Metaphorical euphemisms in death-discourse among the Nzema

• Authors: Yakub Mohammed , Agyekum Kofi
• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

This article seeks to deepen our understanding of the cognitive processes in death euphemisms in Nzema, a Kwa language of Ghana. The article highlights the metaphorical “mappings” across conceptual domains, where the concept of death (target domain) is well understood in terms of more physical events such as journey, departure, return, invitation, continuous sleep, lose a fight, etc. (source domain). It is demonstrated that the Nzema conceptualise death also as retirement, subtraction, bereavement as living in darkness, being missing at the crossroads, burial as hiding/preserving, burying as sowing a seed, coffin as house for an individual, cemetery/grave as better place, place of rest, and corpse as a thing among others.

Keywords

EN

Nzema culture; death discourse; euphemisms; conceptual metaphor

• Publisher: Wydawnictwa Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego
• Journal: Studies in African Languages and Cultures
• Year: 2022
• Issue: 56
• Pages: 127-153

Dates

published

2022-12-13

Contributors

author

Yakub Mohammed

• University of Education, Winneba

author

Agyekum Kofi

• University of Ghana

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Identifiers

DOI

https://doi.org/10.32690/56.6