scholarly journals Sexual taboos and euphemisms in Igbo: An anthropolinguistic appraisal

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 112-148
Author(s):  
Osita Gerald Nwagbo

Due to face-threatening effect of taboo words, euphemisms are used to replace them for the sake of politeness. Several studies have been carried out on sexual taboos across cultures, including Igbo, but most have centrally focused on euphemisms for sex organs, with inadequate attention paid to the sex act itself. As a result, this study examines euphemisms about sex or copulation in Igbo with a view to delineating the categories and strategies employed by Igbo to express them. Through Participant and Non-participant Observation, data (11 conversations) were collected, from 22 participants comprising 16 men and 6 women across 6 different settings in Lagos State, Nigeria. The result showed that participants used two major strategies (idiomatic expressions and symbols) and coinage to euphemise the act of sex. Two broad categories of sex found were explicit euphemisms representing the common type, and opaque euphemisms representing the uncommon type. However, both categories are existing words in the language that are imbued with new meanings to achieve the censoring objective. The alternative forms adequately serve the intended purpose because they mask and obscure the tabooed subject and hence save the face of interlocutors.

2012 ◽  
Vol 2012 ◽  
pp. 1-3
Author(s):  
Nicholas George Zaorsky ◽  
Jin Jun Luo

Classic Raymond syndrome consists of ipsilateral abducens impairment, contralateral central facial paresis, and contralateral hemiparesis. However, subsequent clinical observations argued on the presentation of facial involvement. To validate this entity, we present a case of classic Raymond syndrome with contralateral facial paresis. A 50 year-old man experienced acute onset of horizontal diplopia, left mouth drooling and left-sided weakness. Neurological examination showed he had right abducens nerve palsy, left-sided paresis of the lower part of the face and limbs, and left hyperreflexia. A brain MRI showed a subacute infarct in the right mid-pons. The findings were consistent with those of classic Raymond syndrome. To date, only a few cases of Raymond syndrome, commonly without facial involvement, have been reported. Our case is a validation of classic Raymond syndrome with contralateral facial paresis. We propose the concept of two types of Raymond syndrome: (1) the classic type, which may be produced by a lesion in the mid-pons involving the ipsilateral abducens fascicle and undecussated corticofacial and corticospinal fibers; and (2) the common type, which may be produced by a lesion involving the ipsilateral abducens fascicle and undecussated corticospinal fibers but sparing the corticofacial fibers.


Author(s):  
Oren Izenberg

This book offers a new way to understand the divisions that organize twentieth-century poetry. It argues that the most important conflict is not between styles or aesthetic politics, but between poets who seek to preserve or produce the incommensurable particularity of experience by making powerful objects, and poets whose radical commitment to abstract personhood seems altogether incompatible with experience—and with poems. Reading across the apparent gulf that separates traditional and avant-garde poets, the book reveals the common philosophical urgency that lies behind diverse forms of poetic difficulty—from William Butler Yeats's esoteric symbolism and George Oppen's minimalism and silence to Frank O'Hara's joyful slightness and the Language poets' rejection of traditional aesthetic satisfactions. For these poets, what begins as a practical question about the conduct of literary life—what distinguishes a poet or group of poets?—ends up as an ontological inquiry about social life: What is a person and how is a community possible? In the face of the violence and dislocation of the twentieth century, these poets resist their will to mastery, shy away from the sensual richness of their strongest work, and undermine the particularity of their imaginative and moral visions—all in an effort to allow personhood itself to emerge as an undeniable fact making an unrefusable claim.


2019 ◽  
Vol 70 (3) ◽  
pp. 184-192
Author(s):  
Toan Dao Thanh ◽  
Vo Thien Linh

In this article, a system to detect driver drowsiness and distraction based on image sensing technique is created. With a camera used to observe the face of driver, the image processing system embedded in the Raspberry Pi 3 Kit will generate a warning sound when the driver shows drowsiness based on the eye-closed state or a yawn. To detect the closed eye state, we use the ratio of the distance between the eyelids and the ratio of the distance between the upper lip and the lower lip when yawning. A trained data set to extract 68 facial features and “frontal face detectors” in Dlib are utilized to determine the eyes and mouth positions needed to carry out identification. Experimental data from the tests of the system on Vietnamese volunteers in our University laboratory show that the system can detect at realtime the common driver states of “Normal”, “Close eyes”, “Yawn” or “Distraction”


2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (SPL1) ◽  
pp. 1240-1243
Author(s):  
Pradyuman Singh Rajput ◽  
Asish Kumar Saha ◽  
Insiya Gangardiwala ◽  
Anand Vijayakumar Palur Ramakrishnan

The COVID-19 pandemic initially started from the Wuhan capital city of Hubei Province in the People's Republic of China had now led to a severe public health hazard across the globe, the recorded death is approximately 958 thousand globally and counting. With the enormous amount of spread of the disease, a severe crisis for Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) is being noticed across the globe. Face masks being the first line of defence for all the healthcare workers as well for the common public. It became mandatory to wear face masks before entering the patient care area. The countries who are not manufacturing it locally had to depend on other countries for the procurement. As there is a severe supply chain disruption due to the lockdown measures taken by all the countries to contain the disease, so it had become difficult to procure the face masks from the manufacturing countries. The price for these PPEs is also rising at an alarming rate with the increase in the COVID-19 cases and the huge rate of consumption by the healthcare and other sectors. Therefore, with limited resources, the hospital has to run its services. The CDC, WHO and ICMR have released several guidelines from time to time for sterilization and reuse of face masks. This article will discuss the various methods that can be utilized to sterilize the face masks and reuse of it.


2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 65-69
Author(s):  
Mao Nguyen Van ◽  
Dong Tran Nam

Background: Pigmented tumour of the skin is one of the common tumour in human including the benign pigmented tumours (more common) called Nevi tumours and the malignant one called melanoma which was less frequent but the most poor in prognosis. In addition, the others not belonging to these group had the same clinical appearance, so the application of histopathology and immunohistochemistry for the definitive diagnosis was indespensible. Objectives: 1. To describe the macroscopic features of the pigmented tumoral-like lesions; 2. To classify the histopathologic types of the pigmented cell tumours and the other pigmented tumours of the skin. Materials and Method: Cross-sectional research on 55 patients diagnosed as pigmented tumoral lesions by clinician, then all definitively diagnosed by histopathology combining the immunohistochemistry in difficult cases. Results: There was no difference in gender, the disease was discovered most common in adult, especially with the age over 51 years old (58.1%). the most region located was in the face accounting for 60%, following the trunk and limbs (14.6%, 12.8% respectively). All 3 malignant melanomas happened in foot. The most common color of the lesions was black (65.4%), the other ones were rose, grey and blue. Histopathology and immunohisthochemistry showed that the true pigmented cell tumours were 52.6% encompassing benign ones (Nevi tumour) (41.8%), melanoma (5.4%) and lentigo (5.4%). 47.4% was not the true pigmented cell tumour including pigmented basocellular carcinoma (36.4%) and the others less common as histiofibromas, acanthoma and papilloma. Conclusion: the pigmented tumoral-like lesions of the skin could be the true pigmented cell tumours and the others, so the application of the histopathology and the immunohistochemistry after the clinical discovery helps to determine and classify the disease definitely and for the best orientation of treatment as well. Key words: skin tumour, benign pigmented tumour (Nevi), malignant pigmented tumour (melanoma), pigmented basocellular carcinoma


1988 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 239-246
Author(s):  
Mohammad A. Siddiqui

IntroductionCommunication today is increasingly seen as a process through whichthe exchange and sharing of meaning is made possible. Commtinication asa subject of scientific inquiry is not unique to the field of mass communication.Mathematicians, engineers, sociologists, psychologists, political scientists,anthropologists, and speech communicators have been taking an interest inthe study of communication. This is not surprising because communicationis the basic social process of human beings. Although communication hasgrown into a well developed field of study, Muslim scholars have rdrely hcusedon the study of communication. Thus, a brief introduction to the widely usedcommunication concepts and a framework for the study of communicationwithin the context of this paper is provided.In 1909, Charles Cooley defined communication from a sociologicalperspective as:The mechanism through which human relations exist and develop -all the symbols of mind, together with the means of conveyingthem through space and preserving them in time. It includes theexpression of the face, attitude and gesture, the tones of the voice,words, writing, printing, railways, telegraph, and whatever elsemay be the latest achievement in the conquest of space and time.In 1949, two engineers, Claude Shannon and Warren Weaver, definedcommunication in a broader sense to include all procedures:By which one mind may affect another. This, of course, involvesnot only written and oral speeches, but also music, the pictorialarts, the theater, the ballet, and, in kct, all human behavior.Harold Lasswell, a political scientist, defines communication simply as:A convenient way to describe the act of communication is to answerthe following question: Who, says what, in which channel, towhom, with what effect?S.S. Stevens, a behavioral psychologist, defines the act of communication as:Communication occurs when some environmental disturbance (thestimulus) impinges on an organism and the organism doessomething about it (makes a discriminatory response) . . . Themessage that gets no response is not a commnication.Social psychologist Theodore Newcomb assumes that:In any communication situation, at least two persons will becommunicating about a common object or topic. A major functionof communication is to enable them to maintain simultaneousorientation toward one another and toward the common object ofcommunication.Wilbur Schramm, a pioneer in American mass communication research,provides this definition:When we communicate we are trying to share information, anidea, or an attitude. Communication always requires threeelements-the source, the message, and the destination (thereceiver).


Author(s):  
Nooreddine Iskandar ◽  
Tatiana Rahbany ◽  
Ali Shokor

Abstract Background: Due to the common instability caused by political and security issues, Lebanese hospitals have experienced acts of terrorism multiple times. The most recent Beirut Explosion even forced several hospitals to cease operations for the first time in decades—but studies show the preparedness levels for such attacks in similar countries are low. Objective: The aim of this study is to explore the experience of Lebanese hospitals with terrorist attacks. Methods: This qualitative study used semi-structured interviews with various stakeholders to assess their experience with terrorist bombings. Data was analyzed using the thematic analysis method. Results: The researchers found that Lebanese hospitals vary greatly in their structures and procedures. Those differences are a function of 3 contextual factors: location, culture, and accreditation status. Hospitals found near ‘dangerous zones’ were more likely to be aware and to have better response to such events. A severe lack of communication, unity of command, and collaboration between stakeholders has made the process fragmented. Conclusion: The researchers recommend a larger role for the Ministry of Public Health (MOPH) in this process, and the creation of a platform where Lebanese organizations can share their experiences to improve preparedness and resilience of the Lebanese healthcare system in the face of terrorism.


2007 ◽  
Vol 56 (7) ◽  
pp. 921-929 ◽  
Author(s):  
Esvet Mutlu ◽  
Allison J. Wroe ◽  
Karla Sanchez-Hurtado ◽  
Jon S. Brazier ◽  
Ian R. Poxton

Clostridium difficile isolates (n=149) collected in south-east Scotland between August and October 2005 were typed by four different methods and their susceptibility to seven different antibiotics was determined. The aims were to define the types of strain occurring in this region and to determine whether there were any clonal relationships among them with respect to genotype and antibiotic resistance pattern. Ribotyping revealed that 001 was the most common type (n=113, 75.8 %), followed by ribotype 106 (12 isolates, 8.1 %). The majority of the isolates (96.6 %, n=144) were of toxinotype 0, with two toxinotype V isolates and single isolates of toxinotypes I, IV and XIII. PCR and restriction analysis of the fliC gene from 147 isolates gave two restriction patterns: 145 of pattern VII and two of pattern I. Binary toxin genes were detected in only three isolates: two isolates of ribotype 126, toxinotype V, and one isolate of ribotype 023, toxinotype IV. S-types showed more variation, with 64.5 % (n=40) of the common S-type (4939) and 21 % (n=13) of S-type 4741, with six other S-types (one to three isolates each). All ribotype 001 isolates were of the same S-type (4939), with three isolates of other ribotypes being this S-type. No resistance was found to metronidazole or vancomycin, with resistance to tetracycline only found in 4.3 % of the isolates. A high proportion of isolates were resistant to clindamycin (62.9 %), moxifloxacin, ceftriaxone (both 87.1 %) and erythromycin (94.8 %). Resistance to three antibiotics (erythromycin, clindamycin and ceftriaxone) was seen in 66 isolates, with erythromycin, ceftriaxone and moxifloxacin resistance seen in 96 isolates. Resistance to all four of these antibiotics was found in 62 isolates and resistance to five (the above plus tetracycline) in one isolate: a ribotype 001, toxinotype 0 strain. Whilst ribotype 001 was the most commonly encountered type, there was no evidence of clonal relationships when all other typing and antibiotic resistance patterns were taken into account.


1780 ◽  
Vol 70 ◽  
pp. 354-377 ◽  

Sir, As you had recommended to me the examination of the air at sea by the nitrous test, I followed your advice in my return to the Continent in the beginning of November last: and I embraced that opportunity with the more eagerness, as I knew that you had given credit to the account of several consumptive people having recovered their health by going on sea voyages, after the common means for curing that distemper had failed. I was in hopes likewise to find in this inquiry, a confirmation of what you conjectured in you Anniversary Discourse in the year 1773, viz . that great bodies of water, such as seas and lakes, are conducive to the health of animals, by purifying and cleansing the air contaminated by their breathing in it: so that the salutary gales, by which this infected air is conveyed to the waters, and by them returned again to the land, though they do rise now and then to storms and hurricanes, must nevertheless induce us to trace and to reverse in them the ways of a beneficent Being, who, not fortuitously, but with design, not in wrath, but in mercy, thus shakes the waters and the air together, to bury in the deep those pestilential effluvia which the vegetables upon the face of the earth are insufficient to consume.


1914 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 538-594
Author(s):  
Benjamin B. Warfield

In a recent number of The Harvard Theological Review, Professor Douglas Clyde Macintosh of the Yale Divinity School outlines in a very interesting manner the religious system to which he gives his adherence. For “substance of doctrine” (to use a form of speech formerly quite familiar at New Haven) this religious system does not differ markedly from what is usually taught in the circles of the so-called “Liberal Theology.” Professor Macintosh has, however, his own way of construing and phrasing the common “Liberal” teaching; and his own way of construing and phrasing it presents a number of features which invite comment. It is tempting to turn aside to enumerate some of these, and perhaps to offer some remarks upon them. As we must make a selection, however, it seems best to confine ourselves to what appears on the face of it to be the most remarkable thing in Professor Macintosh's representations. This is his disposition to retain for his religious system the historical name of Christianity, although it utterly repudiates the cross of Christ, and in fact feels itself (in case of need) quite able to get along without even the person of Christ. A “new Christianity,” he is willing, to be sure, to allow that it is—a “new Christianity for which the world is waiting”; and as such he is perhaps something more than willing to separate it from what he varyingly speaks of as “the older Christianity,” “actual Christianity,” “historic Christianity,” “actual, historical Christianity.” He strenuously claims for it, nevertheless, the right to call itself by the name of “Christianity.”


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