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Conceptualisation of mental activities through the body part ləbb ‘heart’ in Amharic

ORCiD logo with link | Fujian Polytechnic Normal UniversityFuqing
ORCiD logo with link | Xiamen UniversityXiamen
 | Fujian Polytechnic Normal UniversityFuqing
Published online: 28 October 2025
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https://doi.org/10.1075/rcl.00239.men
Abstract
This study applies Conceptual Metaphor Theory to examine how the term ləbb ‘heart’ in Amharic is metaphorically extended to mental activities. By examining the figurative uses of ‘heart’ in fixed expressions from Amharic monolingual and bilingual dictionaries, and utilising the lexical method, this study finds that ləbb ‘heart’ is a central organ in the conceptualisation of mental activities in Amharic. Ləbb ‘heart’ is associated with general intellectual or mental effort rather than being confined to a specific set of mental activities. Typologically, Amharic is predominantly cardiocentric ( (2011). Culture-specific concepts of emotionality and rationality. In M. Callies, A. Lohöfer & W. Keller (Eds.), Bi-Directionality in the cognitive sciences: Examining the interdisciplinary potential of cognitive approaches in linguistics and literary studies (pp. 43–56). Amsterdam & Philadelphia: John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar); in Amharic, mental faculties are primarily associated to the body part corresponding to heart.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.The heart-mind dichotomy in the conceptualisation of mental activities
  • 3.Previous studies on the conceptualisation of ‘heart’ in Amharic
  • 4.Aims and methodology
    • 4.1Aims
    • 4.2Methodology
  • 5.Results
    • 5.1The heart as the organ of thinking
    • 5.2The heart in the conceptualisation of intellection
      • 5.2.1The heart as the seat of understanding, knowledge, and judgment
      • 5.2.2The heart as the seat of focus, attention, and concentration
      • 5.2.3The heart as the seat of imagination
    • 5.3The heart in the conceptualisation of experiential attitudes
    • 5.4The heart and perceptual abilities
  • 6.Discussion
  • Acknowledgment
  • Notes
  • List of interlinear glosses abbreviations
  • References
References (54)
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