Different languages present a variety of ways of talking about emotional experience. Very commonly, feelings are described through
the use of ‘body image constructions’ in which they are associated with processes in, or states of, specific body parts. The
emotions and the body parts that are thought to be their locus and the kind of activity associated with these body parts vary
cross-culturally. This study focuses on the meaning of three ‘body image constructions’ used to describe feelings similar to, but
also different from, English ‘jealousy’, ‘envy’, and ‘covetousness’ in the West African language Ewe. It is demonstrated that a
‘moving body’, a pychologised eye, and red eyes are scripted for these feelings. It is argued that the expressions are not
figurative and that their semantics provide good clues to understanding the cultural construction of emotions both emotions and
the body.
2024. Culture shapes how we describe facial expressions. Scientific Reports 14:1
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.
Yus, Francisco
2023. Beyond Humour: Relevant Affective Effects. In Pragmatics of Internet Humour, ► pp. 309 ff.
Kruijsdijk, Iris, Nina van der Vlugt & Jenneke van der Wal
2020. The comparative semantics of verbs of ‘opening’: West Africa vs Oceania. In Meaning, Life and Culture: In conversation with Anna Wierzbicka, ► pp. 33 ff.
Ameka, Felix K. & Deborah Hill
2022. Introduction: What Can Linguistics and Language(s) Contribute to Development Practices?. In Languages, Linguistics and Development Practices, ► pp. 1 ff.
Dulin, John
2020. Vulnerable minds, bodily thoughts, and sensory spirits: local theory of mind and spiritual experience in Ghana. Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute 26:S1 ► pp. 61 ff.
Dulin, John
2021. Charismatic Christianity's Hard Cultural Forms and the Local Patterning of the Divine Voice in Ghana. American Anthropologist 123:1 ► pp. 108 ff.
Dzokoto, Vivian Afi
2020. Adwenhoasem: an Akan theory of mind. Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute 26:S1 ► pp. 77 ff.
Pawlak, Nina
2020. Introduction. In West African languages. Linguistic theory and communication,
2016. Their Hands Have Lost Their Bones: Exploring Cultural Scripts in Two West African Affect Lexica. Journal of Psycholinguistic Research 45:6 ► pp. 1473 ff.
2016. Translatability of Emotions. In Emotion Measurement, ► pp. 575 ff.
Ogarkova, Anna
2021. Cross-lingual translatability of emotion terms. In Emotion Measurement, ► pp. 909 ff.
Dzokoto, Vivian A., Annabella Opare-Henaku & Lily A. Kpobi
2013. Somatic Referencing and Psychologisation in Emotion Narratives: A USA–Ghana Comparison. Psychology and Developing Societies 25:2 ► pp. 311 ff.
Kronrod, Ann & Shai Danziger
2013. “Wii Will Rock You!” The Use and Effect of Figurative Language in Consumer Reviews of Hedonic and Utilitarian Consumption. Journal of Consumer Research 40:4 ► pp. 726 ff.
Dzokoto, Vivian & Glenn Adams
2007. Analyzing Ghanaian Emotions Through Narrative: A Textual Analysis of Ama Ata Aidoo’s Novel Changes. Journal of Black Psychology 33:1 ► pp. 94 ff.
Dzokoto, Vivian Afi & Sumie Okazaki
2006. Happiness in the Eye and the Heart: Somatic Referencing in West African Emotion Lexica. Journal of Black Psychology 32:2 ► pp. 17 ff.
Breugelmans, Seger M., Zara Ambadar, Jesús B. Vaca, Ype H. Poortinga, Bernadette Setiadi, Priyo Widiyanto & Pierre Philippot
2005. Body Sensations Associated With Emotions in Rarámuri Indians, Rural Javanese, and Three Student Samples.. Emotion 5:2 ► pp. 166 ff.
Dzokoto, Vivian Afi & Glenn Adams
2005. Understanding Genital-Shrinking Epidemics in West Africa: Koro, Juju, or Mass Psychogenic Illness?. Culture, Medicine and Psychiatry 29:1 ► pp. 53 ff.
This list is based on CrossRef data as of 24 december 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.