Metaphoric Conceptualizations of Death in Gĩkũyũ

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Date

2017

Authors

Gathigia, Moses Gatambuki

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KOAJKorea Open Access Journals

Abstract

Using the dictum that metaphor is a conceptual mapping from a concrete source domain to an abstract target domain, this paper identifies and categorizes the metaphors of death in Gĩkũyũ using the Conceptual Metaphor Theory. To achieve this objective, a purposive sample of twenty speakers of Gĩkũyũ was interviewed. The study collected 47 metaphors of death as the target domain. Having employed the mnemonics “TARGET DOMAIN IS SOURCE DOMAIN” as posited by Lakoff and Johnson (1980), the study identified four conceptual metaphors of death in Gĩkũyũ as follows: DEATH IS A JOURNEY; DEATH IS THE END; DEATH IS A REST; and DEATH IS A SUMMON. The study concludes that the Cognitive linguistics model provides tools for understanding, interpreting and accounting for metaphors of death in Gĩkũyũ.

Description

DOI : 10.17791/jcs.2017.18.2.215

Keywords

Death, metaphors, Gĩkũyũ, cognitive linguistics

Citation

Journal of Cognitive Science 18-2: 215-235, 2017

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