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Article published In: Review of Cognitive Linguistics
Vol. 24:1 (2026) ► pp.265–285

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Categorization of body parts in Dholuo

From culture to taxonomy

ORCiD logo with link | Eötvös Loránd UniversityBudapest
ORCiD logo with link | University of PannoniaVeszprém
Published online: 29 August 2024
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/rcl.00200.och
Abstract
The embodiment hypothesis holds that human cognition and mental representations are influenced by the body and its physical interaction with the world. Research on the representation of the human body in language and how it is divided/categorized into parts and subsections is thus vital in comprehending how language communities perceive the body and how it is viewed within its cultural context. This paper investigates how the body is categorized in Dholuo, a Nilotic language spoken primarily in Kenya, East Africa. Dholuo is an understudied language with limited research in linguistics, particularly in cognitive linguistics. This study pioneers the exploration of the body-part categorization system in Dholuo by providing a comprehensive overview of body-part classification within the language. The objective is to elucidate the theoretical implications of this system, particularly emphasizing the relationship between language and culture. The study also explores how culture significantly influences the conceptualization and usage of language, particularly concerning body-part vocabulary.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Embodied cognition and Dholuo language
  • 3.Analysis of Dholuo body part terms
    • 3.1Head and hair
    • 3.2Face and eyes
    • 3.3Mouth
    • 3.4Hand and arm
    • 3.5Belly
    • 3.6Heart and liver
    • 3.8Body
    • 3.9Skin
  • 4.Discussion
    • 4.1Lexical-semantic characteristics
    • 4.2Partonomic relations of body parts
  • 4.3Figurative extensions of body part terms
  • 5.Conclusions
  • Acknowledgements
  • Note
  • References
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