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In:Anthropological Linguistics: Perspectives from Africa
Edited by Andrea Hollington, Alice Mitchell and Nico Nassenstein
[Culture and Language Use 23] 2024
► pp. 331–366

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Chapter 13
“Show your feelings!”

On the expression of emotions in Rabai (Midzichenda)

 | Goethe University Frankfurt
 | Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz
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Available under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives (CC BY-NC-ND) 4.0 license.

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Published online: 1 February 2024
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https://doi.org/10.1075/clu.23.13see
Abstract
This contribution analyzes the encoding of emotions in Chiraphai (Rabai), a Midzichenda language from the Kenyan coast. In the focus, especially, are matters of a rather discrete display of one’s feelings vs. open invitations to “show what you feel”, discussing core emotions in the language and also including concepts of feeling shame (kona haya) or witnessing shameful behavior. Herein, the authors specifically investigate body part metaphors that play a role in the expression of emotional language; they include an analysis of color terms that incorporate a specific emotional connotation. Finally, grammatical means of encoding emotions are taken into consideration in this first anthropological linguistic analysis of the language.
Article outline
  • 1.Introducing Rabai language and culture
  • 2.Research on language and emotion: Some approaches and directions
  • 3.Emotions in Rabai: Expressive colors, meaningful body parts, and evaluative grammar
    • 3.1Core emotions: A brief look at central concepts
      • 3.1.1Nyemi: happiness/joy
      • 3.1.2Henzo: love
      • 3.1.3Huzuni: sadness/anger
      • 3.1.4Woga: fear
      • 3.1.5Haya: shame
      • 3.1.6Chidzitso: envy / Wivu: jealousy
    • 3.2Color terms and emotions: “Speaking” clothes and “screaming” colors?
    • 3.3Emotion and the body: Metaphors and figurative language use
    • 3.4Emotional encodings in grammar: Evaluative morphology
  • 4.Outlook: Further anthropological linguistic research in Midzichenda languages
  • Notes
  • Abbreviations
  • References
References (66)
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