A Comparative Study of Taboo Expressions Related to Residence in Korean and Mongolian

1 Introduction

Taboo expressions related to living space in Korea and Mongolia contain life experiences which have been acquired over a long time in a given natural environment as well as wisdom that enables one to overcome hardship.^[1] Furthermore, taboo expressions in Korean and Mongolian societies have been positioned as very important behavioral and moral standards, to the extent that auspicious signs and a feeling of foreboding are acknowledged in everyday life, in both actions and words. Thus, expression, style, or the symbolic system of taboo expressions related to living space in Korea and Mongolia, which are broadly classified into sedentary and nomadic culture, appear in various ways due to differences in customary law, gender, religion, and politics in the applicable nation.

Taboo expressions related to residential area in the two languages are clearly shaped by cultural or religious differences between Korea and Mongolia, as shown by language patterns that reflect these distinct standards. In other words, a language phenomenon based on sedentary culture as well as Confucian and Taoist ideologies appears in Korea, while a language phenomenon based on nomadic culture in addition to shamanism and Buddhist ideology often appears in Mongolia.^[2] Similar to analogy in sociolinguistics, this language phenomenon illustrates principles and processes of formation that play a crucial role in the formation of ethnic and indigenous etymological systems. The target of this research is limited to language material recorded in South Korea, excluding North Korea in the examination of Korean, and language material recorded in Outer Mongolia, excluding Inner Mongolia for examining Mongolian. Additionally, the research will focus on five subjects – toilets, movings, women, braziers, and roofs – which are considered relatively important among various taboo words or idiomatic expressions related to residence.

2 Comparing the Concepts of Taboo Language in Korea and Mongolia

Although taboo expressions and euphemistic expressions in Korean and Mongolian have a close relationship in terms of function and meaning, it is necessary to clearly distinguish the two concepts.^[3] Generally, euphemistic language in Korean and Mongolian has three functions: avoidance, courtesy, and camouflage. Of these, avoidance is particularly linked to taboos, such as those surrounding death. Therefore, while euphemistic language often arises in response to taboo subjects, it does not replace taboo language.

With regard to concepts of taboo language, terms like “taboo word” and “taboo proverb” are used in Korean. Linguistically, taboo language is described as folk language, while taboo proverbs are described as idiomatic phrases directing taboo targets and actions. For example, the word “die” is considered taboo in Korean. A traditional proverb, “When one opens a crock after seeing a dead body, the taste of soy sauce changes,” reflects this taboo, as it indirectly refers to death.^[4] On the contrary, the Mongolian language does not distinguish between taboo words and idiomatic expressions. Both are considered as taboo, which marks a noticeable difference from the Korean language.

As taboo words reflect the society in which they are used, taboo language related to life in Korea and Mongolia, the subject of this research, has differentiating characteristics reflecting sedentary culture (Korea) and nomadic culture (Mongolia), while, at the same time, representing the specific period or region’s social characteristics. By focusing on such factors contained in taboo words, this study aims to reveal aspects of the belief systems and daily lives of Koreans and Mongolians. It will do so by analyzing the linguistic characteristics of taboo words in both languages, as well as various styles of expression in their surface and deeper meanings, also referred to as sociocultural meanings.

3 Toilet

Toilet, a taboo word in both Mongolian and Korean, has many euphemistic words and taboo expressions. In Korean, for example, byeonso (便所, toilet) is expressed euphemistically as cheuk (厠, room in the back), cheukcheong (厠圊, room in the back), cheukgan (厠間, room in the back), cheuksil (側室, backroom), honcheuk (溷厠, dirty place), tongsi (東屎, space to have a bowel movement) dongsa (東司, space to have a bowel movement), seogak (西閣, building on the west), geubhande (space to do needs in a hurry), jakeunjib (small house, space to urinate), bujeonghande (in denial, dirty place), dwitgan (restroom, room in the back), jeongbang (淨房, clean room), hoechijang (灰治粧, space built for excretion), jeongrang (淨廊, clean place, world of Buddha), cheongrang (圊廊, clean place), haeusil (解憂室, room to be worry-free),^[5] buksugan (北水間, place to wash the genital area or anus), mehwagan (梅花間, room where there are plum blossoms), and hwajangsil (化粧室, space for toilet use). In contrast to Korean, it used to be referred to as “to go and see one’s horse” (mori harah), “to fix one’s body” (biye zasah), and “toilet” (z’orlon) in Mongolian. The number of its expressions in Mongolian is very low, and the reason why the Korean language has more taboo words related to “byeonso (toilet)” is because the toilet is considered as shared communal space in Mongolia, while in Korea it is considered as a part of the living space, like the kitchen or living room.

In the past, in Korea, the dwitgan (뒷간, toilet) was placed as far as possible from the main building of the house or sarangchae. According to the ruins found in Iksan Wanggung-ri of Korea in 1989, noblemen in Baekje – one of the ancient Korean kingdoms – used a public toilet, which was East Asia’s first flush toilet. Dating back to the third or early fourth century, it was installed outside a fence. Also found in the ruins was a portable tiger-shaped urinal and a bedpan^[6] in Gunsu-ri, Buyeo-gun, Chungnam in Korea.

The lavatory of an outhouse was also located outside, beyond the gate. This often led to the fear of going outside to the dwitgan late at night, which intensified with the idea of the dwitgansin (뒷간神, deity residing in a lavatory). The dwitgansin is the deity of one’s family which is directly connected to shamanism (家神, deity of one’s family).^[7] Regarding religious beliefs, it was called byeonsogaksi (便所, newly married woman, female deity residing at the toilet), chikganjosin (厠間司命, deity guarding the toilet), jeongnanggaksi (淨廊, newly married woman, female deity residing at a clean space), chiksibuin (側屎夫人, married female deity residing at a space to move the bowels), and chikdobuin (厠度夫人, married woman in charge of a custom regarding the toilet). Two suffixes that appear in words for the deities of the lavatory, -gaksi (각시, woman who has not married yet) and -buin (婦人, married woman) reveal the idea of a “young woman who has not married yet” or a “married woman who is sensitive and changeable and enjoys going to toilet” in Korea, both of which were considered something one should be cautious of.^[8] Table 1 below displays taboo expressions related to toilet use in the Korean and Mongolian languages.

As shown in the taboo expressions above, actions such as moving or fixing a lavatory, scratching one’s head, ggaggeuragi (까그라기, rough beard on a grain of rice and barley) on a hand, falling into a lavatory, and making and eating rice cakes are all closely related to worship of cheuksin (厠神, deity guarding the toilet), which is one of gasin (家神, deity of one’s family) in Korea. Because one feared a female deity governing the custom of the toilet, the action of speaking or acting thoughtlessly in the toilet was prohibited. On the other hand, in Mongolia, when one saw a night sky, especially Polaris, moving the bowels was prohibited. Indeed, for generations Mongolians had considered the night sky a sacred area where the sky god lived and thus believed that when one violated this space or any of its associated customs, one aroused the anger of the sky god and would receive immediate punishment or misfortune.

The Korean taboo expression, “Moving a lavatory is bad,” a tradition of worshipping cheukgansin (厠間神, deity guarding the toilet), which is one of various gasin (家神, deity of one’s family), can be explored from a deep tradition of agriculture. In Mongolia, as seen with the taboo expression, “If you see Polaris, you are prohibited from moving the bowels,” the lavatory was considered part of the sacred universe. This can be traced to shamanistic beliefs which revered the sky as the highest object of worship and honored the Earth god Hanagi, who was respected as the matrix of life.^[9]

4 Moving

Isa (移徙, moving), iju (移住, moving a living place), ijeon (移轉, leaving), and jeonchul (轉出, leaving to move to another place) in the Korean language,^[10] and nu’uh, s’ilz’ih, and otorloh in the Mongolian language, which represent relocating the living space, are remnants of representative words that reflect the indigenous agriculture and nomadic cultures of Korea and Mongolia.

While isa, iju, ijeon, and jeonchul in Korean mean moving residence, nu’uh, s’ilz’ih, and otorloh in Mongolian mean searching for good pastures as part of the nomadic culture. This illustrates a clear cultural difference and the core principles and processes in the formation of linguistic expressions.

Korea and Mongolia share both commonalities and differences regarding customs surrounding movement. In the past, in Korea, when one travelled a long distance, they feared the son (a ghost interfering with one’s work by following them and changing direction according to specific days). To avoid misfortune, one selected a lucky day (吉日, good day) when the son was believed to be inactive.

As an abbreviated form of a guest, the son was also called dusin (痘神, a ghost thought to call from door to door and cause people to suffer from smallpox). This figure was known by many names, including gangnambyeolseong (江南別星, a ghost calling from door to door and causing smallpox), byeolseong (別星, a ghost causing smallpox), mama (a term for contagious smallpox), yeoksin (疫神, a ghost that spread infectious disease), hogubyeolseong (戶口別星, a ghost calling from door to door and causing smallpox), hogwi (戶鬼, a ghost calling from door to door), and hogwibyeolseong (戶鬼別星, a ghost calling from door to door and causing smallpox).^[11] It is believed that these female ghosts were active at different times and in different directions: in the east on the second day of the month; in the south on the third and fourth days; in the west on the fifth and sixth days; and in the north on the seventh and eighth days. The son was thought to not be present on the ninth, tenth, nineteenth, twentieth, twenty-ninth, and thirtieth days of the month, as it ascended to the sky.

In Mongolian, various words correspond to the Korean son (손, devil): c’o’tgor (devil), zetger (devil), s’ulmas (witch), ad (devil), and satan (ghost). Like the Korean dusin (두신, devil), the c’o’tgor of Mongolia was also a ghost that called from door to door, bringing illness or death to children. Oberfalzerová, a Czech scholar of Mongolian studies, explains the characteristics of such a devilish figure in his book Metaphors and Nomads:

Hu’uhed ho’lsoh (fig., a bewitched child). This metaphor is used in situations when a child, a very little child, a baby, and so on starts to cry terribly and does not stop when the ger is visited by some person, then they say; “That comes from a demon!”, hu’uhed orooh (lit., to wrap a child; fig., a child is under the influence of some negative force) – c’otgor, a child suffers from by many diseases.^[12]

On the other hand, there is the Mongolian expression, “Asriin gurvan guravt” (three days of ominous foreboding, which are not godsent),^[13] which originated from Tibetan and corresponded to the Korean concept of “days without [the] son.” This taboo expression naturally integrated into the nomadic culture of Mongolians after the introduction of Buddhism to the Mongolian plateau. At present, the fifth, fourteenth, and twenty-third day of every month are considered the “three days of ominous foreboding,” on which movement is forbidden.^[14] Regarding this taboo expression which originated from Tibetan custom, Oberfalzerová explains the influence of Tibetan Buddhism on the lives of Mongolians as follows: “From the sixteenth century, Lamaism became the predominant religion (and in Mongolia it is truly a religion), which absorbed the system of good and bad omens in an almost unchanged form. This became a kind of purifying institution, whose chief task (mainly that of the lamas) is to remove the consequences of wrong deeds, to neutralize evil, and to purify a person of it (Table 2–4).”^[15]

The common ground among taboo expressions related to moving in Korean and Mongolian lies in the influence of Tibetan Buddhism. The Korean concept of “day without the son” and “Asriin gurvan guravt” (foreboding three days) in Mongolian reflect such influence. The belief in saengsahwabok (生死禍福, living, dying, and being subject to misfortune and fortune) can be seen as an idiomatic expression rooted in the faith of a heaven-sent sky god (天神).

However, there is a distinct difference in the customs of moving in Korea and Mongolia. Whereas it was considered proper to make a hole in a door, leave doors open, or make a mess during a move in Korea, it was encouraged to clean the site whenever possible in Mongolia. This was because Mongolians nomads anticipated returning to the same location when the season changed, and thus they sometimes marked their sites with stone heaps.

5 Woman

Taboo expressions related to domestic life in Korea and Mongolia appear in connection to household management: buin, the person responsible for housekeeping (婦人, married woman), jibsaram,^[16] the wife (妻, a woman who became a partner of a man through marriage), and gerhu’n (a woman who managed the home).

The representative Mongolian word gerhu’n is a compound of ger (house) and hu’n (person). Gergii, hatagtai, avgai, ehner, and bu’sgu’i,^[17] which all mean buin or “wife,” have a form similar to gerhu’n. In Korean, jibsaram means ansaram (wife of the household), naeja (內者, woman of the household), gyejib (female, woman), buin (婦人, one’s wife), anae (wife, woman who became one’s partner through marriage), anjuin (female head of the household), manura (elderly wife), and jieom (one’s own wife).^[18] Like “jib + saram,” these words show similar modes of formation to those in Mongolian.^[19]

The language phenomenon which appears in these woman-centered names and taboo words shows that the Korean and Mongolian societies share a conceptual structure based on ancient matriarchal social systems.

As shown above, when taboo words related to women in Korean and Mongolian and terms for heads of households are analyzed from an etymological perspective, it is seen that they all reflect transitional processes in the evolution of the family system in human society. In Korean, manura was originally an honorific title (for buin) to refer to one’s master or a person of high status, such as a king or queen: “man” of manura is derived from a word meaning “head,” while ura originates from orae,^[20] meaning “door” (門) or “one’s family” (家門). The term manura refers to a woman of high status, reflecting a matriarchal society.

In Mongolian, avgai (wife), which is the equivalent of buin, combines av (father) and gai (woman who manages housework). Some Mongolians condescendingly interpret this name to mean “She becomes a lifetime burden after marriage.” This reflects how both manura in Korean and avgai in Mongolian were originally honorific names but were later reduced to terms which degraded the wife.

Sexual and hierarchical division in Korean and Mongolian households reflected the culture of the time and its thinking. In traditional Korean homes, men occupied the southern and eastern parts, while women occupied the northern and the western parts, representing a balance of yin and yang. In contrast, in a traditional Mongolian ger, men occupied the western part and women the eastern parts.

6 Brazier

In Mongolia, the youngest son traditionally inherited the household finances and became its custodian. The term otgon, which means the youngest, originated from the Turkic language and means “king of fire” or “owner of fire.”^[21] The meaning of gal golomt (brazier), which has been used since ancient times, has two meanings: gal and golomt. Gal refers to the ancestral fire of the ger; in other words, the “fire of the brazier.” Golomt refers a tree or pillar in the center of a location. As fire was located in the location of a golomt, gal golomt encompasses the following meanings: a bondstone for creating fire, its ashes, a tree containing sparks, and the aforementioned pillar. Gal golomt is considered the most precious place in the Mongolian home. If the home were a country, gal golomt would be its capital.^[22]

In Korea, hwaro (火爐, fire pot), hwadeok (火, brazier), and gama (가마, kiln) were objects that were used for heating or cooking, typically in the kitchen where the jowangsin (조왕神, kitchen god) resided, the second most revered deity after seongjusin (聖主神, the household god). Along with ashery, where ashes were used as manure, hwaro, hwadeo, and gama were highly valued in Korea’s agricultural society and as such were (symbolically) placed in the center of the kitchen.

The Korean god of fire, who is also the brazier deity, is hwadeokjingun (火德眞君, god who rules fire), who oversees fire in the shamanistic myth;^[23] it corresponds to the god of fire (galiin burhan) in Mongolia. A total of 78 gods exist in Korean shamanistic mythology. Of these, four play major roles alongside cheonjiwang (天地王, god of the sky and land), the Great Jade Emperor: beongaejanggun (번개將軍, god of thunder and lightning), byeorakjanggun (벼락將軍, god who controls fire), hwadeokjingun (火德眞君, god who rules fire), and pungudosa (風雨道師, god of wind and rain).

The gods of Korean mythology were heavily influenced by Taoism and Buddhism. In particular, most gods of the sky, including the Great Jade Emperor, were influenced by Taoism because of the freedom of religion which was part of Chinggis Khaan’s thirteenth-century policy. The term burhan (Buddha) in galiin Burhan reveals the Buddhish influence in Mongolian culture, indicating the god’s role in protecting the household.

Fire, ashes, and embers are viewed as important in both Korean and Mongolian domestic life. Funeral rites in both cultures have individuals lighting fire and passing through it to purify their spirit when returning from a burial.

The brazier in both Korean and Mongolian domestic life is treated as a sacred object and protected from misfortune. Not only the fire of a brazier but also skylights and thresholds are seen as sacred, symbolically linked to the sky, and treated with care.

7 Roof

The Korean words jibung (지붕, roof), okgae (屋蓋, roof), cheonjang (天障, skylight), and cheonjong (天井, skylight)^[24] mean the top of a house. In Mongolian, the equivalent words toono, gegeevc, and deever^[25] are rich in symbolism and shamanistic tradition, presenting the sky as the highest point of reverence.

From ancient times, Koreans, who also held a tradition of viewing the sky as the highest point of reverence, called the roof jibung (지붕) or okgae (屋蓋,), representing its position as the highest point of the home. They also used the terms cheonjang (天障) and cheonjong (天井), both meaning skylight, to metaphorically refer to the roof as the palace of the emperor (天皇), as seen from within a room.

Toono in Mongolian corresponds to jibung in Korean, with both referring to a skylight or an opening for ventilation. When Mongolians built a new ger, they first installed a skylight (toono) at the top of the ger while reading celebratory poetry. This tradition connects to the historical development of Mongolian houses. In ancient times, Mongolian lived in huts dug into the grounds with roofs of mud. These dwellings did not have a door, with skylights (toono) used as a point of entrance and exit instead. Soon, an o’rh (a cover for the skylight) was added to the o’rh ail (home), which resembles modern familial traditions valuing skylight.^[26] As Mongolians believed that all auspicious light or signs enter through the roof, they greatly revere it. Further, as the skylight is a point of entry for light, it is also called gegeevc.

In Korean, cheonjang, which describes the emperor’s palace, reflects the linguistic phenomenon influenced by Confucian and Taoist ideologies. The Mongolian term toono reflects the ideology of a sky god, worshiped as the most powerful deity, and has shamanistic influences.

Ceilings in both Korean and Mongolian living spaces carry deep cosmological meanings, symbolizing the vastness of the transcendental universe and the comparative insignificance of the human beings that inhabit this space. The sky above the ceiling was a sacred realm where the individual went after death. Both societies saw roofs, sacred trees, and birds as connecting the moral and heavenly realms.

As demonstrated in the taboo words and idiomatic expressions above, the Korean language reflects Confucian and Taoist traditions which were introduced from China. Thus, the space in the home which is connected to the jibung (roof), such as the cheonjang (天障, ceiling), chunyeo (angle, rafter), and yongmaru (ridge of the roof), carries many taboo words and idiomatic expressions that are held sacred.

On the other hand, only the skylight of the ger is held sacred in Mongolia, as well as words and idiomatic expressions related to the light of the sky and the shamanistic ideology of the sky god. These concepts often appear in Mongolian language and culture. First, paragraph 246^[27] of Secret History of the Mongols, written in the thirteenth century, states, “After the death of shaman who took [the] sky as the best target for worship, the shaman opened a ceiling of ger and left along with [his] body.” This reflects the extent to which Mongolians in the Middle Ages revered the skylight of the ger to which the sky is connected. Second, idiomatic expressions related to light further reflect Mongolians’ reverence of the skylight. Mongolian folk tales describe sunlight as light permeating a woman’s body and causing pregnancy,^[28] as seen with Alangua in the Secret History of the Mongols.

This belief in the power of light relates to the influence of good fortune and the transition of the soul after death. The ceiling of the ger features prominently in tales such as Alangua in Secret history of the Mongols and in traditional Mongolian delivery rites. When a pregnant woman experiences labor pains, the custom is to wind a long skein of thread around a pillar near the brazier up to the ceiling and then tie it outside. Such a ritual reflects the belief that new life is given by the sky.

8 Conclusions

This study has examined the types and patterns of taboo words and idiomatic expressions related to domestic life in the Korean and Mongolian languages. The development of taboo words is affected by various various socio-psychological factors. As Korea and Mongolia have different natural environments and different traditions, distinct religious and cultural worldviews formed in each country, which have had a profound effect on linguistic expression. This study explored such a development through taboo expressions, and classified taboo words and idiomatic expressions related to life in Korea and Mongolia into five subjects: toilets, movings, women, braziers, and roofs. The key findings are summarized below.

First, with regard to the toilet, in Korean, taboo words and idiomatic expressions related to situations in which one fixes or falls into the toilet were explored through the Korean fear and reverence of the female god of the toilet. Expressions to prohibit disrespectful behavior in the toilet were explored; the expression, “If you see Polaris, you are prohibited from moving the bowels,” further shows the reverence for gods in this space. Mongolian beliefs show reverence for deities of the sky and earth, with the latter revered as a matriarch.

Second, although there are cultural differences between farming and nomadic lifestyles, both cultures contain expressions that reflect a fear of ghosts interfering in the act of moving. Both Korean and Mongolian reflect Tibetan Buddhism, such as selecting a day when there is no spiritual interference (吉日, lucky day) in moving.

Third, most words in both languages that refer to a married woman are compound words, such as jibsaram. The idiomatic expressions were formed from expressions that reflected the matriarchal society that emphasized women’s domestic roles, such as housework.

Fourth, with regard to braziers, words and idiomatic expressions of both countries had a shared reverence of the fire god, with fire in the living space seen as sacred.

Finally, most idiomatic expressions related to the roof in Korean were expressions that regarded it and its connected parts (angles, rafters, and ridges) as sacred due to Confucian and Taoist influences from China. In contrast, idiomatic expressions in Mongolian mostly comprised of expressions revering the ceiling of the ger due belief in the sky god.^[29]