The terms for “emotion” in Swahili: a lexical analysis based on interviews with native speakers

Abstract

In this paper, I describe the linguistic encoding of the conceptual category “emotion” in Swahili, focusing on analysis of the lexicon. After giving a brief overview of recent studies on lexical semantics, I will discuss and problematise the conceptual category of “emotion”. I will first describe the Swahili verbs which describe the semantic domain of perception, e.g. –sikia (hear); -ona (see); -hisi (touch), and show that, in some contexts, their meaning is often metonymically extended to “feel”. I will then present analysis of definitions and contexts of use of the Swahili terms for “emotion” which were relevant during data collection. Data were collected both through Swahili monolingual and bilingual dictionaries and through interviews with and questionnaires administered to native Swahili speakers in Dar es Salaam. The study shows that Swahili uses different terms in order to describe the different facets of the complex category of “emotion”. Swahili uses a general term hisia, a loanword from Arabic, to indicate both physical and abstract feelings. However, there are other Swahili terms which indicate different semantic facets of the concept “emotion”: mzuka (spirit), which is culturally linked to spirit possession and healing practices; mhemko (excitement), which can have different meanings according to the context of use, e.g. anxiety, strong desire, anger or love; and msisimko (thrill), which suggests specific reference to a bodily reaction, e.g. to fear, cold or excitement.