Kasem Metaphoric Extensions of yi ‘Eye’ and yuu ‘Head’ Expressions

This paper studies the metaphorical extensions of the human body parts of yi ‘eye’ and yuu ‘head’ among the Kasena. We examine how these expressions are used to conceptualise a broader view of the people and whether these metaphorical expressions have a specific style and structure. We also argue that yi ‘eye’ and yuu ‘head’ as in the expressions collected are polysemic in Kasem. Data for the study were collected from Kasem level 200 and 300 students of the College of Languages Education, Ajumako of the University of Education, Winneba and our native speaker intuition as well. The conceptual metaphor theory (CMT) is adopted for the study. The analysis clearly shows that these expressions are employed as instruments in the expression of traits or characters of individuals. In terms of structure, it is worth mentioning that these expressions have a specific structure. The body part is obligatory and then followed by a verb or an adjective to make the structure grammatical. However, if the verb or adjective precedes the human body part the structure becomes not meaningful. It is further established that the two expressions, lexicalise expressions of emotion and perception.