Cultural metaphors of death in some Ewe proverbs

Abstract

This study investigates the cultural significance of metaphors used in some Ewe proverbs on the schema of death. Employing the theoretical lens of cultural linguistics whose thrust is that aspects of a people’s culture can be unearthed through their use of language on any given topic, this study uses an aspect of this theory called cultural metaphors. Cultural metaphors are the implicit or explicit comparison of one idea or concept with another. A purposive sample of sixteen proverbs on the concept of death were collected from an anthology of Ewe proverbs, with the purpose of identifying the cultural metaphors used in these proverbs, and their significance. Findings reveal that the Ewe view death as not altogether bad and that one can defeat death with good deeds and gain immortality by qualifying to become an ancestor and live forever in the spirit realm. In addition, the Ewe acknowledge the unpredictability of and humanity’s helplessness before death. The implication for this study is that cultural linguistics is an effective tool for analysing proverbs. This framework should be adopted in investigating proverbs of minority languages as a way of preserving their cultures.