Cover not available
Article published In:
Metaphor and the Social World
Vol. 6:2 (2016) ► pp.326–344

Bodily state and metaphors relating to ho, ‘body’, in Akan

 | University of Ghana
This paper addresses metaphorical extensions of ho, which means ‘body’ in Akan, a Ghanaian language. In Akan, as in many other languages, body part expressions and bodily functions have extended meanings that still relate to the basic sense of the words. Expressions derived from ho are used to talk about emotions and character traits, perhaps more extensively and pervasively than equivalent lexis in English. The data for this study are taken from interviews, questionnaires, an Akan dictionary, Akan literature, the Akan Bible and recorded materials from radio discussions. The paper supports claims in the literature that there is a strong relationship between people’s conceptual, environmental, and cultural experiences and their linguistic systems.
Keywords: metaphor, emotion, embodiment, cognitive semantics, body-part language
Published online: 20 October 2016
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/msw.6.2.07agy
References (27)
Abakah, E.N. (2003). The segmental and tone melodies of Akan. PhD Thesis. NTNU Norwegian University of Science and Technology Trondheim.Google Scholar
Ansah, N.G. (2014). Culture in embodied cognition. Metaphorical and metonymic conceptualizations of FEAR in Akan and English. Metaphor and Symbol, 29(1), 44–58. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Agyekum, K. (2002). Lexical polysemy and metaphorical extension of Te, ‘hear’ verb of perception in Akan. Legon Journal of Humanities, 131, 99–113.Google Scholar
. (2004). The sociocultural concept of face in Akan communication. Journal of Pragmatics and Cognition, 12(1), 71–92. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
. (2013). The pragmatics of ‘mouth’ metaphors in Akan. Ghana Journal of Linguistics 2(1), 1–17.Google Scholar
Bonvillain, N. (1993). Language, culture and communication: The meaning of messages. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.Google Scholar
Christaller, J.G. (1933). Dictionary of the Asante and Fante language called Twi (2nd ed.). Basel: Basel Evangelical Missionary Society.Google Scholar
Cruse, A. (2004) Meaning in language: An introduction to semantics and pragmatics. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Dirven, R., Wolf, H., & Polzenhagen, F. (2007). Cognitive linguistics and cultural studies. In D. Geeraerts & H. Cuyckens (Eds.), The Oxford handbook of cognitive linguistics (pp. 1202–1221). Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Dzokoto, V.A. (2010). Different ways of feeing: Emotion and the somatic awareness in Ghanaians and Euro-Americans. Journal of Social, Evolutionary, and cultural Psychology, 4(20), 68–78. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Dzokoto, V.A., & Okazaki, S. (2006). Happiness in the eye and Heart: Somatic referencing in West African emotion lexica. Journal of Black Psychology, 32(2), 117–140. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Enfield, N.J., & Wierzbicka, A. (2002). Introduction: The body in description of emotion. Pragmatics and Cognition Special Issue, 10(1-2), 1–25. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Gibbs, Jr. R.W., Lima, P.L.C., & Francozo, E. (2004). Metaphor is grounded in embodied experience. Journal of Pragmatics, 361, 1189–1210. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Gyekye, K. (1987). An essay on African philosophical thought: The Akan conceptual scheme. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Kövecses, Z. (2000a). The concept of anger: Universal or culture specific? Psychopathology, 331, 159–170. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
. (2000b). Metaphor and emotion: Language, culture and body in human feelings. New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
. (2002). Metaphor: A practical approach. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
, (2006). Language, mind and culture. A practical introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
. (2008). Metaphor and emotion. In R.W. Gibbs, Jr. (Ed.), The Cambridge handbook of metaphor and thought (pp. 380–396). New York: Cambridge University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Lakoff, G., & Johnson, M. (2003). Metaphors we live by. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Radley, A. (1998). Displays and fragments: Embodiment and the configuration of social worlds. In H.J. Stam (Ed.), The body and psychology (pp. 13–29). London: Sage Publishers. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Semino, E. (2008). Metaphor in discourse. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Sweetser, E. (1990). From etymology to pragmatics: Metaphorical and cultural aspects of semantic structure. Newcastle-Britain: Athenaeum Press Ltd. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Ungerer, F., & Schmid, H. (2009). An introduction to cognitive linguistics (2nd ed.). New York: Longman.Google Scholar
Yu, N. (1995). ‘Metaphorical expressions of anger and happiness in English and Chinese. Metaphor and Symbolic Activity, 10(2), 59–92. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
. (2004). ‘The eyes for sight and mind.’ Journal of Pragmatics, 361, 663–668. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
. (2008). Metaphor from body and culture. In R.W. Gibbs, Jr. (Ed.), The Cambridge handbook of metaphor and thought (pp. 247–261). New York: Cambridge University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Cited by (3)

Cited by three other publications

Agyekum, Kofi
2023. Idioms, proverbs and body part expressions onYiedie“wellbeing” in Akan. Pragmatics and Society 14:1 ► pp. 1 ff. DOI logo
Mensah, Eyo O. & Vivian Afi Dzokoto
2023. Melting intestines, red hearts, and scattering eyes: exploring embodiment in the Efik feeling lexica. Journal of African Languages and Linguistics 44:1 ► pp. 49 ff. DOI logo
Dzokoto, Vivian Afi
2020. Adwenhoasem: an Akan theory of mind. Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute 26:S1 ► pp. 77 ff. DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 19 september 2024. 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.