Department of Humanities and Languages
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Item The Role of Plantosemic Metaphors in the Conceptualization of the Males in Ekegusii: A Cognitive Linguistic Approach(2023) Ndung’u, Catherine Waithera; Ntabo, Victor OndaraPlants are fundamental in the transference of semantic aspects that are helpful in structuring maleness in society. As a result, plantosemic metaphors which enhance conceptualization of omosacha (a man) are ubiquitous in Ekegusii. This study employed conceptual mappings to evaluate Ekegusii plantosemic metaphors. The study adopted descriptive research design. First, an interview schedule was utilised to establish the terms used to describe men in Ekegusii from 48 Ekegusii native respondents purposively sampled using the criterion of gender. The collected terms were then subjected to the Metaphor Identification Procedure Vrije Universiteit (MIPVU) in which four annotators undertook the MIPVU procedure. Through MIPVU, ten metaphors were identified. The study then selected three metaphors that describe a man as a plant hence the Ekegusii plantosemic metaphors for analysis. The study reveals that Ekegusii plantosemic metaphors are critical in validating the culturally assigned roles to men among Abagusii. Moreover, the principle of conceptual mappings is useful in divulging critical issues concerning gender relations between men and women in Gusii. The paper concludes that metaphor is a valuable tool of communication and should be explained using the Cognitive Linguistics framework.Item The Role of Plantosemic Metaphors in the Conceptualization of the Males in Ekegusii: A Cognitive Linguistic Approach(2023-06-06) Ndung’u, Catherine Waithera; Ntabo, Victor OndaraPlants are fundamental in the transference of semantic aspects that are helpful in structuring maleness in society. As a result, plantosemic metaphors which enhance conceptualization of omosacha (a man) are ubiquitous in Ekegusii. This study employed conceptual mappings to evaluate Ekegusii plantosemic metaphors. The study adopted descriptive research design. First, an interview schedule was utilised to establish the terms used to describe men in Ekegusii from 48 Ekegusii native respondents purposively sampled using the criterion of gender. The collected terms were then subjected to the Metaphor Identification Procedure Vrije Universiteit (MIPVU) in which four annotators undertook the MIPVU procedure. Through MIPVU, ten metaphors were identified. The study then selected three metaphors that describe a man as a plant hence the Ekegusii plantosemic metaphors for analysis. The study reveals that Ekegusii plantosemic metaphors are critical in validating the culturally assigned roles to men among Abagusii. Moreover, the principle of conceptual mappings is useful in divulging critical issues concerning gender relations between men and women in Gusii. The paper concludes that metaphor is a valuable tool of communication and should be explained using the Cognitive Linguistics framework.Item REPRESENTATION OF YOUNG PEOPLE IN EKEGUSII PROVERBIAL METAPHORS: AN IMAGE SCHEMATIC ACCOUNT(2023-05) Ndung’u, Catherine Waithera; Ntaboi, Victor OndaraProverbial metaphors are useful resources for communicating known truths about life in a given community. Most African proverbial metaphors, however, make reference to customs and situations that might be unfamiliar to some language users especially young people. On the basis of this background, this study employed image schemas to interpret Ekegusii proverbial metaphors that allude to young people. The research was anchored within descriptive research design. Primary data was collected from four Ekegusii respondents of an advanced age of at least seventy years old through an interview schedule. The collected data were then subjected to the Metaphor Identification Procedure Vrije Universiteit (MIPVU) in which four annotators were used to identify Ekegusii proverbial metaphors. Seven Ekegusii proverbial metaphors that refer to young people were identified through MIPVU. The identified proverbial metaphors were then subjected to the FORCE and CONTAINER schemas and their subsidiary schemas for analysis. The paper reveals that there are norms and customs regarding young people that are conveyed through Ekegusii proverbial metaphors. In addition, image schemas are fundamental in explaining the role, place, and cultural expectations of young men and women in Gusii. The study concludes that proverbial metaphors are useful tools of communication, and should be interpreted using Cognitive Linguistics paradigm. Article visualizations:Item A Semantic Analysis of Absent Subjects of Idioms in Gĩkũyũ(Advances in Language and Literary Studies, 2020-06-30) Kiguta, Purity Njambi; Gathigia, Moses Gatambuki; Ndung’u, Catherine WaitheraIdioms have been studied for a considerable time by linguists with a view of explaining their meaning. In Gĩkũyũ, for example, the meaning of most idioms can be derived from constituents that form them. However, in some Gĩkũyũ idioms, the meaning is hindered by the absence of the subject in the idiomatic utterance or sentence. It is against this background that this study sought to conduct a semantic analysis on selected idioms in Gĩkũyũ. Thus, the objective of this study was to establish the absent subject in the selected Gĩkũyũ idioms through etymological elaboration and then conduct a semantic analysis of the idioms. The study was based on the Conventional Figurative Language Theory (Dobrovol and Elisabeth). The study employed the descriptive research design and purposively targeted 20 Gĩkũyũ idioms. Data was collected through focus group discussions involving 10 participants who are native speakers of Gĩkũyũ. The study used the content analysis method, which is within the qualitative research paradigm. The data was presented in form of tables and themes. The Gĩkũyũ idiomatic expressions and the established subjects were listed and their gloss provided. Through etymological elaboration, a semantic analysis of the idiomatic expressions was conducted. The findings of the study are that the absence of the subject in idioms greatly hinders their comprehensibility. Further, etymological elaboration is required in order to establish the absent subject. The findings therefore imply that whenever the comprehensibility of an idiom is compromised by the lack of the subject in the utterance, cognitive linguists should process the meaning by using etymological elaboration The study concludes that interpretation of idiomatic expressions in Gĩkũyũ can be enhanced by establishing the absent subject through etymological elaboration which provides clues that aid interpretation .Secondly, semantic analysis of the idioms enhances comprehensibility. The study recommends further research on absent subjects in Gĩkũyũ idioms that were not part of this study. Secondly, other idiom processing strategies for example contextualization (Copper, 2004) can be used to establish the absent subjects in idiomatic expressions. Thirdly, further research can be conducted to establish other aspects of idioms that hinder comprehensibility of idioms not only in Gĩkũyũ but also in other languages. The study will not only provide valuable linguistic knowledge on the study of idioms in Gĩkũyũ but will also encourage further research on idioms in other languages.