Abstract
This paper will try to explore the motivation behind a cultural specific metaphor in Ekegusii onomastics as seen from a cognitive linguistics viewpoint. The study aims to identify and explain the Ekegusii names of people describe their social-cultural values and account for the cognitive processes involved in their interpretation. The data included a list of Ekegusii names collected from a primary school in the heartland of Gusii and discussed by an interview panel of natives combined with the researcher's knowledge, intuitions, experience, and introspection, then they were analyzed using the Cognitive Metaphor Theory of Lakoff and Johnson. The results suggest that interpretations and usage of personal names create mental images, have a meaning, and reflect the culture of the Abagusii people. Also, it is evident that metaphors pervade the lexicon of Ekegusii onomastics and form networks by which they conceptualize people's names in concrete terms as events, evil spirits, achievements, behavior, objects, places, animals, plants and special occurrences. The study concludes by suggesting further research into socio-cultural metaphors and metonymy in onomastics in African and other languages.
Highlights
This is a cognitive linguistics study of an African language, Ekegusii
Just like in many African cultures, in birth and child naming among the Abagusii, both male and female children are considered valuable and there is a clear division of labor between the sexes: males defend the community against invasion from the outside and ensure the continuity of the family and the clan; women bring livestock to enrich the family and clan through marriage, cook for the family and take care of the man and children
It is evident that metaphors pervade the lexicon of Ekegusii onomastics and form linkages by which we conceptualize people’s names in concrete terms, that is, PEOPLE ARE EVENTS, PEOPLE ARE EVIL SPIRITS, PEOPLE ARE ACHIEVEMENTS, PEOPLE ARE THEIR BEHAVIOR, PEOPLE ARE OBJECTS, PEOPLE ARE PLACES, PEOPLE ARE ANIMALS, PEOPLE ARE PLANTS and PEOPLE ARE SPECIAL OCCURRENCES
Summary
This is a cognitive linguistics study of an African language, Ekegusii. It deals with onomastics (the study of the names of people). According to Guthrie [1], Ekegusii, whose speakers are called Abagusii, are labeled zone E42 narrow East African 1Bantu language group belonging to interlacustrine zones, namely D, and E, occupying the Southern section of the western highlands of Kenya (Gusii land or Kisii). Their region is one of the most densely populated areas of Kenya, and the Gusii constitute the country's sixth largest ethnic group, comprising about seven percent of the national population [2]. Women without children were ridiculed and shunned; barrenness was seen as a curse to the woman by the gods, needed cleansing [4]
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