: 218) described a 
euphemism as a courteous means through which a harsh, inappropriate, obscene, or offensive 
word is substituted or replaced by a more polite one. In a more concise sense, a euphemism, as 
in the literature has also been referred to as 'verbal hygiene' (see Cameron, 1995), 'polished and 
beautified expression' (Agyekum, 2002; 2013), 'implicit and comfortable expression' (Liu, 
2016), 'fair speech' (Annan, 2017), 'inoffensive language', 'clean language', 'cover up 
utterance', 'polite expression', 'coined and indirect utterance' and 'circumlocutory language' 
among many other associated connotations. However, in my view, all these connotations on 
the subject of euphemism converge to a common notion that it is a way of mitigating and/or 
expelling shocks, embarrassments and discomforts in communication. Euphemistic 
utterances are capable of neutralising the unpleasantness of certain tabooed terms. They 
actually serve as face-saving mechanisms to both the speaker and the hearer (Wardhaugh, 
2006).

1.1 The Rationale and Research Objectives
The effective use of euphemisms in discourse is culture internally constructed, though the 
phenomenon is perceived as a universal feature of language usage (Brown and Levinson, 
1987). The fact that the notion of euphemism is a wide-spread and a cross-cultural concept has 

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stimulated enormous literature on it cross-linguistically. In Japanese, for instance, Ivanova 
(2015) studied euphemisms from the perspective of some thematic fields. Gathigia, Ndungu, 
and Njoroge (2015) also investigated sexual intercourse euphemisms in Gikuyu, a Bantu 
language spoken in Kenya. Karimnia and Khodashenas (2016) examined euphemistic 
strategies used by Iranian EFL learners with focus on death and dying, while Raduloviæ (2016) 
did a comparative study of euphemisms in English and Serbian public discourse. Lui (2016) 
tackled a comparative analysis of euphemisms in English and Chinese, Mocanu (2017) 
studied taboos and euphemisms in the religious language, while Almufaez, Alawani, and 
Altalhi (2018) also undertook a contrastive study of euphemisms in English and Arabic. From 
a sociolinguistic perspective, Fakuade et al (2012) examined linguistic taboos in Igbo. 
Ofoegbu and Okoli (2018) also did a morphological analysis of euphemistic expressions in 
Igbo, while Akanbi (2015) looked at the use of vulgarity in Yoruba proverbs. Abijo and 
Ajandeo (2018) explored linguistic taboos in Yoruba society and their relevance to teaching-
learning in Nigerian secondary schools. 

Specifically, in the area of Ghanaian linguistic and anthropological research, a number 
of studies have also been undertaken by some renowned scholars, including Agyekum (2002) 
who extensively discussed euphemistic means of expressing menstruation among the Akan. 
Agbedor and Johnson (2009) also focused on Ewe verbal taboos from the perspective of 
indirection, Alhassan (2012), in his PhD dissertation, titled “The construction and 
reproduction of gender in Dagbani”, also highlighted some euphemistic means of talking 
about sex organs and avoiding sexually-explicit terms. 

Gleaning from the foregoing studies, it appears that there is a rich body of cross- 
cultural scholarly contributions on tabooed and euphemistic expressions in the literature; 
however, I have not yet found any work that focuses on extensive exploration of the 
convenient ways of engaging in sexual-related discourse among the Nzema. To the best of my 
knowledge, the only study on Nzema euphemisms was done by Tomekyin and Nyame (2019), 
which sheds light on euphemistic utterances related to pregnancy, birth, deadly 
sicknesses/diseases, death, sexual organs and sex. Tomekyin and Nyame did a good work; 
however, they provided scanty information on euphemisms concerning sex. In other words, 
their discussions did not demonstrate exhaustive exploration of 'Nzema euphemistic-
metaphors on sexuality', perhaps because they did not consider the subject as the focus of their 
research. This present study, thus, seeks to fill an essential gap; revealing the most interesting 
aspects of Nzema euphemisms on sexual discourse, and to expand the frontiers of the previous 
works. It is also prudent to mention that the dominant theoretical framework adopted for most 
of these previous studies is the Politeness Theory espoused by Brown and Levinson (1987). 
Unlike this present study, none of the works indicated above adopted the Ethno-pragmatic 
Model (Goddard, 2006) as its theoretical backing; which aptly renders this study different 
from those previous ones. The study is guided by the following objectives as to:
1. Ascertain how the Nzema conceptualise the male and female genitalia.
2. Discuss the euphemistic means of discussing sexuality in Nzema.
3. Highlight the appropriate means of making reference to menstruation in Nzema.  

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1.2  Notes on Nzema Euphemisms
The goal of this paper, though, is to unearth the euphemistic strategies adopted to 'refine' 
discourses related to sexual activities, sexual organs and menstruation among the Nzema, I 
deem it relevant to provide a brief overview of some of the various communicative instances of 
deploying euphemisms in Nzema traditional rhetoric for audience to have more insights and 
best appreciate the discussions. Somewhat in the form of idiomatic expressions, the people of 
Nzema relish in using traditional euphemisms to conveniently discuss matters concerning old 
age, death, theft, disgrace, madness, ignorance, unnecessary wandering, lactation, as well as 
bodily effluvia and excretion such as defaecation, urination and flatulence among other things 
that are regarded offensive to be discussed freely. Table 1 shows briefly, some of these 
euphemistic concepts; nonetheless, the core data of the paper shall be critically examined in 
section 4.

Table 1: Some Euphemistic Concepts in Nzema Rhetoric

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Tabooed concepts English translation

I. On defaecation
Tabooed word ebinli

II. On urination
Tabooed word miene

III. On death
Tabooed word ewule

IV. On theft 
Tabooed word awule

a.  Mek?  baka zo
b.   Mesoho me gyak? 

a.   Mek? meah?gua nzule
b.   Megua aze 

a.   Yeh? ye ?k?la nzi
b.   Yela ye b?ne zo

a.   ?  sa wale/? sa le tendenle 
b.   ?  sa ?nga ? nwo     

a. I am visiting the tree
b. I am escorting my legs  

a. I am going to pour water
b. I am pouring water down

a. He has returned to his soul
b. He has slept on his left hand

a. His hands are long
b. His hands do not touch 
    his body

2. Theoretical Framework           
The analysis/discussions of data in this paper are intended to be in the lens of Goddard's (2006) 
Ethno-pragmatic model. Goddard asserts that, though pragmatic 'universalist' over the years 
has gained dominance, a new pragmatic paradigm which he calls 'Ethno-pragmatics' has 
refused to dash away. The basic assumption of ethno-pragmatics therefore maintains that, 
speech practices are best understood from culture-internal perspective. It focuses on 
understanding discourse from the point of view of specific cultural perceptions, linguistic 
choices and communicative practices that are best conceived by a specific cultural group. 
Though culture is perceived to be a universal phenomenon, every cultural group is believed to 
have certain peculiar ethno-pragmatic concepts based on socio-cultural worldview and 
traditional experiences which enable the people of such particular local culture to better 
understand their own speech practices.

2It can be gleaned from table 1 that the tabooed words (in italics) are not explicitly mentioned in the various 
euphemistic expressions that are used by the Nzema to refer to their respective concepts. 



More significantly, euphemistic speeches are noted to be culturally-oriented, and 
that they are conventionally understood by native speakers of a particular society. In 
other words, any 'outside member' who may not actually have a fair knowledge of a 
particular culture in terms of their values, beliefs, morals, general worldview including 
their linguistic patterns would find it difficult to understand their speech practices 
(Goddard, 2006; see also Sharifian, 2011 on cultural conceptualisations and language). 
For example, among the Nzema, if a woman sits with part of her panties unconsciously 
exposed, someone on seeing the panties would simply alert the woman by saying; kp?la ? 
bonyi zo 'wipe on top of your nose'. This same euphemistic utterance is applicable in 
informing a man to cover up his private part in case it is exposed. The expression, kp?la ? 
bonyi zo, among others which are meant to avoid profanity in Nzema are best 
understood specifically by the people of Nzema. Therefore, the choice of the ethno-
pragmatic framework to underpin this study may be quite appropriate, since the Nzema 
within their own cultural setting had instituted certain euphemistic mechanisms to 
sanitise their verbal interactions related to sexuality and other shocking comments; 
which are best understood by members of the culture.

3. Methodology
The paper employs the qualitative research approach, which is concerned with a method 
of describing an event or a phenomenon without making use of numerical data (Patton, 
2002; Creswell, 2009). The choice of the qualitative approach is motivated by its 
flexibility in nature, providing the opportunity for a researcher to make adequate and 
comprehensive description of a particular phenomenon. Data for this ethnographic 
study were gathered from a primary source, involving information obtained from 
interviewees, and from participant and non-participant natural speech encounters. My 
knowledge as a native speaker of Nzema is also crucially brought to bear on this study.

The people of Nzema constitute the Dw?m?l? District, Ell?mb?l? District and 
Evalo? (Nzema East District) in the Western part of Ghana. In order to avoid biases, and 
to obtain more reliable data for analysis, which could yield a true reflection of the 
linguistic choices and etiquettes of sexual discourse among the Nzema, I considered 
respondents who are indigenous speakers and are residence of communities in the three 
Nzema Districts. The various communities visited were Axim and Bameang? (in the 
Nzema East District), Adoabo and Kekam (in the Ell?mb?l? District) as well as Awiane 
and Mgb?t?ba (in the Dw?m?l? District). These six (6) communities (two from each 
District), apart from being larger communities with many indigenous inhabitants, were 
also selected for the study because the researcher could easily get access to the places.   

In this ethnographic study, eighteen (18) indigenous speakers of Nzema were 
selected and contacted as respondents for interviews. From each community (as shown 
above), I interviewed three (3) people. In this endeavour, prominence was given to 
grown-ups between the ages of fifty (50) years and seventy (70) years. The rationale is 
that old people have more experience and broader communicative competence as 
compared with the young ones (Rababa’h & Malkawi, 2012). Further, the elderly in many 
African contexts are perceived as 'the custodians of cultural values and etiquettes’, ‘the 

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symbol of wisdom’ and ‘society’s reservoir of memory’ (see also Thompson & Agyekum, 
2015: 23). Therefore, twelve (12) out of the eighteen (18) participants were elderly 
people, while the remaining six (6) comprised the youth between the ages of twenty (20) 
and thirty (30) years. This was done to find out whether the younger generation (youth) 
may be employing certain ‘contemporary’ euphemistic means of avoiding vulgarity in 
relation to sexual discourse among the Nzema. Regarding their gender, the females were 
nine (9) and the males were also nine (9); this is because both genders do engage in 
sexual-related discourse. In essence, the technique for sampling the respondents is 
worth describing as purposive.

The techniques for obtaining the primary data involved elicitation through 
interviews, as well as participant and non-participant observations. The interviews 
were guided by a list of questions for the purpose of controlling the interview process. I 
visited the communities on different occasions and met the respondents separately for 
the interview sessions. As a matter of ethics, I began each session by seeking the consent 
of my respondent and explaining the purpose of the exercise. This maximised co-
operation and enabled me tape-record the interviews/discussions. I picked additional 
data when I observed and sometimes took part in arbitration proceedings among the 
Nzema, which were meant to resolve conflicts and issues related to marriage/divorce. 
Here, some discussions on sexuality obviously took place, which I hand-recorded in a 
data collection notebook. I also tapped some data from interlocutors in spontaneous 
speeches, including my native speaker intuitions. The recorded data were later 
transcribed and translated for analysis. 

4.0  Data Presentation and Discussion
This section deals with the analysis and discussion of data. As part of the data 
presentation, the researcher has indicated the examples (euphemistic utterances) 
obtained through spontaneous discourse by abbreviating them as (SD). Some personal 
examples, which were generated through the researcher's intuitive knowledge, are also 
indicated as (PE). Other examples that are not referenced are those gathered during the 
interviews and observations.   

4.1 Conceptualising the Male and Female Genitalia
In talking about both male and female sexual organs, the people of Nzema use 
'circumlocutory jargons' in metaphorical sense to describe such 'sacred' parts of the 
human body. The following expressions in (1-4) show how the Nzema, in their daily 
communication, perceive and conceive the male sexual organ as a tree, a gun, manhood 
and total self of the man.

1. Ye   baka  m?? la   ye   ?z?l?     nu   la     ?n-le  ekyi
3SG tree  COMP sleep 3SG thigh. PL inside CDET  NEG-COP small

          'His tree that lies between his thighs is not small'.

2. Me-die    me-di   k?  ?    hu     etu  ne  te   kpal?  
1SG-collect 1SG-eat COMP 2SG.POSS  husband  gun DEF shoot  well     
‘I believe that your husband's gun can shoot properly'.

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3.    Ye    mrenyia  nu   y?    se   (PE)
3SG.POSS  manhood  inside COP  hard

           'His manhood is strong'.

4.    ?     nwo  w?    ?    nwo  gy?l??nye  (PE)
3SG  self   exist   3SG self    proper

           'His self (body) is indeed active'.

The expressions in (1-4) are meant to avoid direct mentioning of the male sexual organ, 
which is originally (traditionally) referred to as toal? 'penis'. In (1) and (2), we observe that 
the tabooed word toal? is not overtly mentioned; instead, baka 'tree' and etu 'gun' are 
respectively deployed to represent the male sexual organ. The metaphoric description of the 
concept of penis seems largely applicable in the sense that the penis, when erect, appears as 
straight and as hard as a tree or a gun. Among the Nzema, the male sexual organ is perceived 
to be a symbol of 'absolute manhood', and so they describe it as mrenyia nu 'manhood' or 
'inside of a man' as evidenced in (3). In (4), the somewhat unmentionable, toal? 'penis' is 
replaced by nwo 'self' or 'body' of a man. Here, also, it is assumed that the penis makes up the 
total body of a man, without which the man is not complete. All these utterances are best 
understood by the people of Nzema as part of the convenient ways of speaking about the 
male sexual organ without making any explicit pronouncement of toal? 'penis'.

The female sexual organ is another sensitive part that the Nzema always try to avoid 
mentioning plainly; especially in public discourse. In examples (5-11), I show some of the 
euphemistic ways of conceptualising the female genitalia in Nzema discourse context. 

Kpond?  dol?se  keda  w?  ?ba  ne   azo  (SD)
   Search. IMP  panties  cover  3SG.POSS '?ba' DEF top

             ‘Look for panties to cover your ?ba’.

6.         Keda    w?   agyapade? ne    azo  
  Cover. IMP  3SG.POSS  property   DEF  top

            Cover  your  property’.

7.          ? -le   raal?   ?ti    siezie    w?    ahenfie  ?k?
   2SG-COP female CONJ sanitise. IMP 2SG.POSS palace  there
   'You are a woman, and so keep your palace tidy'.     

8.       N??zo biala b?-si   ye    duba  ne    anu  (SD)
   Night  every 3PL-pound. HAB  3SG.POSS mortar DEF inside

            'They pound in her mortar every night'.
9.       Saa   ?bia   a,    koto  nrinzi w?    aze  bo?

  COND 2SG-bathe  CON. PT squat  clean  2SG.POSS  down well
         'If you take your bath, squat and wash your under properly'. 

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10.     Saa   raal?  nwu  nrenyia nd?  a,   ?  nwo  buke
 COND female  see   male   early  CON. PT 3SG  self  open

          'If a girl engages in premature sexual affairs, herself enlarges'.  

11.    Nyila  ?-b? me    mraal?  nu  (SD)
      Boil  PERF-hit  1SG.POSS womanhood  inside

            'A boil has swollen within my womanhood. 
 In the context of discussing issues related to the female genitalia, the original word tod?l? 
'vagina' is considered obscene and therefore not stated openly. In essence, the tabooed word 

3is rather called ?ba , as indicated in (5). Another means of keeping away from the direct 
mentioning of tod?l? 'vagina' in Nzema is to describe it as agyapade? 'property' as shown in 
example (6). It is described as 'property' because it is owned by the woman, given to her by 
God, out of which she could gain a lot of wealth from men. Example (7) demonstrates the 

4Nzema conceptualisation of the  vagina as ahenfie  'chief's palace'. The Nzema depend on 
expression (7) to also prevent hearers from feeling uncomfortable within the context of 
holding discussions on the female genitalia. The vagina is described as a 'chief's palace' in the 
sense that a man is not supposed to have an opportunity to 'enter' the vagina on a silver 
platter; he needs to perform necessary marriage rites before getting access, just as one 
cannot easily enter a chief's palace without first consulting the chief's spokesperson for 
necessary arrangements. In (8), tod?l? 'vagina' is metaphorically termed as duba 'mortar' as 
the man uses his 'pestle' to pound inside it. The vagina is located between the thighs of a 
woman; which is somewhat at the lower part of the body, and so the Nzema describe it as w? 
aze 'the under of a woman' as illustrated in example (9). In (10) and (11), the woman's sexual 
organ is conceived as something that makes her a real/whole woman; hence, in order to do 
away with vulgar speeches, the average Nzema speaker would resort to ? nwo 'herself'/'her 
whole body' and yemraal? nu 'her womanhood' respectively. 

4.2 Conceptualising the Act of Sex
In Nzema traditional communication related to sexuality, the activity of sexual intercourse is 
conceptualised as a means of undertaking a particular task, embarking on a journey and as 
an activity that involves mutual engagement for satisfaction. These notions are examined in 
turn as follows: 

4.2.1 Sexual Intercourse as Performing a Task
The act of having sex with a woman is traditionally known in Nzema as raal??lil? 'eating a 
woman' (having sexual intercourse with a woman). However, as a way of preventing such 

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found among women, is euphemistically described by the Nzema as ?ba. 
4Ahenfie is the Akan variant of Belemgbunli sua nu(in Nzema), which means 'chief's palace'. The Nzema had therefore 
borrowed the Akan version as shown in expression (7).    

?ba is a personal name in Nzema, which is used to refer to females. Therefore, the tod?l? 'vagina', since it is 



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vulgar expression, speakers rather perceive the act as a means of doing a particular work, 
thereby resorting to these expressions exemplified in (12) and (13): 

12.      Me-kola   me-y?   me     ye    anwo   gyima   kpal?  (PE)
  1SG-can  1SG-do 1SG. POSS  wife self   work  proper

           'I can work on my wife very well'.

13.   ? -n-gola   n??zo  gyima ne y?  (SD)
  3SG-NEG-can    night  work   DEF  do

           'He cannot do the night work'.

In examples (12) and (13), we can deduce that the activity of sexual intercourse is a task that 
is controlled by the man. In both cases, the woman is portrayed as a passive recipient for 
whom such work must be done properly. 

4.2.2  Sexual Intercourse as Embarking on a Journey
The Nzema also escape vulgar language in terms of sexuality by comparing the activity of 
sexual intercourse with the process of travelling. For instance, instead of saying ?ngola raal? 
di 'he cannot have sex with a woman'; which is considered obscene, they 'polish' the 
statement as indicated in (14-16): 

14.     ? -n-gola     adenle  zo    k?  (SD)
3SG-NEG-can  road  top go

           'He cannot travel'.

15. ? -n-gola   ?-n-g?  moa  (PE)
3SG-NEG-can  3SG-NEG-go  far

           'He cannot go a long journey'.  

16. ? -n-gy?   na    ye-adwu  aze  (PE)
          3SG-NEG-keep long  CONJ 3SG-drop  down
          'He does not keep long on the way, he alights so quickly'.

The expressions in (14), (15) and (16) show that the 'journey of sexual intercourse' is a 
responsibility of the man. In the context of discussing sexuality among the Nzema, if a man is 
unable to satisfy a woman in bed, or if he ejaculates shortly after the insertion, these 
expressions are used to metaphorically describe the man's inability to make the woman 
reach her orgasm.

4.2.3 Sexual Intercourse as Mutual Engagement for Excitement
The activity of having sex is also seen as a mutual responsibility between a man and a 
woman. Each has a role to play; which further suggests that it is 'a face-to-face affair' (see 
also Tomekyin and Nyame, 2019). Thus, in order not to make explicit reference to the 



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tabooed expression such as b?l?di b? nwo 'they are having sex', the Nzema employ some 
'refined' statements as follows:

17.        B?-l?-fa  b?    nwo  (SD)
    3PL-PROG-take  3PL  self

             'They (male and female) are taking each other'.

18.      Y?-nwu    y?    nwo
     3PL-PER. see  3PL self

              'We (male and female) have seen each other'.
19.      Y?-gya    y?  nwo  na    y?-t?-y?le   nrenyia  nee    raal?       

     3PL.PERF-marr  3PL self   CONJ3PL-NEG-do man   CONJ woman
              'We have got married, but we have never done man and woman before'.  

20.       Saa   y?-yia  ?kpazo   a,    y? nye   die  (PE)
      COND  3PL-meet bed top CON. PT 3PL eye. PL happy  

              'If we meet in  bed, we both become excited (satisfied)'.

From (17, 18 and 19), we notice the mutual contribution that needs to take place during 
sexual intercourse. In (17) and (18), b? nwo 'each other' and y? nwo 'each other' rightly 
emphasise that the exercise is not meant for one person, and that both man and woman need 
to co-operate for maximum satisfaction to be achieved. Examples (19 and 20) also stress that 
the exercise is a mutual face-to-face engagement (meeting) which takes two parties (man 
and woman), as evidenced in y?t?y?le nrenyia nee raal? 'we have not done man and woman' 
andsaa y?yia?kpa zo a 'if we meet in bed' respectively. 

4.3 Contemporary Conceptualisation of the Act of Sex
In the course of gathering data for this study, it was noted that the younger generation (in 
Nzema society) had established certain 'recent' euphemistic-metaphors in engaging in 
discussions concerning the act of sex. The data precisely showcased the conceptualisation of 
sexual intercourse as a process of piercing an object, a process of driving a vehicle and as a 
process of reading a book. These are further examined below in turn.

 4.3.1 Sex as a Piercing Process
In the context of discussing sexuality, the Nzema (particularly the youth), keep themselves 
away from the direct use of the unpleasant word ?lil? 'sexual intercourse' by redefining it as 
an activity that deals with 'piercing' of an object. Examples (21) and (22) underscore this 
observation:  

21. Saa     me   sa    s?  ye   a,     me-ba-w?   ye   kpal?
COND 1SG.POSS hand  hold 3SG CON. PT 1SG-FUT-piece 3SG well

        'If I get hold of her, I will piece her very well'.



22. M-raal?  ?-bu,      y?-l?-tua    b?  noko  (SD)
PL-woman PERF. COP-common 3PL-PROG-penetrate 3 PLCONJ      'Women have been 
in abundance, and so we (the guys) are piercing them'. 

In both (21) and (22), the process of penetration; where the male sexual organ is 'injected' 
into the female sexual organ, becomes the basis for conceptualising ?lil? 'sexual intercourse' 
as w? and tua 'to piece' a woman.
4.3.2  Sex as a Process of Driving a Vehicle
When talking about sexual intercourse, the youth also describe the phenomenon as a 
manner of driving a vehicle. As a way of refraining from the vulgar word ?lil? 'sexual 
intercourse', they conceptualise the activity as kale ?hanl? 'driving a car', so as to 'purify' 
their discourse on sexuality. Some examples from the data are shown as follows: 

23.       Kale ?hye  Koame  a   ka   a
             Car  DEM    PSN  FOC drive. HAB EMPH
             'It is Koame who drives this car'.

24.  Kale  z?hane   me-ha   dedee  me-gyakyi  
             Car  DEM  1SG-PERF.drive continuous  1SG.PERF-stop
            'I have continuously driven that car and stopped'.

In these expressions (23 and 24), which are highly based on context of discussion, the 
activity of sexual intercourse is metaphorically likened to driving a vehicle; since the man 
largely takes control and usually manipulates the woman in the process, just as a vehicle 
driver does. It is worth noting that in both examples, the interpretations transcend the basic 
(physical) activity of driving a vehicle which may contain a number of passengers. Here, the 
implication is that a man used to have sex with a woman.      

4.3.3 Sex as a Process of Reading a Bible (book)
Another interesting conception of sexual intercourse among the youth of Nzema has to do 
with its metaphoric description as a means of reading a text (Bible). This also serves as an 
avenue through which they (the youth) escape unpleasant utterances on sexuality. Let us see 
two examples from the data as provided in (25) and (26): 
25. Me-h?-genga   Baebolo ne

1SG-go.PERF-read  Bible  DEF
               'I have gone to read the Bible'.

26. W?-genga     Nzema  Baebolo too  noko  ?-n-gola  Nzema  ka
2SG-read.PERF Nzema Bible  long CONJ  2SG-NEG-can 
Nzema say

    ‘You have read Nzema Bible for a long time, but you still cannot speak      
Nzema'.

As can be learnt from (25) and (26), the activity of sexual intercourse is perceived as a way of 
reading a Bible, since it usually happens with the woman's legs widely opened apart, just as 

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the way a Bible (book) is read by opening/separating the leaves apart. In both examples, 
reading the Bible does not actually mean the act of reading the Divine Scripture; rather, it is 
culture internally understood that the activity of sexual intercourse is being described 
euphemistically and metaphorically. In (26) for example, reading Nzema Bible for a long 
time, in this context, does not basically mean that a man had continuously read a Bible that is 
translated into the Nzema language; rather, the folks (especially the youth) by this utterance 
try to imply that a man (who may be a stranger) had lived and had had sexual intercourse 
with an Nzema woman for a long period, yet he could not speak the Nzema language.

4.4 Discussing Chastity
In Nzema cultural tradition, girls (young ladies) are usually advised to 'keep themselves' (to 
hold their chastity) to avoid premature pregnancies and to bring respect and honour to their 
parents (families). Therefore, in the context of discussing chastity, as part of sexual 
discourse, the people of Nzema dwell on euphemistic expressions in order to prevent an 
overt (obscene) statement like: nrenyia ?t?dile ye ?l? 'she has never had sexual intercourse 
with a man'. Some examples of the appropriate utterances in this regard are presented 
below: 

27. ? -n-ze  nrenyia  (SD)
3SG-NEG-know  man

           'She does not know a man'.
28. ? -t?-nwunle  nrenyia  ?l?  (SD)

3SG-NEG.PERF-see  man  ever
           'She has not seen a man before'.

29. ? -le  amunli 
3SG-COP green/unripe

          'She is green' (she is not ripe).

The expressions in (27) and (28) do not actually mean that the young lady cannot recognise a 
man when she sees one, or has never seen a man with her naked eyes; rather, the examples 
show euphemistic means of communicating that the lady's virginity has never been broken. 
In (29), a young lady who has never 'tasted' sexual intercourse is likened to a kind of unripe 
fruit (which is often green in colour). These are strategies for swerving indecent (vulgar) 
utterances in connection with chastity.    
  
4.5  Discussing Impotence
The concept of impotence is another crucial and sensitive area of discussion in terms of 
sexual discourse among the Nzema. If a man is not able to bear a child, people (especially his 
peers) mock at him and his dead body, as a cultural practice, is made to 'suffer' a particular 
ritual at the cemetery prior to burial. In this vein, the Nzema had culturally constructed many 
euphemistic means of talking about the subject of impotence so that they could desist from 
making any inconvenient statement such as: ? toa ?wu 'his penis has died' or ?ngola ?nli raal? 
'he cannot have sex with a woman'. One thing that seems quite interesting here is that the 
Nzema people have various expressions to describe three different levels of impotence, 
depending on the state, degree or severity of the man's condition. These are highlighted in 
the following sub-headings.  

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4.5.1 Expressing Absolute Malfunction of the Male Sexual Organ
In the context of discussing impotence, examples (30), (31) and (32) are usually quoted to 
specifically indicate that a man's sexual organ has completely become 'dead' (does not erect 
at all). Some of the 'purified' expressions are:   

30.    Ye   etu   ?-d?   nzule nu  (SD)
 3SG.POSS  gun PERF-fall  water inside

         'His gun has fallen into water'.

31. ? -n-le nrenyia  (PE)
3SG-NEG-COP man

        'He is not a man'.

32. ?   nwo ?n-le    ?k?  (PE)
3SG self   NEG-exist  there

         'His self (body) is not alive'.

In (30), the malfunctioning status of the male sexual organ is metaphorically described as a 
gun that has fallen into a pool of water. Obviously, if a gun is shot while it is kept in water, it 
cannot sound and 'fire' effectively, and so this is the essence of describing the malfunctioning 
nature of the male sexual organ as a gun that is drowned in water. Examples (31) and (32) are 
used more or less to show the Nzema perception that a man's sexual organ (a stronger one, of 
course) is what actually keeps him going as a real and complete man; despite his wealth. 
Therefore, when it does not function, the man is taken not to be a real/whole man and 
sometimes he is not accorded much respect if people realise his status.     
   
4.5.2 Expressing Decline in the Strength of the Male Sexual Organ
The Nzema also have special expressions to talk about the condition where a man's sexual 
organ may erect though, but may suffer a decline in strength, resulting in the inability to 
undertake vigorous sexual intercourse. In this regard, the expressions (in 33-35) are 
commonly deployed euphemistically to demonstrate a man's inability to maintain erection, 
such as the following:   

33.    Ye    anwoseseb? ?-ha    aze
3SG  strength    PERF-go down

           'His strength has gone down'. 

34.    Ye   mrenyia  ?-ha   aze
3SG manhood  PERF-go  down

           'His manhood has gone down'.

35.    ?  nwo ?-ha   aze
3SG  self   PERF-go  down

           'His self (body) has gone down'.

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In all the above examples (33, 34 and 35), we can find the incorporation of the words ?ha aze, 
which means 'has gone down'. These permeate the utterances to indicate a 
reduction/decline in the ability of the male sexual organ. In (33), the man's strength that is 
said to have gone down does not actually make reference to a reduction in his physical 
strength to either fight or perform any herculean task that may require heavy muscles; 
rather, in this context, reference is being made to the fact that his ability to maintain erection 
and continue to 'work' perfectly (during sexual intercourse) has indeed reduced. In (34) and 
(35), as has been hinted earlier, a man's sexual organ is considered to be his 'total manhood' 
and 'total body'. Thus, if there is a decline in the strength of his sexual organ, then the whole 
of his manhood and body could be described to have deteriorated. 

4.5.3 Expressing a Man's Inability to Impregnate a Woman
The inability of a man to make a woman conceive can be another level of impotence as the 
data showcased. In the context of discussing this level of impotence, the Nzema conveniently 
rely on some euphemistic metaphorical expressions in order to refrain from making such a 
profane statement like: ?di raal? a ?nnrenz? 'if he makes sex with a woman, she does not get 
pregnant'. Two of such utterances that could be made to avoid profanity in this category are 
presented here:
36.    Ye   etu  ?n-gu   nane

3SG.POSS gun NEG-kill  animal
         'His gun does not kill an animal'.

37.  Ye  makyese   ?m-kpa   senle  (SD)
3SG.POSS  match. PL  NEG-catch fire

         'His matches do not burst into flames'.
Both examples (36) and (37) are used to communicate a man's inability to make a woman 
take seed after sexual intercourse. Here, the man's sexual organ may erect alright, yet may 
not be able to fertilise the woman even when she is in her ovulation period. In (36), the man's 
inability to impregnate a woman (after sexual intercourse) is likened to a hunter who could 
aim at an animal and shoot his gun, but could not eventually kill the animal. In (37), the man's 
condition (impotence) is comparable with a match that cannot burst into flames, though the 
box may be containing the sticks.         

4.6 Discussing Prostitution/Adultery
When it comes to discussions on promiscuity; where a man or woman would have multiple 
sexual partners, the Nzema make use of euphemisms in a way to 'save the face' of a person 
who may have numerous sexual partners, and to prevent unpleasant speech. Some of these 
euphemistic utterances in the context of discussing prostitution and/or adultery are 
outlined as follows:    
 
38.  ? -n-nea   ?leka  ko  (SD)

3SG-NEG-watch place   one
           'She/he does not look at one place'.

39.    ?    nye   ?n-ga      aze   (PE)
3SG.POSS eye. PL NEG-touch  ground

           'His/her eyes do not touch the ground'.

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40.    ? -le    twea   (SD)
3SG-COP  dog

           'She/he is a dog'.

41.   Ye-va   ?   hu / ye  anzi   (SD)
3SG.PERF-take  3SG.POSS  husband/wife back

           'She/he has passed behind her/his husband/wife'.  
 42.   Ye-dwu   ye   dwoma ye-do  ?   k?me  zo

3SG.PERF-raise 3SG.POSS pestle  3SG-put 3SG.POSS  neck top
          'He has raised his pestle and placed it on his neck'.

The expressions in (38-41) could be used to describe either a man or a woman who may be 
having many sexual partners in a manner that is not acceptable per Nzema cultural values 
and tradition , while example (42) is used specifically to refer to a male fornicator. In (38), 
the interpretation goes beyond not physically gazing at a particular place; rather, it actually 
means that a man or woman does not stick to one sexual partner (according to Nzema 
cultural context). Similarly, example (39) does not merely imply that the person's eyes are 
raised constantly in the sky; rather, it is a suitable means to communicate that someone 
(man or woman) is promiscuous, and so does not properly conduct  himself/herself 
sexually . Example (40) is usually said metaphorically to describe a man or woman who may 
behave like a dog; having indiscriminate sex with countless partners anywhere. The 
expression in (41) is used to imply that a man/woman has indeed committed adultery. In the 
context of discussing adultery, passing behind one's wife or one's husband implies that a 
man had sneaked to have sex with another woman who is not a 'legal' wife to the man, and 
the vice-versa. All these expressions (in 37-40) are meant to do away with an unpleasant 
statement like: ?le alimrenyia 'she is a prostitute'or ?le alimraal? 'he is a fornicator'. Example 
(42) is used particularly to define a man who sleeps with several women (who may not 
necessarily be his wives). In (42), the man's sexual organ is comparable with dwoma 'pestle', 
as it is used to pound inside the woman's 'mortar'. Here, a man placing his 'pestle' (sexual 
organ in this case) on his neck means that he has made it available for several women besides 
his wife; thus, he makes sex randomly with multiples of women.                    

4.7 Discussing the Phenomenon of Menstruation
As a natural phenomenon in the growth and development of women, the subject of 
menstruation have often been discussed among the Nzema by employing interesting 
euphemistic expressions. This is because the people attribute menstruation largely to filthy 
and unhygienic condition. It is considered to be an eyesore, and so every 'cultured' Nzema 
speaker tries to prevent an explicit pronouncement of the word fual? 'menstruation'. So, in 
order to avoid the tabooed expression such as yey?fual? 'she has menstruated', the Nzema 
resort to a number of euphemisms; some of which emerged during the data gathering as 
follows:

5

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5

6

Although the doctrines of Christianity have caused some reduction in the practising of polygamy among Nzema men, 
many of them still enjoy polygamy and so they believe that the acceptable cultural tradition is to perform all the 
necessary marriage rites when a man finds a woman.
If someone behaves impulsively and haphazardly; without being vigilant and steady, the Nzema also use 

the utterance in (38) to rebuke the person euphemistically. 



 43.      Ye-bu  ?   sa
    3SG.PERF-break 3SG.POSS  hand

             'She has broken her hand'

44.      Ye-h? amozi
    3SG-PERF.go far away

            'She has gone far from home'.

45.    Ye n-y?vol? ne m? ?-ra
           3SG  PL-visitor DEF  PL  PERF-come
           'Her visitors have arrived'.

46.      ? -l?-tua  ye  siane  kak?
           3SG-PROG-pay  3SG.POSS  month  debt
           ‘She is paying her monthly debt'.

The expressions in (43-46) are intended to mitigate inconveniences when talking about 
menstruation. In (43), for instance, a woman in her menstrual period is rather described as 
having  broken her hand (for the purpose of making a 'fair' and 'polite' speech). In the olden 
days, menstruating women were seen to be unclean, and so they were sometimes not 
permitted to cook (especially for their husbands). Therefore, such women were said to have 
'broken their hands' so that people would not easily know why they were not going to the 
kitchen to prepare meals. The Nzema also refer to a menstruating woman as someone who 
has 'gone far from home' as expressed in (44). This indicates that the woman (in that state) is 
somewhat isolated and prevented from certain duties in the home, including cooking. In 
(45), the flow of blood (which occurs monthly) is described by the Nzema as a stranger who 
comes to visit the woman periodically. In (46), the period of menstruating is considered as a 
kind of debt that is paid by the woman in such circumstance. Once the month ends (that is, 
the time for her menses is due), the woman must pay her monthly debt, and that is the 
process of menstruating. All the foregoing examples, which are culturally established, are 
euphemistic means of discussing sexuality and its related matters within the socio-cultural 
milieu of the people of Nzema.

Conclusion
This paper sought to explore the euphemistic-metaphoric ways of mentioning certain words 
that are deemed unmentionable in the context of discussing sexuality among the Nzema; 
basing the analysis on the notions of Goddard's (2006) Ethno-pragmatic paradigm. The 
paper has brought to the fore various sexual discourse categories and how the Nzema 
employ convenient means to discuss them; indicating that Nzema communication about sex 
and its related issues are 'context-dependent'. The paper found that the Nzema 
euphemistically describe the male sexual organ as 'a stick/tree', 'a pestle', 'a gun' and 'a 
match', while conceptualising the female sexual organ as 'property', 'mortar', 'palace', 
'Bible/book' and '?ba'. It demonstrated that the Nzema as part of their culture do not 'freely' 
utter vulgar words; especially those related to sexuality and menstruation; instead, they 
resort to culturally established euphemistic strategies as 'a face-saving mechanism' and to 
mitigate the discomforts and embarrassments that might be caused when a listener hears 
such obscene utterances. Among other interesting observations, as the discussions 
showcased, was that the youth (young men) besides the traditionally recognised sexual 
euphemisms, had constructed what I refer to in this paper as 'recent euphemistic-

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metaphors' in describing the act of sex; perceiving the activity as a means of piercing an 
object, driving a vehicle and reading a text. The findings further explicated that the Nzema 
endeavour to escape the mentioning of fual? 'menstruation' because it is perceived to be 
filthy and an eyesore; in essence, they 'beautify' it by describing it as a stranger/visitor, a way 
of paying monthly debt, among others. Ndlovu (2018: 133) rightly postulates that: “In Africa, 
words for sex, penis, vagina, anus, buttocks, and such terminologies are tabooed; rather, 
euphemisms are created for them”. It is evident from the findings of this research that Nzema 
traditional values and attitudes regarding the mention of sexual organs are highly 
supportive of Ndlovu's assertion. Overall, it is revealed that one's understanding of sexual 
discourse among the Nzema requires a fair knowledge of their cultural etiquettes regarding 
their linguistic choices on sexuality.                 

Appendix

Abbreviations Used

PSN          Personal name

1SG          1st person singular                              

2SG          2nd person singular

3SG          3rd person singular

1PL          1st  person plural                                 

3PL           3rd person plural                             

NEG         Negative marker                                

DEF          Definite article                                  

COND          Conditional marker

CON.PT        Conditional particle

CDET            Clausal determiner                                        

PERF            Perfect marker 

POSS            Possessive marker                                                                                                                                                             

EMPH          Emphatic 

CONJ           Conjunction

HAB             Habitual marker

FUT              Future marker

PROG           Progressive marker

IMP               Imperative

DEM             Demonstrative pronoun
PL                 Plural marker
COMP          Complementiser
FOC              Focus marker
COP              Copula verb
      

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COOU Journal of Arts and Humanities (CJAH) Vol. 5 No. 3, 2020

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