Cover not available

Article published In:
[International Journal of Language and Culture 2:1] 2015
► pp. 87–107

Get fulltext from our e-platform
JBE logo with link
PDF logo with download linkDownload PDF
authorization required

Metaphors of Anger in Akan

 | University of Ghana
Published online: 19 November 2015
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/ijolc.2.1.04agy
This paper addresses the semantic shifts, extensions, semantic patterns, and pragmatic nature of the metaphor of anger and its usage in different contexts. It looks at the conceptual relationship between the two words akoma, “heart” and bo, “chest,” and how they have been lexicalized in the Akan language to express anger. The paper concentrates on fossilized metaphorical expressions relying on the conceptual metaphor frameworks of Lakoff and Johnson (1980). I will discuss the body parts akoma and bo in terms of their physical, semantic, metaphoric, and cognitive representations. The data are taken from Akan literature books, the Akan Bible, and recorded materials from radio discussions. The paper illustrates that there is a strong relation between a people’s conceptual, environmental, and cultural experiences and their linguistic systems. We will consider the universal concepts of body part expressions and, in particular, Akan specific body part expressions of anger. In the end, we will be able to establish how body parts help us in the lexicalization of expressions of emotion.
References (44)
Agyekum, K. (2013). The pragmatics of ‘mouth’ metaphors in Akan. Ghana Journal of Linguistics, 2(1), 1–17.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. (2005). Polysemy and metaphorical extensions of hunu ‘vision’ verb of perception in Akan. In M.E. Kropp Dakubu & E.K Osam (Eds.), Studies in the languages of the Volta Basin III, Proceedings of the annual colloquium of the Legon-Trondheim Linguistics Project 18–20 January 2005. (pp. 147–162).
. (2004). The sociocultural concept of face in Akan communication. Journal of Pragmatics and Cognition, 12(1), 71–92. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. (2002). Lexical polysemy and metaphorical extension of te, ‘hear’ verb of perception in Akan. Legon Journal of Humanities, 131, 99–113.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Aksan, M. (2006) The container metaphor in Turkish expressions of anger. Journal of Linguistics and Literature, 3(2), 15–34.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bonvillain, N. (1993). Language, culture and communication: The meaning of messages. New Jersey: Prentice Hall.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Chen, P. (2010). A cognitive study of “anger” metaphors in English and Chinese idioms. Asian Social Science, 6(8), 73–76. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Christaller, J.G. (1933). Dictionary of the Asante and Fante language called Twi (2nd ed.). Basel: Basel Evangelical Missionary Society.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cruse, A. (2004). Meaning in language: An introduction to semantics and pragmatics. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Dimmendaal, G.J. (2002). Colourful psi’s sleep furiously: Depicting emotional states in some African languages. In N.J. Enfield & A. Wierzbicka (Eds.), Pragmatics & Cognition. Special issue: The body in description of emotion, 10(1–2), (pp. 57–83).Google Scholar logo with link to 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 logo with link to Google Scholar
Downing, A., & Locke, P. (2006). English grammar: A university course (2nd ed.). London: Routledge Publishers. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Dzokoto, V.A. (2010). Different ways of feeling: Emotion and the somatic awareness in Ghanaians and Euro-Americans. Journal of Social, Evolutionary, and Cultural Psychology, 4(20), 68–78. Google Scholar logo with link to Google 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. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Enfield, N.J. (2002). Semantic analysis of body parts in emotion terminology. In N.J. Enfield & A. Wierzbicka (Eds.), Pragmatics and Cognition Special issue: The body in description of emotion, 10(1–2), (pp. 85–106).Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Evans, V., & Green, M. (2006). Cognitive linguistics: An introduction. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Foley, W.A. (1997). Anthropological linguistics: An introduction. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Geeraerts, D., & Grondelaers, S. (1995). Looking back at anger: Cultural traditions and metaphorical patterns. In J.R. Taylor & R.E. MacLaury (Eds.), Language and the Cognitive Construal of the World (pp. 153–179). Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gibbs, R.W., Jr., Lima, P.L.C., & Francozo, E. (2004). Metaphor is grounded in embodied experience. Journal of Pragmatics, 361, 1189–1210. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kövecses, Z. (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. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. (2002). Metaphor: A practical approach. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. (2000a). The concept of anger: Universal or culture specific? Psychopathology, 331, 159–170. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. (2000b). Metaphor and emotion: Language, culture and body in human feelings. New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. (1995). Anger: Its language, conceptualization, and physiology in the light of cross-cultural evidence. In J.R. Taylor & R.E. MacLaury (Eds.), Language and the Cognitive Construal of the World (pp. 181–196). Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kövecses, Z., Palmer, G., & Dirven, R. (2002). Language and emotion: The interplay of conceptualization with physiology and culture. In R. Dirven & R. Pörings (Eds.), Metaphors and metonyms in comparison and contrast (pp. 133–159). Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lakoff, G. (1987). Women, fire and dangerous things: What categories reveal about the mind. Chicago: University of Chicago Press Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lakoff, G., & Johnson, M. (2003). Afterword. In G. Lakoff & M. Johnson (Eds.), Metaphors we live by (pp. 243–276). Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. (1980). Metaphors we live by. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lee, D. (2005). Cognitive linguistics: An introduction. Victoria, Australia: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Maalej, Z. (2004). Figurative language in anger expressions in Tunisian Arabic: An extended view of embodiment. Metaphor and Symbol, 19(1), 51–75. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Matsuki, K. (1995). Metaphors of anger in Japanese. In J.R. Taylor & R. Maclaury (Eds.), Language and the cognitive construal of the world (pp. 137–151). Berlin: Mouton Publishers. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Mey, J. (1993). Pragmatics: An introduction. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Morgan, J.L. (1993). Observations on the pragmatics of metaphor. In A. Orthony (Ed.), Metaphor and thought (pp. 124–134). New York: Cambridge University Press, USA. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Orthony, A.J.L. (1993). Metaphor, language and thought. In A. Orthony (Ed.), Metaphor and thought (pp. 1–16). New York: Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Perez, R.G. (2008). A cross-cultural analysis of heart metaphors. Revista Alicantina de Estudios Ingleses, 211, 25–56. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Rosaldo, M. (1980). Knowledge and passion: Ilongot notions of self and social life. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Semino, E. (2008). Metaphor in discourse. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Sweetser, E. (1990). From etymology to pragmatics: Metaphorical and cultural aspects of semantic structure. Newcastle, Britain: Athenaeum Press Ltd. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Taylor, J.R., & Mbense, T.G. (1998). Red dogs and rotten mealies: How Zulus talk about anger. In A. Athanasiadou & E. Tabakowska (Eds.), Speaking of emotions: Conceptualisations and expressions (pp.191–226). Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ungerer, F., & Schmid, H. (2009). An introduction to cognitive linguistics (2nd ed.). New York: Longmans.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Wierzbicka, A. (2002). The body in description of emotion. In N.J. Enfield & A. Wierzbicka (Eds.), Pragmatics and Cognition. Special Issue: The body in description of emotion, 10(1–2), (pp. 1–25).Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Yu, N. (2008). Metaphor from body and culture. In R.W. Gibbs, Jr. (Ed.), The Cambridge handbook of metaphor and thought (pp. 247–262). New York: Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. (2004). The eyes for sight and mind. Journal of Pragmatics, 361, 663–668. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. (1995). Metaphorical expressions of anger and happiness in English and Chinese. Metaphor and Symbolic Activity, 10(2), 59–92. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cited by (7)

Cited by seven other publications

Asare, Esther, Isaac N. Mwinlaaru & Emmanuel Amo Ofori
2024. Construing Joy as Body Parts in Akan: Synergizing Conceptual Metaphor and Transitivity Analyses. WORD 70:2 ► pp. 75 ff. DOI logo
Tanihu, Jonathan & Samuel Alhassan Issah
2024. The heart became hot. International Journal of Language and Culture 11:1 ► pp. 31 ff. DOI logo
Agyekum, Kofi
2023. Idioms, proverbs and body part expressions onYiedie“wellbeing” in Akan. Pragmatics and Society 14:1 ► pp. 1 ff. DOI logo
Agyekum, Kofi
2025. Akan water metaphors, idioms, and proverbs. Cognitive Linguistic Studies 12:2 ► pp. 346 ff. DOI logo
Brid, Nicolás, Johann-Mattis List & Cristina Messineo
2022. Patrones léxicos compartidos en el dominio etnobiológico de las lenguas del Chaco. LIAMES: Línguas Indígenas Americanas 22 ► pp. e022005 ff. DOI logo
Abubakari, Hasiyatu
2020. Personal names in Kusaal: A sociolinguistic analysis. Language & Communication 75 ► pp. 21 ff. DOI logo
Aygekum, Kofi
2016. Metaphors and Metonyms ofNsa, ‘the Hand’ in Akan. Pragmatics & Cognition 23:2 ► pp. 300 ff. DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 12 december 2025. 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.

Mobile Menu Logo with link to supplementary files background Layer 1 prag Twitter_Logo_Blue