Metaphors and Metonyms of Nsa, ‘the Hand’ in Akan
This paper looks at the metaphorical and metonymic expressions derived from nsa, ‘hand’. I will analyse and discuss hand metaphoric and metonymic expressions in relation with the universal concept of the agility and versatility of the hand as an important aspect of the human being. The paper projects the concept of the hand in the Akan cultural system and looks at how it has expanded into compound words, idioms and proverbs. We will look at the cognitive, semantics, sociolinguistics and pragmatics of nsa, ‘hand’. The paper is discussed under the theory of conceptual metaphor as expounded by Lakoff and Johnson (1980) and followed by many scholars in the western world, Asia and Africa.
References
Agyekum, K
2002 “
Menstruation as a verbal taboo among the Akan”.
Journal of Anthropological Research 581: 367–387.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Agyekum, K
2003 Akan Linguistics: Terminology and Metalanguage. Ph. D Thesis. University of Ghana, Legon.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Agyekum, K
2006 “
Akan apology: A repair mechanism in Akan social interaction”.
South African Journal of Linguistics 26(2): 53–68.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Agyekum, K
2013 “
The pragmatics of ano, ‘mouth’ metaphors in Akan”.
Ghana Journal of Linguistics 2(1): 1–17.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Agyekum, K
2015d “
Ani, ‘eye’ metaphorical expressions in Akan”.
Journal of West African Languages (JWAL) 42(1): 1–29.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Agyekum, K
2015a “
Metaphors and metonyms of patience Akan”.
International Journal of Language and Communication (RASK) 431: 35–65.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Ahn, H.J. and Kwon, Y.J
2007 “
A study on metaphor and metonymy of hand”.
Journal of Language Sciences 14(2): 195–215.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Christaller, J.G
1933 Dictionary of the Asante and Fante Language Called Twi, 2nd Edition. Basel: Basel Evangelical Missionary Society.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Coulson, S
2009 “
Metaphors and conceptual blending”. In
J. Mey (eds),
Concise Encyclopedia of Pragmatics, 2nd Edition. Armsterdam: Elsevier, 615–622.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Cruse, A
2006 A Glossary of Semantics and Pragmatics. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press Ltd
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Dirven, R., Wolf, H. and Polzenhagen, F
2007 “
Cognitive linguistics and cultural studies”. In
D. Geeraerts and
H. Cuyckens (eds),
The Oxford Handbook of Cognitive Linguistics. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1202–1221.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Gathigia, M.G., Ndung’u, R. and Orwenjo, D.O
Gibbs Jr., R.W., Lima, P.LC. and Francozo, E
2004 “
Metaphor is grounded in embodied experience”.
Journal of Pragmatics 361: 1189–1210.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Gossens, L
1990 “
Metaphtonymy: The interaction of metaphor and metonym in expressions of linguistic action”.
Cognitive Linguistics 11: 323–340.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Gyekye, K
1987 An Essay on African Philosophical Thought: The Akan Conceptual Scheme. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Knowles, M. and Rosamund, M
2006 Introducing Metaphor. Abingdon, Oxon; New York: Routledge.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Kövecses, Z
2006 Language, Mind and Culture. A Practical Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Kövecses, Z
2002 Metaphor: A Practical Approach. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Kraska-Szlenk, I
2014 “
Semantic extensions of body part terms: common patterns and their interpretation”.
Language Sciences 441: 15–39.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Lakoff, G. and Johnson, M
(
2003) “
Afterword”. In
G. Lakoff and
M. Johnson (ed),
Metaphors We Live by. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 243–276.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Lakoff, G. and Johnson, M
1980c “Metaphors we live by”. Chicago/London: University of Chicago Press.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Lakoff, G. and Johnson, M
1980b “
The metaphorical structure of the human conceptual system”.
Cognitive Science 4(2): 195–208.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Lakoff, G. and Johnson, M
1980a “
Conceptual metaphor in everyday language”.
The Journal of Philosophy 7(8): 453–486.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Mey, J
2001 Pragmatics: An Introduction, 2nd Edition. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Saeed, J.I
2003 Semantics, 2nd Edition. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Semino, E
2008 Metaphor in Discourse. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Ungerer, F. and Schmid, H
2009 An Introduction to Cognitive Linguistics, 2nd Edition. New York. Longmans.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Velasco, O.I.D
2000 “
A cross-linguistic analysis of the nature of some hand metonymies in English and Spanish”.
Atlantis 22(2): 51–67.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Yu, N
2008 “
Metaphor from body and culture”. In
R.W. Gibbs, Jr. (ed.),
The Cambridge Handbook of Metaphor and Thought. New York: Cambridge University Press, 247–261.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Yu, N
2004 “
The eyes for sight and mind”.
Journal of Pragmatics 361: 663–668.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Cited by
Cited by 1 other publications
Yakub, Mohammed
2021.
semantic extensions of tu ‘to uproot’/‘to pull out’ in Nzema discourse.
Sociolinguistic Studies 15:1
![DOI logo](//benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
This list is based on CrossRef data as of 13 june 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.