CONCEPTUAL METAPHORS IN DHOLUO: A COGNITIVE LINGUISTIC APPROACH BY CELLYNE N. A. ANUDO B.ED (UNIVERSITY OF NAIROBI), MA (KENYATTA UNIVERSITY) A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE SCHOOL OF POSTGRADUATE STUDIES IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE AWARD OF THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY (LINGUISTICS) OF THE FACULTY OF ARTS AND SOCIAL SCIENCES, DEPARTMENT OF LANGUAGES, LINGUISTICS AND LITERATURE, KISII UNIVERSITY OCTOBER, 2018 DECLARATION DECLARATION BY THE CANDIDATE This thesis is my original work and has not been presented in any other university. Sign................................................ Date....................................................... Cellyne N. A. Anudo DAS19/60486/15 DECLARATION BY SUPERVISORS This thesis has been submitted with our approval as university supervisors. Sign.......................................... Date................................................ Dr. Evans Gesura Mecha, PhD Department of Lang., Ling. & Lit., Kisii University Sign....................................................... Date.................................................. Dr. George Obara Nyandoro Department of Lang., Ling. & Lit., Kisii University ii PLAGIARISM DECLARATION DECLARATION BY STUDENT i. I declare that I have read and understood Kisii University Postgraduate Examination Rules and Regulations, and other documents concerning academic dishonesty. ii. I do understand that ignorance of these rules and regulations is not an excuse for a violation of the said rules. iii. If I have any questions or doubts, I realize that it is my responsibility to keep seeking answers until I understand. iv. I understand I must do my own work. v. I also understand that if I commit any act of academic dishonesty like plagiarism, my thesis/project can be assigned a fail grade (“F”). vi. I further understand I may be suspended or expelled from the University for Academic Dishonesty. Name: Cellyne Nelly Awino Anudo Signature:………………………….. Reg. No.: DAS19/60486/2015 Date:……………………………….. DECLARATION BY SUPERVISOR(S) i. I/we declare that this thesis has been submitted to plagiarism detection service. ii. The thesis contains less than 20% of plagiarized work. iii. I/we hereby give consent for marking. 1. Dr. Evans Gesura Mecha, PhD Signature:………………………… Affiliation:…………………………… Date:……………………………… 2. Dr. George Obara Nyandoro, PhD Signature:………………………… Affiliation:…………………………… Date:……………………………… iii DECLARATION OF NUMBER OF WORDS Name of Candidate: Cellyne Nelly Awino Anudo Adm. No.: DAS19/60486/15 Faculty: ARTS AND SOCIAL SCIENCES Department: LANGUAGES, LINGUISTICS AND LITERATURE Thesis Title: CONCEPTUAL METAPHORS IN DHOLUO: A COGNITIVE LINGUISTIC APPROACH I confirm that the word length of: 1) The thesis, including footnotes, is 79,779 2) the bibliography is 4,221 And, if applicable, 3) the appendices are 3,000 I also declare the electronic version is identical to the final, hard bound copy of the thesis and corresponds with those on which the examiners based their recommendation for the award of the degree. Signed:…………………………………… Date:……………………………….. (Candidate) I confirm that the thesis submitted by the above-named candidate complies with the relevant word length specified in the School of Postgraduate and Commission of University Education regulations for the Masters and PhD Degrees. Signed:………………….Email:………………….Tel.:……………….Date:…………… (Supervisor 1) Signed:…………………Email:………………….Tel.:……………….Date:…………… (Supervisor 2) iv COPYRIGHT All rights reserved: No part of this work may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the author or Kisii University on her behalf. © Cellyne Nelly Awino Anudo, 2018 v DEDICATION First and foremost, this work is dedicated to my father John Peter Anudo. Wuod Owiti, you taught me three vital ingredients to academic success: hard work, patience and conscientiousness. You were a beacon of hope in my intellectual journey and in you I saw an inclination that was not brought to fruition but which you believed would be realized through me. You may not be present to see „our dream‟ come true but I hold onto the memories and constant reminders to press on even in the face of adversity till I reach the highest level humanly possible in the sphere of academia. Second, it is dedicated to scholars who have an interest in the study of conceptual metaphors in African languages since this area of research is still a virgin land to be explored. vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I would wish to thank my two supervisors Dr. Evans Mecha and Dr. George Nyandoro for the invaluable advice they gave me in the course of this study. Without their scholarly guidance, positive criticism and patience I would not have come this far. I also wish to sincerely thank my mentor Prof. Martin C. Njoroge. Thank you so much for the guidance that you have given me. You created time for me out of your busy schedule and you never felt that I was a bother even when I called you during odd hours to make endless inquiries about several issues. Prof, you have walked with me through this academic journey and I am proud to be associated with you. To Dr. Quin E.A. Orwa, thanks for the moral and material support accorded to me ever since our paths crossed during my coursework. Nyar Sakwa Bondo, Nyasaye ogwedhi. I would wish to extend my sincere appreciation to different groups of individuals who played key roles in ensuring that the study became a success. The Dean, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, Kisii University, the Chair of Department, Languages, Linguistics and Literature and all the lecturers and staff in the department especially Peter Otieno and Hellen. I would also like to extend my gratitude to the National Commission for Science, Technology and Innovation for according me permission to carry out the study. To the staff of the School of Postgraduate Studies, I say thank you for assisting me. I would wish to thank my mother and siblings for encouraging me even when numerous obstacles clouded my academic path. I wish to thank my children Alice and Arnold for their unconditional love and patience especially when mummy‟s work took precedence over their needs. I want to say a big THANK YOU to my colleagues in the department of vii Languages, Linguistics and Literature at University of Kabianga (Jacqueline, Anne, Edith, Hellen, Lester, Wesonga, Clara, Jael and Alexander) and my classmates (Jackline, Christine, Ruth, Margaret, Jecinta and Brenda) for their support and encouragement. Special gratitude goes to my research assistants Anyango nyar Ndere and Ombaka for working tirelessly with the respondents as we collected data for the study. To my resource persons, Kodipo, Oyoko, Regina and Agwenge may the Almighty bless the work of your hands. Last but not least, I wish to thank the Almighty God for giving me good health, favour and for taking care of me throughout the study period. viii ABSTRACT There has been an insatiable interest in the study of conceptual metaphors across languages. This has been prompted by the principal reason that for a long time, the traditional approach to the study of metaphors had taken centre stage with most scholars viewing metaphor as a decorative mechanism in which a word is used to replace another even though no new information is emanated. It was not until the revolutionary study of Lakoff and Johnson that scholars started exploring metaphor from a different perspective. Conceptual Metaphors pervade our speeches but we use them unconsciously because we are unaware of them. For this reason, they should be made overt because they are not only instrumental in meaning construction but are also rich subtle elements of language. This study was guided by four objectives: to prototypically categorize conceptual metaphors in Dholuo, to account for meaning construction in the blends of conceptual metaphors in Dholuo, to explain the schematic patterns that are instrumental for the comprehension of conceptual metaphors in Dholuo and to explain the socio-cultural implications of the images used in conceptual metaphors in Dholuo. Data was collected from forty eight respondents using a tape recorder. A total of three hundred and fifty metaphorical expressions constituted the sample size. Secondary data was derived from the researcher‟s intuition as well as library study. The data for the study was qualitatively analyzed using some tenets of two theories namely: Conceptual Integration theory and Image Schema theory. Through these theories a more explicit, detailed account of the creativity of human language and thought was brought to perspective. The study adopted a descriptive research design. The findings of the study revealed that grouping by prototype is important since it provides an avenue where individuals make sense of their experiences and learn about the world around them through embodiment. In addition, prototype is the ideal level essential for classification because of cultural values attached to it and the comprehensive treatment that it accords different entities. The study further revealed that the blending processes of composition, completion and elaboration are essential in the construction of meaning of conceptual metaphors in Dholuo. Moreover, the basic image schemas are principal and they play a central role while subsidiary image schemas are peripheral and play a subordinate role. Finally, the study noted that animal metaphors that are used in reference to both men and women in the Luo society