Analyzing Taboo Words in Tenganan Pegringsingan Village as Preliminary Insight Into Cultural Change

This study examines the use of taboo language within the Desa Tenganan Pegringsingan (DTP). DTP is a Bali Aga village known for strict customary norms. Traditionally, DTP’s taboo lexicon carried strong moral, religious, and social sanctions, functioning as a linguistic boundary marker. Generational change, digital media exposure, and cultural contact have led to significant reinterpretations of the past. The research uses a descriptive qualitative approach with ethnolinguistic and socio-pragmatic orientations. Taboo words are analyzed as culturally embedded expressions reflecting transformations in social norms, generational values, and ritual practices. Data were collected from ten indigenous respondents across three age groups. Findings reveal widespread semantic bleaching. Formerly offensive terms such as kawah, bangsat, and bedogol are now used in humorous, hyperbolic, or solidarity-building contexts. Non-native borrowings, such as jancuk, have entered youth speech through media and tourism. Even once-unspeakable genital-related terms now appear in casual or online discourse. These shifts demonstrate pragmatic diversification, as taboo language expands from serving as an insult or source of anger to also function as humor, emphasis, and cultural indexing. Politeness norms in DTP are increasingly context-dependent, challenging classical universality claims in politeness theory. Traditional forms, such as Samodana, remain in ceremonial contexts, but the control of language has shifted. Instead of external customary enforcement, internal moral awareness now prevails. Ultimately, these changes represent not a regression of tradition but an adaptive strategy for preserving cultural identity amid modernization and globalization.