Cover not available
Part of
Body Part Terms in Conceptualization and Language Usage
Edited by Iwona Kraska-Szlenk
[Cognitive Linguistic Studies in Cultural Contexts 12] 2020
► pp. 291–308

Cultural conceptualisations of nawsk ‘belly/stomach’ in Kurdish

Conceptualisations of body parts across languages have received a great deal of attention in recent years (Ameka, 2002; Frank et al., 2008; Maalej & Yu, 2011; Sharifian et al., 2008; Yu, 2009). Nevertheless, there have been no systematic studies examining the conceptualisations of body parts, and in particular nawsk ‘belly/stomach’, in Kurdish. To that end, the present study employs the analytical framework of Cultural Linguistics (Sharifian, 2011, 2017b) to explore Kurdish expressions of nawsk and their underlying cultural conceptualisations. The data consists of naturally occurring expressions collected through a variety of sources including a questionnaire, Kurdish online data, dictionaries, and narratives. Other sources included the author’s intuition as a native speaker and a number of Kurdish native speaker interviews. The results indicate that the body part nawsk functions as the main conceptual basis for a large number of conceptualisations in Kurdish. Nawsk is conceptualised as the locus of a wide range of emotions, attitudes, and moods. It is associated with both positive and negative emotions such as love, courage, sadness, curse, and anger. Overall, it is revealed that in Kurdish, nawsk is conceptually associated with expressing feeling, wanting, and thinking. Nawsk is metaphorically conceptualised as a container.

Keywords: Kurdish, belly/stomach, Cultural Linguistics, cultural conceptualisations, emotion
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.The language and its speakers
  • 3.Synopsis of the research design, method, and sources of data
  • 4.Cultural linguistics
  • 5.Sk and Nawsk conceptual categories
    • 5.1Sk category
    • 5.2Nawsk category
  • 6.Nawsk and conceptualisations of emotions in Kurdish
    • 6.1Nawsk as love, passion, and intimacy
    • 6.2Nawsk as sympathy, empathy, and pity
    • 6.3Nawsk as hate, curse, and revenge
    • 6.4Nawsk as complain, fear, and anger
  • 7.Nawsk conceptualisations and personality traits, character and mood
    • 7.1Wicked and devilish
    • 7.2Gluttonous and insatiable
    • 7.3Opportunistic and greedy
    • 7.4An abusive person
    • 7.5A nag
  • 8.Nawsk and conceptual metaphor
    • 8.1Nawsk can be filled or emptied
    • 8.2Nawsk can be tightened or torn
  • 9.Conceptualisations of Nawsk in Kurdish literature
  • 10.Concluding remarks
  • References
Published online: 23 March 2020
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/clscc.12.c13nos
References
Alptekin, Cem
(2002) “Towards intercultural communicative competence in ELT”. ELT Journal. 57–64. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Ameka, Felix
(2002) “Cultural scripting of body parts for emotions: On ‘jealousy’ and related emotions in Ewe”. In: Nick Enfield and Anna Wierzbicka (eds.). Pragmatics and Cognition, special issue on The body in description of emotion. 1–25.Google Scholar
Blakeslee, Sandra
(1996) Complex and hidden brain in gut makes stomachaches and butterflies. The New York Times, Jan 23. Retrieved from [URL]
Brown, Ann L.
(1994) “The advancement of learning”. Educational Researcher. 4–12. DOI logo
Bygate, Martin
(2005) “Applied linguistics: A pragmatic discipline, a generic discipline?”. Applied Linguistics. 568–581. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Dayyan, Azam, Hanieh Davatgari and Fahime Farjami
(2015) “Language, culture and cultural conceptualisation”. Indian Journal of Fundamental and Applied Life Sciences. 3632–3638.Google Scholar
Dinh, Thuy N, and Van Kieu Le
(2016) “Vietnamese cultural conceptualisations of bụng (belly) and l.ng (abdomen)”. International Journal of Language and Culture. 161–188. DOI logo. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Enfield, Nick and Anna Wierzbicka
(2002) “Introduction: The body in description of emotion”. In: Nick Enfield and Anna Wierzbicka (eds.). Pragmatics and Cognition, special issue on The body in description of emotion. 1–24.Google Scholar
Frank, Roslyn M.
et al. (eds.) (2008) Body, Language and Mind. Vol. 2: Cultural Situatedness. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.Google Scholar
Gaby, Alice
(2008) “Gut feelings: Locating intellect, emotion and lifeforce in the Thaayorre body”. In: Farzad Sharifian, Rene Dirven, Ning Yu and Sussana Niemeier (eds.), Culture, body, and language: Conceptualisations of heart and other internal body organs across languages and cultures. Berlin/New York: Mouton De Gruyter. 27–44.Google Scholar
Gibbs, Raymond. W.
(1999) “Taking metaphor out of our heads and putting it into the cultural world”. In: Raymond W. Gibbs and Gerard J. Steen (eds.), Metaphor in Cognitive Linguistics. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. 145–166. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Goddard, Cliff
(2008) “Contrastive semantics and cultural psychology: English heart vs. Malay hati”. In: Farzad Sharifian, Rene Dirven, Ning Yu and Sussana Niemeier (eds.), Culture, body, and language: Conceptualisations of heart and other internal body organs across languages and cultures. Berlin/New York: Mouton De Gruyter. 75–102.Google Scholar
Hasada, Rie
(2002) “‘Body part’ terms and emotion in Japanese”. Pragmatics and Cognition. 107–128. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Hercus, Luise, Anna
(1994) A Grammar of the Arabana-Wangkangurru Language Lake Eyre Basin, South Australia Pacific Linguistics Series C-128. Australian National University: Canberra.Google Scholar
Jiang, Wenying
(2000) “The relationship between culture and language”. ELT Journal. 328–332. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Kövecses, Zoltán
(2002) Metaphor: A Practical Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Lakoff, George
(1987) Women, fire and dangerous things. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(1992) “The contemporary theory of metaphor”. In: Andrew Orthondy (ed.), Metaphor and Thought, (2nd Ed). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 202–251.Google Scholar
Lovick, Olga
(2012) “Walking like a porcupine, talking like a raven. Figurative language in Upper Tanana Athabascan”. In: Anna Idstrom and Elizabeth Piirainen (eds.), Endangered Metaphors. Amsterdam and Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company. 103–121. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Ly, Toan, Thang
(2011) “The Vietnamese expression of BODY and SOUL: A cognitive and cultural linguistic study”. In: Srichampa Srichampa, Paul Sidwell and Kenneth Gregerson (eds.), Austroasiatic studies: Papers from ICAAL4. Mon-Khmer Studies Journal Special Issue No. 3. Dallas: SIL International; Salaya: Mahidol University; Canberra: Pacific Linguistics. 127–130.Google Scholar
Ly, Toan Thang and Kieu Van Le
(2013) A cross-cultural study of conceptualizing internal body organs in SEA languages. Paper presented at the 23rd meeting of the Southeast Asian Linguistics Society, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand.Google Scholar
Maalej, Zouheir A.
(2004) “Figurative language in anger expressions in Tunisian Arabic: An extended view of embodiment”. Metaphor and Symbol. 51–75. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Maalej, Zouheir A. and Ning Yu
(eds.) (2011) Embodiment via Body Parts: Studies from Various Languages and Cultures (Human Cognitive Processing series, 31). Amsterdam/ Philadelphia: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
MacKenzie, Ian
(2012) “English as a lingua franca in Europe: Bilingualism and multicompetence”. International Journal of Multilingualism. 83–100. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Mayer, Emeran A.
(2011) “Gut feelings: The emerging biology of gut-brain communication”. Nature Reviews Neuroscience. 453–466. Retrieved from [URL] PMC3845678/ doi: DOI logo
Nguyen, Duc Dan
(2010) Cái bụng chứa…tinh thần [belly contains… mentality]. Retrieved from [URL]
Palmer, Gary B.
(1996) Toward a theory of cultural linguistics. Austin: University of Texas Press.Google Scholar
Pasamonik, Carolina
(2012) “My heart falls out. Conceptualisations of body parts and emotion expressions”. In: Anna Idstrom and Elizabeth Piirainen (eds.), Beaver Athabascan. Endangered Metaphors. Amsterdam and Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company. 77–101. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Risager, Karen
(2007) Language and Culture Pedagogy. From a National to a Transnational Paradigm. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters Ltd. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Sharifian, Farzad
(2008a) “Conceptualisations of Del ‘heart-stomach’ and other internal body organs in Persian”. In: Farzad Sharifian, Rene Dirven, Ning Yu and Sussana Niemeier (eds.), Culture, body, and language: Conceptualisations of heart and other internal body organs across languages and cultures. Berlin/New York: Mouton De Gruyter. 247–265. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2011) Cultural Conceptualisations and Language: Theoretical Framework and Applications. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2013) “On cultural conceptualisations. Journal of Cognition and Culture”. 187–207.Google Scholar
(2014) “Advances in Cultural Linguistics”. In: Masataka Yamaguchi, Dennis Tay and Benjamin Blount (eds.), Approaches to Language, Culture, and Cognition: The Intersection of Cognitive Linguistics and Linguistic Anthropology. London: Palgrave McMillan. 99–123.Google Scholar
(2015) “Cultural Linguistics”. In: Farzad Sharifian (ed.), The Routledge handbook of language and culture. London and New York: Routledge. 437–492.Google Scholar
(ed.) (2017a) Advances in Cultural Linguistics. London/New York/Singapore: Springer. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(ed.) (2017b) Cultural Linguistics. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Sharifian, Farzad, Rene Dirven, Ning Yu and Sussana Niemeier
(eds.) (2008) Culture, body, and language: Conceptualisations of internal body organs across cultures and languages. Berlin/New York: Mouton de Gruyter. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Sharifian, Farzad and Gary B. Palmer
(eds.) (2007) Applied cultural linguistics: Implications for second language learning and intercultural communication. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Siahaan, Poppy
(2008) “Did he break your heart or your liver? A contrastive study on metaphorical concepts from the source domain ORGAN in English and in Indonesian”. In: Farzad Sharifian, Rene Dirven, Ning Yu and Sussana Niemeier (eds.), Culture, body, and language: Conceptualisations of heart and other internal body organs across languages and cultures. Berlin/New York: Mouton De Gruyter. 45–74.Google Scholar
Thuy N. Dinh and Van Kieu Thi Le
(2016) “Vietnamese cultural conceptualisations of bụng (belly) and lòng (abdomen)”. International Journal of Language and Culture. 161–188. doi DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Xu, Zhichang
(2014) “A cultural linguistics approach to Asian Englishes. Asian Englishes”. 173–179. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Yu, Ning
(2002) “Body and emotion: Body parts in Chinese expression of emotion”. Pragmatics and Cognition. 341–367. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2003) “Metaphor, body, and culture: The Chinese understanding of gallbladder and courage”. Metaphor and Symbol. 13–31. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2008) “The Chinese heart as the central faculty of cognition”. In: Farzad Sharifian, Rene Dirven, Ning Yu and Sussana Niemeier (eds.), Culture, body, and language: Conceptualisations of heart and other internal body organs across languages and cultures. Berlin/New York: Mouton De Gruyter. 373–394. doi: DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2009) From body to meaning in culture. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. doi: DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Cited by

Cited by 22 other publications

Aikhenvald, Alexandra Y.
2022. Tariana body parts in North Arawak perspective. In The Grammar of Body-Part Expressions, ► pp. 215 ff. DOI logo
Bowers, Jack
2022. Pathways and patterns of metaphor and metonymy in Mixtepec-Mixtec body-part terms. In The Grammar of Body-Part Expressions, ► pp. 91 ff. DOI logo
Coler, Matt, Bertie Kaal & Edwin Banegas-Flores
2022. The use ofnayra‘eye’ in Muylaq’ Aymara. In The Grammar of Body-Part Expressions, ► pp. 79 ff. DOI logo
Cúneo, Paola & Cristina Messineo
2022. Body parts in Toba. In The Grammar of Body-Part Expressions, ► pp. 126 ff. DOI logo
Danielsen, Swintha & Lena Terhart
2022. Body-part terms in Baure and Paunaka. In The Grammar of Body-Part Expressions, ► pp. 238 ff. DOI logo
Facundes, Sidi, Marília Freitas & Bruna Fernanda Lima-Padovani
2022. The grammar of body parts in Apurinã. In The Grammar of Body-Part Expressions, ► pp. 269 ff. DOI logo
Fleck, David W.
2022. Vestiges of body-part prefixation in Marubo. In The Grammar of Body-Part Expressions, ► pp. 401 ff. DOI logo
Hasler, Felipe, Mariana Poblete, Consuelo Sandoval, Felipe Neira, Daniela Aristegui & Ricardo Pineda
2022. Body-part terms in Mapudungun. In The Grammar of Body-Part Expressions, ► pp. 335 ff. DOI logo
Labrada, Jorge Emilio Rosés
2022. Body-part categorization and grammar in Piaroa. In The Grammar of Body-Part Expressions, ► pp. 149 ff. DOI logo
Lehmann, Christian
2022. Foundations of body-part grammar. In The Grammar of Body-Part Expressions, ► pp. 14 ff. DOI logo
Mithun, Marianne
2022. Topicality, affectedness, and body-part grammar. In The Grammar of Body-Part Expressions, ► pp. 286 ff. DOI logo
Nercesian, Verónica & Alejandra Vidal
2022. Body parts and possessive constructions in Mataguayan languages. In The Grammar of Body-Part Expressions, ► pp. 310 ff. DOI logo
Silva, W. D. L.
2022. A typology of body-part words in Eastern Tukanoan languages. In The Grammar of Body-Part Expressions, ► pp. 188 ff. DOI logo
Valenzuela, Pilar M.
2022. Plant and animal body-part terms in Shiwulu grammar. In The Grammar of Body-Part Expressions, ► pp. 373 ff. DOI logo
Zariquiey, Roberto, Jaime Montoya, Juana Ticona, Luz Carhuachín, Yessica Reyes, Roxana Quispe-Collantes, José Paz & Aarón Torres
2022. The grammar of body-part expressions in Iskonawa. In The Grammar of Body-Part Expressions, ► pp. 425 ff. DOI logo
Zariquiey, Roberto & Pilar M. Valenzuela
2022. Introduction. In The Grammar of Body-Part Expressions, ► pp. 1 ff. DOI logo
Zariquiey, Roberto & Pilar M. Valenzuela
2022. Body-part nouns, prefixation, incorporation, and compounding in Panoan and Takanan. In The Grammar of Body-Part Expressions, ► pp. 441 ff. DOI logo
Roberto Zariquiey & Pilar M. Valenzuela
2022. The Grammar of Body-Part Expressions, DOI logo
[no author supplied]
2022. List of Figures. In The Grammar of Body-Part Expressions, ► pp. vii ff. DOI logo
[no author supplied]
2022. List of Tables. In The Grammar of Body-Part Expressions, ► pp. ix ff. DOI logo
[no author supplied]
2022. Copyright Page. In The Grammar of Body-Part Expressions, ► pp. iv ff. DOI logo
[no author supplied]
2022. List of Abbreviations. In The Grammar of Body-Part Expressions, ► pp. xi ff. DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 10 may 2023. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.