We don’t make much of a fuzz about it here on Period!, but talking about menstruation is hard for many people. We’ve already written a lot about taboo on this site, but where does this word come from?
Linguists rarely agree on the origins of a word. What makes the origin of taboo interesting, is the fact that multiple sources trace it back to the Polynesian word tapua or tupua, which means both sacred and menstrual blood.
The Dutch linguist Michael Elias wrote a book on the origins of taboo and also recites the Polynesian heritage of the word. According to Elias, the word was first written down by the legendary explorer Captain James Cook in his log in 1777, when he discovered The Friendly Islands, now better known as Tonga. He described tapua as a word with an all-encompassing meaning, but in general it points to something that is forbidden and absolutely can’t be touched.
The Oxford English Dictionary also points to the reports from Cook and other explorers as the origin of the word. Whether or not tapua actually means menstruation in Polynesian is unclear, but there’s no doubt about the general meaning from the start: not allowed or forbidden.
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In other words
Menophopia
September 13, 2018 at 4:33 pm
The word ‘tapu’in Māori language is equivalent to the Tongan ‘tabu’or ‘tapua’ but has long been misinterpreted as meaning ‘forbidden’or ‘prohibited’. In reality, the core of the word actually means something akin to ‘sacred’, so that the ‘untouchable’ or ‘prohibitory’ aspect actually stems from the need to protect and keep pure something ‘tapu’, rather than the fact something is dirty or unsavoury. This is a prime example of colonisers distorting Polynesian language to the extent that, in this case, the word has effectively been bastardised in the English language to mean the opposite of its root word.
February 12, 2020 at 2:54 pm
Yes you are correct. Tongan bible is called tohi tapu meaning sacred writing. Tonga is called Tongatapu meaning sacred south or could mean sacred island. Although when Tongans use it in a sentence we tend to mean “don’t” in relation to a sacred object or anything relating to disobeying the tohi tapu.
January 3, 2021 at 4:41 am
There is an ancient Egyptian story about a woman called Taboubu….who punished a man for his misdemeanours. Could this be a source??