Conceptions of Life and Death in Amharic: A View from Cognitive Semantics

Abstract

This paper aims at investigating metaphorical conceptions of life and death in Amharic from the perspective of cognitive semantics, specifically conceptual metaphor theory. In this theory, language is viewed as providing data that can show human beings conceive concepts (Lakoff & Johnson 2003: 116). The analysis shows that the Amharic speech community can metaphorically conceptualize life in terms of space, specifically a journey and a bounded region in space, a precious possession, a taste, and a physical load. Also, a lifetime can be viewed as the length of a physical entity. Moreover, among Amharic speakers, the abstract concept of death can be understood in terms of space, more specifically a physically moving entity, falling, a unidirectional movement, and a final destination. It is also found out that the source domains of sleep, an adversary, the earth, a departure, a rest, and the loss of a precious possession can be mapped onto the target domain of death.