Metaphorical conceptualisation of happiness in Oromo

Abstract

Previous linguistic studies have not addressed how happiness is metaphorically expressed in Oromo and thus this study investigates the metaphorical conceptualisation of happiness in the language. The data for the research were collected from an Oromo web corpus which has around five million running words. The analysis followed a bottom-up approach whereby words related to happiness were extracted from the corpus and then happiness metaphors were identified with Linguistic Metaphor Identification (MIP). Results show that happiness is conceptualised in Oromo in terms of SUBSTANCE IN A CONTAINER, SOUND, STREAM WATER, PROPERTY, LIVING THING, GIFT, CONTAINER, PYHTON, RESULT, LIGHT and FOOD. The results also indicate that conceptualising happiness in terms of property, result, and alcoholic drinks is common. The metaphors of happiness metaphors have such meanings as goodness, presence, intensity, control and perfection. Overall, speakers of the language conceptualise happiness in multiple ways, which may enhance our understanding of the metaphor of happiness.

Keywords:

• Oromo
• happiness
• metaphor
• emotion
• conceptual metaphor

REVIEWING EDITOR:

• Jeroen van de Weijer, Shenzhen University, China

SUBJECTS:

• Cognition and emotion
• language and cultural theory
• linguistic theory
• semantics

1. Introduction

Oromo is one of the Lowland East Cushitic language families of the Afro-Asian phylum and is spoken in Ethiopia, Kenya, and Somalia (Mous, 2012). According to the Ethiopian Central Statistical Agency, Oromo has over 25.5 million native speakers in Ethiopia, which equates to approximately 34.5% of the total population in Ethiopia (Central Statistical Agency, 2007). It is widely used in commercial, religious, social, political, and educational sectors, as well as in the mass media, though there is no officially assigned dialect to be the representative standard form (Hordofa, 2009; Negesse, 2015). Oromo has a writing system called Qubee (k’ubee), which has a Latin-based orthography. The language has contrastive length which is represented by doubling consonants and vowels (Hordofa, 2009). It is relatively one of the well described languages (Owens, 1985; Stroomer, 1995) but previous linguistic studies have not addressed metaphoric conceptualisation of basic emotions such as happiness, love, anger and hate in this language. The current study investigates how speakers of the language metaphorically express happiness.

2. Metaphors

The cognitive metaphor, which was first introduced in the works of Lakoff (1980), assumes that metaphor is a matter of thought, and linguistic features are used as the manifestation of that thought in the language. Metaphor provides a clear illustration of the relationship between language features and their reflection on human cognition (Grady, 2007). According to this view, metaphor is defined as ‘understanding of one concept in terms of another’ (Lakoff, 1980). For instance, ‘LIFE IS JOURNEY’ is a conceptual metaphor, that consists of two conceptual domains, with one understood in terms of the other (the abstract concept is understood by the concrete concept). ‘Life’ is understood in terms of ‘journey’; a ‘journey’ is more concrete than life (Kövecses, 2002). In addition to expressing abstract concepts, metaphor analysis enables researchers to understand and report on social phenomena in remarkably rich and interesting ways. In particular, metaphor analysis is useful for disclosing hidden or ambiguous meanings, having insight into society’s worldview, and opening a space for sense-making (Redden, 2017).

3. Conceptual metaphor theory

Metaphor is fundamentally conceptual, not linguistic. Metaphorical language is a surface manifestation of conceptual metaphor used to comprehend abstract concepts and perform abstract reasoning, which works by mapping across different conceptual domains – from a source domain to a target domain. Example: ‘ARGUMENT IS WAR’ Your claims are indefensible; He attacked every weak point in my argument (Esenova, 2011; Evans & Green, 2006; X. Yu, 2013, Lakoff & Johnson, 2003; Zhang, 2021).

The conceptual metaphor theory shows many refinements from its starting point (1980). For instance, ‘The philosophy of flesh’ focuses on the importance of embodment in thought and metaphor’ (Lakoff & Johnson, 1999). The neural theory of metaphor (2008/1993)’ refined it by presenting the basic perception in complex thought by mediating the neurons’ (Lakoff, 2008); conceptual metaphor theory as the main meaning focuses (2011) on the importance of the source domain in determining the meaning of metaphor (Kövecses, 2010, 2011).

This paper adopts the conceptual metaphor theory as the main meaning focus, introduced in 2002/2010 and refined in 2011, which assumes the meaning of a metaphor (sentence) is transferring the main meaning of the source domain to the target domain (Kövecses, 2011, 2002/2010). In the main meaning focus, each source is associated with a particular meaning focus (foci) that is mapped onto the target. This means that focus is constituted by the central knowledge that pertains to a particular entity or event within a speech community. The target inherits the main meaning focus of the source (Kövecses, 2002, 2011, 8).

Kövecses (2011) explains that in the notion of meaning focus, ‘central knowledge’ is very important. Central knowledge is ‘knowledge about an entity or event that is conventional, generic, intrinsic, and characteristic’ (Kövecses, 2011). For instance, ‘the meaning focus of the concept of building as a source domain is the ‘making of a strong building’, which maps onto the ‘creation/construction of a stable/lasting complex system’. Expressions such as construct, strong, fall apart, foundation, framework, and the most common convectional metaphor that can be found in connection with this metaphor have to do with these aspects of building, which map onto the ‘creation of a stable/lasting complex abstract system (such as theory, argument, institution, life, etc.)’. The correspondences between ‘building/making and creation/construction’, ‘strength and stability/lastingness’, and ‘building and complex abstract system’ are ‘central mappings’. Less central or noncentral mappings include, for example, the correspondence between the builders of the building and the creators of, say, a theory (Kövecses, 2011, 8–9).

4. Happiness metaphors

Happiness is one of the basic emotions, which is the pleasure and comfort felt by individuals when the objectives they long for have been achieved and the stress has been released (Kövecses, 2000). In addition, when people’s wishes are fulfilled at unexpected times and occasions, it will also bring them happiness (Chen, 2010). This shows that happiness is an emotion; almost everybody has the concept and wants to experience it. Metaphor is one cognitive approach through which happiness is conceptualised in terms of a concrete entity (Kövecses, 2008; Lakoff, 1980). For instance, metaphorically conceptualizing happiness in terms of ‘container’, ‘up’ and ‘light’ is identified in almost all the languages, such as English, Chinese, Laki, Anywaa, Tunisian Arabic, and Spanish (Chen, 2010; Hamdi, 2015; Kövecses, 2008; Ojhu & Yigezu, 2022; Seidi et al., 2021). In addition, Kövecses (2008) presented the happiness metaphor as follows: happiness is heat or fire (fires of joy were kindled by the birth of her son), happiness is a natural force (I was overwhelmed by joy), happiness is a social superior (they live a life ruled by happiness), and happiness is an opponent (she was seized by joy). Seidi et al. (2021) showed that the English language and Laki conceptualise happiness in terms of animalistic behaviour (Seidi et al., 2021). In Anywaa, ‘tasty food’, ‘white colour’ is used as a source to conceptualise happiness (Ojhu & Yigezu, 2022).

Happiness can be conceptualised in terms of: up, light, fire, white colour, light, container, tasty food, and natural force but these source domains are not common in all if the studies. Only some metaphors are observed in one language, even if some are overlapped. This indicates that metaphor has both universal and culture-specific features (Barcelona, 2001; Kövecses, 2005). Previous comparative studies (such as N. Yu, 1995; Patowari, 2015) revealed that, in addition to similarities, metaphorical conceptualisations of emotions differ across languages and cultures. For instance, the Mlabri language data presented a previously unreported pattern in the metaphorical language of affect, whereby low is linked with happy states and high with unhappy states (Patowari, 2015; N. Yu, 1995).

As metaphors of happiness are culture-specific, it is important to investigate how speakers of Oromo metaphorically express happiness. However, no work is done in analysing metaphors in the emotional aspect, except in ‘The Semantics of Some Oromo Adpositions’ (Goshu, 2012), ‘Semantics of Motion Verbs’ (Chimdi, 2017), and ‘A Conceptual Comparative Approach to Teaching Oromo and Amharic Idioms’ (Wakuma et al., 2017). As indicated earlier, previous studies of the language have not addressed the metaphorical conceptualisation of happiness. This study paper focuses on identifying the linguistic metaphor, conceptual metaphor, and meaning the focus of the metaphors. It has significance for researchers and speakers of the language. The researchers in the area benefited from it as additional evidence of its applicability in different languages and gave more examples of the proposal, like universality and culture-specificity features. It can also be used as an input to describe the features and potential of the metaphor.

5. Methods

A qualitative method was mainly used to conduct the study. Textual data were collected from Oromo web corpus which has around five million running words (Oromo web corpus, 2016). Linguistic metaphor, conceptual metaphor, and the meaning of metaphor are analysed qualitatively.

5.1. Procedures

I have adopted the bottom-up approach: first, identify the linguistic metaphor, then the conceptual metaphor (Krennmayr, 2013), and then ‘the meaning of the metaphor. Linguistic metaphors are identified by the concordance program and metaphor identification procedure (MIP) Pragglejaz Group (2007). concordance is a computer program in which a word is presented in a context (seven words in the right hand and seven words in the left hand). The program is used to select a key word from the corpus. It generates a text in which the word ‘happiness’ (gammaʧuu) is used. This was done by entering the target domain lexeme in the search engine and making concordance. The concordance brings clauses that contain at the center of the happiness lexeme’. From the displayed clause, a clause (s) that has metaphorically used verbs a was selected according to MIP criteria. The MIP was applied to discover the relationship between the lexeme and the verb. The clause that has the metaphorical verb was identified as a linguistic metaphor. This was done by reading the entire text (in the context of the displayed text); determining the lexical units in the text (the verb in the displayed clause) and establishing its meaning in context (the meaning of the verb in the context). For the focused lexical unit in the clause, MIP was carried out by determining if the lexical units have a more basic contemporary meaning than in the given context and by deciding whether the contextual meaning contrasts with the basic meaning (Pragglejaz, 2007, p. 3). Let’s illustrate the steps see the using one example. When the lexeme ‘gammaʧuu’ was entered, the search results would produce all instances of the word in contexts.

‘Wanta amantaniif yoo dhaabattan, dhumarratti gammachuu guddaa argattu.Cimina dhiibbaa addunyaan Seexanaa geessisu’ (If you stand for what you believe in, you will gain a big happiness. The strength the influence brings by the world’s of Satan)

The relation between ‘gammaʧuu’ (happy) and the verb ‘argattu’ (you gain) is not direct. Happiness is abstract but the verb is used to express concrete entities such friend, clothes and lost objects. Then ‘argattu’ (you gain) is a metaphor. After the linguistic metaphor is identified, its frequency is identified using the concordance as it presents the frequency of the searched word per million.

The conceptual metaphor was identified by adopting Coll-Florit and Climent (2019) strategies, involve substituting a prototype of the basic argument of a metaphorically used verb. If the focus is a verb and its selectional preferences appear to be violated, the analyst determines the prototypical argument(s) for the verb and checks whether the substitution of any of the argument(s) in the text by the prototype will make the semantic incongruence disappear. If yes, the prototypical argument is established as the source domain (SD), and the word from the text is established as the target domain (TD). The main meaning focus was done by adopting Kövecses (2011) revised conceptual metaphor. According to Kövecses (2011), the meaning focus of the metaphor is determined by transferring the main meaning of the source domain to the target domain by considering the linguistic metaphor. The meaning focus of the metaphor was identified by transferring the central knowledge of the source domain (sound) to the target domain (happiness). For example, one of the basic meanings of sound is that it is heard via the ear. This concept is transferred as experiencing to the body. When we hear a sound, it indicates the presence of sound. In Oromo, the same verb (dhagaa’ama) is used for perceiving a sound and feeling happy. Happiness, which is abstract, is felt like hearing sound, a physical stimulus coming our environments (Kövecses, 2011).

6. Analysis

This section of the paper presents analysis of the text data from the web corpus so as to identity how happiness is conceptualised by Oromo speakers. The Oromo equivalent of the word ‘happiness’ is ‘gammachuu‘, a verbal noun derived from a verbal root ‘gammad-’ (See Owens, 1985 for grammatical description of Oromo). The speakers of the language can also use this verb to express the feeling happiness. Data are presented by k’ube (Afaan Oromoo Ortography). Its equvalent of IPA is given at the end.

6.1. Happiness is a substance in the container

1 Garaa  koo   gammachuu-n  guut-t-e

Belly  My    happiness-nom  fill-3sg.f-pf (2)

‘She made me very happy (lit. she filled my belly with happiness)’.

2 Keessa  ishee-tti  gammachuu-n  guut-am-t-e

Inside  she-loc   happiness-inst   fill-pass-3sg.f-pfv (1)

‘She is very happy (lit. she was filled by happiness inside herself)’.

3 jireenya  gammachuu-n  keessa  guut-Ø-e

Life    happiness-nom  inside   fill-3sg.m-pfv (1)

‘A joyful life (lit. a life in which happiness is filled’

In example (1–3), the clauses are constructed from the argument ‘gammachuu’ (happiness) and verbs like ‘guutte’ (filled), ‘guutamtee’ (was filled), and ‘guute’ (filled). The verbs’ contextual meanings show an ‘intense feeling’, while their basic meaning focuses on filling a container with substance. Because of the difference between the basic and contextual meanings, these verbs are selected as linguistic metaphors, indicating that ‘happiness is not a selectional preference argument for the verbs. Instead ‘substance in a container’(like ‘food in a stomach, body, and life)’ is a selectional preference argument for the verbs. The selectional preference argument is used as the source domain, and the non-sectional preference argument as the target domain in determining conceptual metaphor based on the evidence of linguistic metaphor (Call-Frotit and Clement, 2019, pp. 55–56). Then ‘HAPPINESS IS SUBSTANCE IN THE CONTAINER’ is a conceptual metaphor. This conceptual metaphor maps ‘the existence of substance in the container onto a person who feels happy. The amount of substance in the container corresponds to the degree of happiness the person feels. This shows the meaning or focus of this metaphor is the presence and degree of the happiness. The ‘substance is in the container’ is identified by its physical presence, amount and type. From these three foci of the ‘substance in the container’ the first two are used as source of meaning for the metaphor by transferring these foci to the target domain (happiness). However, the type of happiness is not considered in conceptual metaphors. The reason is that metaphors are partial in nature. This metaphor is presented by four (4) linguistic metaphors which is relatively assumed as medium number. This indicates that happiness is construed a physical entity occupying space.

6.2. Happiness is stream water

4 Gammachuu  garaa-dhaa  madd-e

Happiness   belly-from   secrete-pfv (2)

‘Happiness from the bottom of one’s heart (lit. happiness secreted from belly’.

In example (4), ‘garaadhaa madde’ indicates the source of ‘gammachuu’ (happiness). The phrase contextually shows ‘real happiness’, which is described as being secreted from the belly of a person. The difference between contextual and basic meaning made the verb ‘linguistic metaphor’. In the data, ‘happiness’ is described by the verb which is used to describe a river coming from its source. Hence, happiness is conceptualised as the stream of water flowing from a belly. Here, ‘happiness’ is an indirect argument whereas ‘stream water’ is a direct or regular argument for the verb ‘madde’(secreted). By using ‘happiness as a target and ‘stream water’ as a source, ‘HAPPINESS IS STREAM WATER’ is identified as a conceptual metaphor. The cleanliness of the stream water is the true happiness a person feels. The coolness of the stream water is the pleasure of feeling happy. In Oromo, ‘stream water’ is perceived as pure and cool, and ‘the happiness that comes from the belly is considered as ‘perfect’’ not fake. In addition to happiness, other emotions and some other concepts from the belly are assumed as perfect, whereas ‘above the neck is assumed to be fake or false in Oromo. The metaphor is presented by two linguistics metaphor which is assumed relatively low frequency. This gives clue that this metaphor has low usability degree among the speakers.

6.3. Happiness is a living thing

5 Gammachuu  Isaan  keessa-tti  hor-Ø-e

Happiness   Them  inside-loc  rear-3sg.m-pfv (1)

‘It brings them joy (lit. it reared happiness inside them)’.

6 Akka  gammachuu-n  kijiba-a   Isin   keessa  jir-aat-Ø-u

sub  happiness-nom  false-gen  you.pl  inside  exist-inch-3sg.m-ipfv (1)

‘so that you experience false joy (lit. so that a false happiness lives in you’

7 gammachuu-n   Kan  keessa-tti  dagaag-Ø-e

happiness-nom   sub   inside-loc  blossom-3sg.m-pfv  (1)

‘(a person) who is extremely happy (lit. someone in whom happiness blossomed’

In examples (5–7)’, jiraatu (live), hore (reared), and dagaage (blossomed) are linguistic metaphors. Because they have a more basic meaning than the meaning they have in the above context. In this context, their meaning is related to ‘'staying happy and experiencing a high degree of happiness’ The basic meaning is related to ‘become big’, ‘be multiplied’ and ‘blossomed’ respectively. If we used plant(s) and animal(s) instead of happiness, metaphoricity of the verbs would be lost. These linguistic metaphors underlie the conceptual metaphor ‘HAPPINESS IS A LIVING THING’. Living things’ is a source domain, and ‘happiness’ a target domain. In this conceptual metaphor, ‘the presence a living thing in a person is construed as becoming joyful. The growing a live thing corresponds to the degree of happiness. In Oromo ‘hore’ refers to mostly having a lot of castles because cattle rearing is one of the main economic activities. From the general knowledge of living things: living, growth, multiplication, and death, the first three features are transferred to the target domain to show the feeling, continuity and degree of happiness. This helps to identify that the meaning of the metaphor focuses on the existence, continuity and degree of happiness. For the metaphor is presented by three (3) evidences from the language, the metaphor relatively categorised as middle usability in the language.

6.4. Happiness is food

8 garaa    koo  gammachuu  kee-tiin   quuf[b]- s-it-Ø-e

Stomach  My   Happiness   your-inst  satisfy-caus-2-sg-pfv (1)

‘You made me very happy (lit. you satisfied my stomach with happiness)’.

In example (8), happiness is denoted by quubsite’ (she/you made me happy), which is not a common way to express it. Rather it is more common for food. Describing in terms of food leads us to assume that ‘happiness; is ‘food’ and that ‘the belly’ is a person satisfied with food. This indicates that ‘quubsite’ (satisfying) is a linguistic metaphor. It needs an argument like ‘food’ to make the verb ‘quubsite’ (satisfied) common. The argument can be used as a source domain, and the prior argument is that ‘happiness’ is a target domain. This linguistic metaphor manifests the ‘HAPPINESS IS FOOD’ conceptual metaphor. In metaphor, an ‘empty stomach’ is mapped onto the absence of happiness and ‘the amount of food in a stomach onto the degree happiness. ‘The meaning of the conceptual metaphor is that ‘happiness is basic for life’ which extends from the source domain ‘food’. The metaphor is used in rare cases because the linguistic metaphor through which conceptual metaphor is manifest has a low frequency (only one).

6.5. Happiness is a property

9 Gammachuu  keessaa  nama-a    hat-(a)n

Happiness   Inside   person-gen  steal-3pl  (1)

‘They caused someone to lose their joy (lit. they stole one’s happiness from his interior)’

10 Gammachuu  dhugaa  qab-n-a

Happiness   true.gen   have-1pl-ipfv  (5)

‘We are joyful (lit. we own true; i.e., real happiness)’.

11 Gammachuu  qab-u

Happiness    have-3pl.impfv  (71)

‘They are happy (lit. they own happiness)’.

12 Gammachuu  Keenya  eeg-n-ee

Happiness   Our keep-1pl-pfv.cnv  (6)

‘Preserving our joy (lit. having kept our happiness)’.

In texamples (9–12), ‘happiness’ is expressed by words such as ‘hatan’ (they stole), ‘qabu’ ‘(they have) and qaba’ (we have) that are not basic for happiness. These verbs are assumed to be linguistic metaphors. Because the verbs have a more basic meaning different from the above (experience and loss), they are lexicalized as ‘possession’, which come from the more basic ‘k’abu’ (they catch). ‘The verb ‘hatan’ (they stole) basically means ‘taking the property of someone without the permission of the owner’. These show that the verbs are more regular in describing property rather than describing happiness. In addition, it is understood that ‘happiness’ is not a selectional preference argument for the verbs, whereas ‘the property’ (cattle, money, furniture, etc.) becomes a selectional preference argument(s) for the verbs (k’abna (have (we)), k‘abu (have), hatan (stole)). These verbs made ‘happiness’ be conceptualised as property (which can be stolen). These linguistic metaphors manifested the conceptual metaphor HAPPINESS IS PROPERTY’. The metaphor was identified based on linguistic evidence by using direct argument (property) as ‘as source domain and indirect argument (happiness) as target domain’.

The mapping of the metaphor goes like this: ‘The possessing properties is mapped onto feeling happy;’ The security of a property is mapped onto is protecting happiness from factors take way happiness’. The central meaning of the source domain ‘property’ focuses on existence, care, degree, and use, which are the major ones. From these main meanings of the source domain ‘(property’), some are transferred to the target (happiness) to show the focus of the metaphor. The use of property is transferred to indicate the importance of happiness in life, and caring for property is transferred to caring for happiness. This means that the focus of this metaphor is existence, caring for and the importance of happiness. In Oromo, this metaphor is popular because it is presented with the relatively highest frequency of linguistic metaphors (83).

6.6. Happiness is a written text

13 Gammachuu  miira  isa-a = rra-a  dubbif-am-uu-n

Happiness  emotion  he- gen=on-abl  read-pass-vn-inst (1)

‘With a joy that is understood from his feelings (litː with a happiness that is read from his emotion’

In example (13), ‘gammaʧuu’ (happiness) is an argument and described by the verb ‘dubbifamu’ (is read). In this context, the meaning of the verb (dubbifamu) is ‘understood’ whereas in other contexts the meaning of the verb is perceiving information from written text. The second one is a more basic meaning than the first. For the meaning of the context and the basic meaning become different, the verb becomes a linguistic metaphor. This indicates that a written text is a selectional preference argument for the verb whereas ‘happiness’ is not. Using the selectional preference argument as source and metaphoric non-selectional preference argument as target ‘HAPPINESS IS WRITTEN TEXT’ is identified as the underlying conceptual metaphor. The mapping of this metaphor is ‘the readability of text from the paper is the understandability of feeling happy from the face. The meaning of the metaphor is ‘happiness’ is understood from the face. This means that the ‘way of understanding happiness’ is focused in this metaphor. It is derived from the basic features of the source domain ‘written text’(like readability, attractiveness, size, etc). From them, readability is transferred to’ happiness’ to indicate understandability. As we get information from reading, it is possible to understand happiness from the face in Oromo. Because it is presented by only one linguistic metaphor, it is assumed that it has low usage in Oromo.

6.7. Happiness is a result

14 Yahowaa  sodachuu-n  gammachuu  Akka  arg-am-siis-u

God    fear_of-nom  Happiness sub  get-pass-caus-ipfv  (7)

‘A fear of God makes happiness possible (lit. that fear of God enables one get happiness)’

15 Gammachuu  gaa’ela = rra-a  arg-am-u

Happiness  marriage = on-abl  get-pass-ipfv (1)

‘A happiness that comes from marriage (lit. happiness that one gets from marriage’

16 Gammachuu  arg-an-n-a

Happiness  get-mid-1pl-ipfv  (7)

‘We (will) experience happiness (lit. we (will) gain happiness)’.

In the above examples (14–16), ‘gammaʧuu’ (happiness) is an argument and ‘argamu (which is gained), arganna ((we gain) argama (gained) and argamsiisa (causes to be gained) are verbs. In the context, the verbs mean ‘feel happy’ whereas their basic meaning is ‘getting object’. This difference made the verbs become ‘linguistic metaphors. The metaphorically used verbs can be changed to basic by using the argument ‘result’ (profit, fruit, award etc). This ‘result’ can serve as the source domain and then ‘HAPPINESS IS RESULT’ is a conceptual metaphor. This made happiness is understood as a result of fearing God (see 13). Fearing God is a cause, and happiness is a result. It is also seen (14) that happiness is the result (which is gained from marriage). In this data (15), marriage is a cause, and ‘happiness is a result. Goal-oriented activities are factors that influence happiness; Attaining the proposed goal is feeling happy after some success; ‘amount of result gained is the degree of happiness felt to a person’.

The main focus of this metaphor is that happiness depends on some activity or worship. Because of the general knowledge of ‘result’ such as: preceded by causes, presence or absence. degree and evaluation. From these basic features of the result, the metaphor focuses on the existence of happiness is depends on the condition. As someone harvests what he/she plants, a person who does good things will become happy. So, if the activities are fruitful, ‘a person feels happy’ otherwise the is no happiness. The data proved that happiness is gained after fearing God and engagement. This indicates that an Oromo is raised and cultured to fear God and respect marriage. This metaphor is one of the commonly used metaphors in Oromo, for its linguistic metaphors are relatively high (15).

6.8. Happiness is a container

17 Miira  gammachuu  guddaa  keessa  gal-uu

Emotion  Happiness  Big  In  enter-vn  (1)

‘Being in the state of happiness (lit. entering into the emotion of happiness)’

18 gammachuu  Guddaa  keessa  seen-ee

Happiness  Big  In  enter-pfv.cnvb  (1)

‘Having been in the state of great joy, … (lit. having entered into a big happiness, …)’

In Examples (17–18), galuu (getting inside) and seenee (has been inside) are metaphoric verbs. Because the contextual meaning of the verbs focuses on showing ‘feeling or experience’ and their basic meaning is ‘entering into a compound or an house’. This indicates the verbs are not basic enough to describe happiness’ instead, they are often used to get into an enclosure or join a group or an association. ‘Happiness’ services as an indirect argument and ‘container’ as a direct argument for the verbs. The direct argument serves as the source, and the indirect argument is the target domain in the identification of conceptual metaphor from linguistic metaphor. This evidence shows the presence of the conceptual metaphor ‘HAPPINESS IS CONTAINER’ in Oromo. Being in a container is the personality being controlled by happiness; if there is no container, there will be no happiness. The size of the container is matched with the degree of happiness. The focus of the meaning is derived from the central knowledge of the source domain. ‘Containing’ or ‘enclosing’ is the central knowledge of the container in Oromo. This indicates that the container is greater than the substance that it contains. It is more powerful or has control over the substance which implies that there is a high degree of happiness, which is overwhelming; however, it is rarely used.

6.9. Happiness is a python

19 gammachuu-n  liqims-am-an-ii

happiness-inst  swallow-pass-3pl-pf.cnv  (1)

‘Having been delighted… (lit. having been engulfed by happiness …)’

In texample (19), ‘lik’in(f)amanii (were being swallowed) means contextually being controlled or dominated. But its basic meaning is to take something into the belly. Because of the difference between context and basic meaning, the verb is considered a linguistic metaphor. The verb is more regular to describe a python or other animal other than happiness. For the ‘happiness’ is incongruent with the verb, whereas ‘animal which swallows other things’ makes the relation of arguments and verbs congruent. This linguistic metaphor is evidence for the conceptual metaphor ‘HAPPINESS IS PYTHON’. In the metaphor: ‘A python swallowing another animal is mapped onto happiness overwhelming the person. Swallowing is mapped onto being lighted. The degree of usage is low for the linguistic metaphor, for this metaphor is the only one in the corpus.

6.10. Happiness is light

20 fuul-li  isa-a  gammachuu-n  if-e

face-nom  he-gen  happiness-inst  shine-pf  (1)

‘He is incredibly joyful (lit. his face shined with happiness)’.

21 fuul-li   isaan-ii  gammachuu-dhaan  if-ee

face-nom  they-gen  happiness-inst  shine-pf.cvb  (1)

‘(they) after feeling incredibly happy… (lit. after their face shined with happiness…)’

In example (20–21), the verbs ‘ife’ (brightened up) and ‘ifee’ (is being brightened up) are used in the context of ‘ a bright face’ to mean ‘become happy’. The basic meaning of the verb ‘is ‘to displace darkness’. The basic meaning and their contextual meaning are different. The verb or converb (ife and ifee) are linguistic metaphors, and ‘happiness’ is the argument of the metaphoric verb. The ‘happiness’ and the verbs are semantically incongruent, and they become congruent by using ‘light’ as an argument for the verbs instead of ‘happiness’. ‘HAPPINESS IS LIGHT’ is conceptual, identified by congruent argument (light) as the source and incongruent argument (happiness) as the source domain. This conceptual metaphor shows that ‘light is observed by its effect on the environment, and happiness is in term of its effect on the body. Happiness is understood in terms of ‘Light’. This mean if there is no light, there will be no feeling of happiness. In Oromo, ‘light’ is generally known for enlightenment, clarity (helps to see or know), and brightness. These features of light help identify the meaning focus of the metaphor. This indicates that the focus of this metaphor is that ‘happiness is a good thing or is evaluated as positive. Faces become brighter after they gain good things like cream. It means that, like cream, happiness is a good thing that makes us have a bright face.

6.11. Happiness is sound

22 gammachuu  dhaga’-am-u

Happiness  hear-pass-ipfv  (1

‘A feeling of happiness (lit. a happiness that is heard’

23 Gammachuu  Daangaa  hin-qab-n-e-tu  na-tti   dhaga’-am-a

Happiness  Boundary  neg-hold-neg-pfv-foc me-loc  hear-pass-ipfv  (2

‘I am overjoyed (lit. a happiness without boundary is heard to me)’.

24 Gammachuu  guddaa-tu  nu-tti  dhaga’-am-a

Happiness  big-foc  us-loc  hear-pass-ipfv  (1

‘We are overjoyed (lit. a big happiness is heard to us)’.

In examples (22–24), dhagaa’amuu (will be heard) and dhagaa’ama (is heard) are metaphoric verbs. Because the contextual meaning of the verbs is ‘feel’ while the basic meaning is ‘perceiving sound with the ear’. This indicates that the verbs are not basic to describe happiness; they are commonly used for sound. The ‘happiness’ is an indirect argument, and the ‘sound’ is a direct argument for the verbs. So, ‘happiness’ is conceptualised as sound that heard via the ear. The direct argument serves as the source, and the indirect argument is the target domain in the identification of conceptual metaphor from linguistic metaphor. This results in a conceptual metaphor ‘HAPPIINESS IS SOUND'. In this metaphor, hearing sound is mapped onto feeling happy and the volume of sound onto the degree of happiness. The linguistic metaphor presented is that ‘happiness’ is considered a sound that is produced somewhere and heard with the ear (see 21). The data (22) describe happiness in terms of a very high volume of sound perceived. Again, the last (23) shows that happiness is presented in terms of sound with high volume. This means that’ presence’ and ‘intensity’ become the meanings of this metaphor. The number of linguistic metaphors is five (5), which is relatively high and implies that its usage in Oromo is high.

6.12. Happiness is shared like an object

25 Gammachuu  wal-iin  qoodd-at-ee  jir-aach-uu

Happiness  together-inst  share mid-pf.cvb  exist-mid-vn  (1)

‘Taking part in joyful social events (lit. living together by sharing happiness)’

26 Gammachuu  wal-iin  qoodd-ach-uu-n

Happiness  together-inst  share-mid-vn-nom  (1)

‘Taking part in joyful social events is … (lit. sharing happiness together is.)’

In the examples (25–26) ‘qooddatee’ and ‘qooddachuun’ are basically used for sharing (dividing, taking share, and taking its part) food or, money or properties whereas contextual meanings is attending on the happiness events. The verbs are more commonly used to describe sharing objects rather than happiness. For the verbs, happiness is incongruent with the verbs, whereas ‘sharing objects’ makes the relation of arguments and verbs congruent. The verbs are assumed to be linguistic metaphor but they indicate the conceptual metaphor ‘HAPPINESS IS AN OBJECT TO BE SHARED’. Sharing an object is mapped onto taking part in a happy event. The focus of this metaphor is to consider the happiness of somebody as your happiness.This helps to strengthen unity and cultivate a positive attitude toward one another. This implies that some events of happiness are fully accomplished alone, and others are shared. When other are in our company, our happiness will increase. This metaphor is manifested by two linguistic metaphors which give a clue that its usage in the Oromo is relatively low.

6.13. Happiness is a move-able object

27 gammachuu-n  Itti  dhuf-Ø-u

happiness-nom  towards  come-3sg-ipfv  (1)

‘A happiness he feels (lit. a happiness that comes towards him)’.

28 gammachuu-n  jir-eenya koo-f  deebi’-Ø-e

happiness-nom   exist-nmlz  my-dat  return-3sg-pfv  (1)

‘I felt happy once more (lit. happiness returned to (the benefit of) my life)’.

In examples (27–28), dhufu’ (come) and deebi’an (come again) are verbs, and they are semantically incongruent with their corresponding arguments, ‘happiness’. ‘dhufu’ (come to) and deebi’an (come again) are basically motion verbs and they mean ‘moving to’ and ‘moving away’. These verbs are used to describe happiness and have the meaning ‘Once again, I became happy’. When the basic meaning differs from its basic meaning, it becomes a linguistic metaphor. The incongruence becomes congruent by replacing or moving objects (guests, enemies, cars, etc.). So, we have a conceptual metaphorː ‘HAPPINESS IS MOVEABLE OBJECT/ANIMAL’. The conceptual metaphor is determined by ‘using the regular argument as the source and the metaphoric argument as the target. This metaphor mapped as: ‘The object moving is mapped onto becoming happy one again’and ‘an object moving away from speaker onto loss of happiness’. This shows happiness can appear or disappear in life based on circumstances. On the other hand, the metaphor focuses on the existence (existence or absence) of happiness in life. This conceptual metaphor is presented by only two linguistic metaphors. This shows the metaphor has a relatively low usage among the speakers.

6.14. Happiness is an alcoholic drink

29 gammachuu-n  mach-aa’-an

happiness-inst  intoxicate-inch-3pl  (1)

‘They became excited (lit. they are intoxicated with happiness)’.

30 gammachuu-n  mach-oof-t-ee

happiness-inst  intoxicate-inch-3sgf/2sg-pf.cvb  (1)

‘After feeling extremely happy (lit. (he/you sg) having been intoxicated with happiness)’

Examples (29, 30) show that happiness is described as alcohol that makes somebody intoxicated. In these data, the verbs ‘macha’an (intoxicated), machooftee (being intoxicated) mean ‘excitement’, whereas they basically mean ‘become uncounsious after taking too much alcohol’. Then these verbs are metaphoric verbs. It means that these verbs and the argument ‘happiness’ are semantically incongruent. It is possible to make congruent the relation between the verbs and arguments by replacing ‘alcoholic drink (boka, beer, etc.) with ‘happiness’. Using this congruent argument (alcoholic drink) as the source domain and the ‘incongruent argument (happiness), it is possible to determine ‘HAPPINESS IS ALCOHOLIC DRINK as the conceptual form of the metaphor. Alcoholic drinks can intoxicate and make us lose consciousness. This concept extends to happiness to indicate that a high degree of happiness (intensified) can cause one to lose consciousness and control. In this, ‘intensity’ is the focused dimension of happiness. The metaphor is presented by four (4) linguistic metaphors, and this gives a clue that this metaphor is is not frequently used in Oromo.

6.15. Happiness is a gift

31 naann-ich-aaf  gammachuu gudd-aa  kenn-ee |

region-sglv-dat  happiness big-m  give-pf.cvb  (1)

‘Having brought immense joy to the region (lit. having given a big happiness to the region, …’

32 gammachuu  gudd-aa  na-af kenn-a

Happiness  big-m me-dat  give-ipfv  (1)

‘It gives me great pleasure (lit. it gives me big happiness’.

In examples (31–32), ‘kennee’ (having given) and ‘kenna’ (give) are metaphoric verbs. Because the basic and contextual meaning of the verbs are different. The contextual meaning of the verbs is ‘feeling or experience’ which is basically perceiving, giving, or rendering freely. This indicates the verbs are not basic to describe happiness; they are more preferable for gifts (award, inheritance, money, etc.). ‘Happiness’ is an indirect argument, and ‘gift is a direct argument for the verbs. The direct argument serves as the source, and the indirect argument is the target domain in the identification of conceptual metaphor from linguistic metaphor. These linguistic metaphors manifest the conceptual metaphor ‘HAPPINESS IS A GIFT’. Getting a gift from someone is mapped onto feeling happy. The focus of the metaphor is existence of happiness. In addition, our ‘happiness’ can be managed by other body, which may have a bad consequence. The linguistic metaphor that is presented under this conceptual metaphor is two, suggesting that it is rarely used.

7. Summary and conclusion

7.1. Summary

This paper analysed how speakers of Oromo conceptualise happiness in terms of concrete objects, which is summarised and presented in Table 1.

Table 1. Summary of happiness metaphors in Oromo.

No	Linguistic metaphors (with its literal translation)	Conceptual metaphor	No ling. Met. in the CM	Meaning focus of the metaphor
1	gammachuun guutamu (filled by happiness)	HAPPINESS IS SUBSTANCE INCONTAINER	4	Intensity of happiness
2	gammachuu daangaa hinqabnetu itti dhagaa;ame(amount less happiness was heard at him)	HAPPINESS IS SOUND	4	Magnitude of happiness (a high degree of happiness is experienced)
3	gammachuun liqinfamanii (swallowed by happiness)	HAPPINESS IS PYTON	1	Control of happiness over the experiencer (controlling aspect)
4	gammachuun machooftee (being intoxicated by happiness)	HAPPINESS IS ALCHOHOLIC DRINK	3	Intensity of happiness (extreme of happiness)
5	fuullisaa gammachuun ifee. (his face was brightening by happiness)	HAPPINESS IS LIGHT	22	Positive evaluation (happiness is good)
6	gammachuu guddaa kennee (by giving big happiness)	HAPPINESS IS GIFT	2	Presence/existence with high degree
7	gammachuun jireenya koof deebi’an happiness were come back to my life)	HAPPINESS IS MOVEABLE OBJECT	2	Presence/existence of happiness
8	gammachuu keessa namaa hatan (stole person’s inner happiness)	HAPPINESS IS PROPERTY	83	Existence (presence and absence) and happiness can be lost due to some factor
9	akka gammachuun kiyya isin keessa jiraatu (Iorder to live my happiness in you)	HAPPINESS IS LIVINGTHING	3	Existence (there is happiness)
10	gammachuu guddaa keessa galche (getting inside the big happiness)	HAPPINESS IS CONTAINER	2	Controlling other (happiness beyond personality)
11	gammachuu garaadhaa madde (happiness secreted from stom)	HAPPINESS IS STREAM	2	Perfection (happinesscan be real/fake)
13	gammachuu keetiin quubsite (you satisfied by your happiness))	HAPPINESS IS FOOD	1	Goodness of happiness
14	gammachuu miira isaarraa dubbifamuun (happiness is read from his emotion)	HAPPINESS IS WRITTEN TEXT	1	Recognising happiness from one’s face
15	gammachuu waliin qooddatee (by sharing happiness together)	HAPPINESS IS SHAREABLE OBJECT	2	Inclusiveness
17	gammachuu gaa’elarraa argamu (happiness which gained from marriage)	HAPPINESS IS RESULT/PROFITE	15	Dependency of happiness (a cause is needed)

7.2 Conclusion

This study examined how speakers of Oromo conceptualise happiness, which is an important aspect of emotion. The results show that the speakers conceptualise in multiple ways such as SUBSTANCE IN THE CONTAINER, SOUND, STREAM WATER, PROPERTY, LIVING THING, GIFT, CONTAINER, PYHTON, RESULT, LIGHT and FOOD. The results also indicate that happiness is perceived or experienced with the eye, skin, tongue and ear. This is done by giving it structure, colour, size, feature, and shape. These structures, sizes, amounts, colours, and other entities come from the human body (e.g., stomach, face, all personality), the surrounding environments (e.g., stream water, python, plant, light), social and cultural objects (e.g., gifts, alcohol), and economic activity (e.g., cattle milk). Overall, these conceptual metaphors of happiness imply that the manipulation of concrete objects will enhance the efficiency of a language in expressing abstract concepts such as happiness.

Afaan Ormoo alphabet with its equivalent IPA.

Table

Afaan Oromo Ortography	IPA	Afaan Oromo Ortography	IPA
b	b	q	k‘
c	·	r	r
ch	ʧ	s	s
d	d	sh	ʃ
dh	ᶑ	t	t
f	f	w	w
g	h	x	t’
j	ʤ	y	j
k	k	'	ʔ
l	l
m	m	a	ɑ
n	n	e	e
ny	ɲ	i	i
p	p	o	o
ph	p’	u	u

Abbreviations
F	=	feminine
FOC	=	focus
IMPF	=	imperfective
IMPR	=	imperative
INST	=	instrumental
LOC	=	locative
M	=	masculine
MID	=	middle
NEG	=	negation
NOM	=	nominative
PFV	=	perfective
PL	=	plural
POSS	=	possessive
PROG	=	progressive
PST	=	past
REF	=	reflexive
S	=	singular
SG	=	singulative
SOV	=	subject-object-verb
VN	=	verbal noun

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Meseret Hailu

Meseret Hailu (MA) was teaching at Bule Hora university and now PhD candidate at Addis Ababa University Linguistics department. He is working on ‘Metaphorical Conceptualization of Emotion in Oromo’.

Feda Negesse

Feda Negesse (PhD) is an expert in experimental linguistic. He also worked on psycholinguistic experiment and ‘Spatial Metaphor in Oromo’.

Girma Mengistu

Girma Mengistu (PhD) is an expert on Theoretical and Descriptive linguistics which includes phonology, tonology, morphology and syntax with focus on Omotic languages.