[Lingtyp] Extended uses of temperature words

[Carl Whitehead]

Menya (an Angan language of Papua New Guinea) has the following expressions involving hotness. Obviously not all are related to emotions. There are no metaphorical or idiomatic expressions involving the word ‘cold’ and there are no terms for moderate temperatures other than modification of these two. The letter ‘ä’ represents a mid-central vowel; ‘q’ is a voiceless uvular stop word-initially and following ‘ŋ’ but a voiced uvular fricative elsewhere.

 

Iqu tnäŋä äwqi                                  he is going hotly/quickly; he is running

Iqu äwqä tnäŋä imäkqi                  he makes/does (his) abdomen hot; he is angry

Iqu maŋä tnäŋä ätqi                        he is speaking hot-mouthedly/loudly (not necessarily in anger)

Yuŋuä tnäŋä äquŋgi                        A strong/hot wind is blowing

Iqu äwqä tnäŋä äwiŋgi                   He is made hot abdomened; he is angered

Iqueqä huiwi tnäŋä äwiŋgi           His skin/body is heated; he is burning up/fevered

Iqu wäuŋuä tnäŋä iqi                      He is working hotly/hard

Iqu ämaqä tnäŋä ique                    He is a hot/hard/harsh man

Iqu qätä wiyqŋqä tnäŋä iqi           He is hot about giving ear; he is eager to listen

Iqu tnäŋä änyiyqi                             He is doing me hotly; he is disrespeŋting me.

 

Trust this helps. I can give more info about the meaning and morphology of specific words if this is needed.

 

Carl Whitehead

 

From: Lingtyp [mailto:lingtyp-bounces at listserv.linguistlist.org] On Behalf Of Maria Koptjevskaja Tamm
Sent: Wednesday, August 19, 2015 5:04 PM
To: LINGTYP at LISTSERV.LINGUISTLIST.ORG
Subject: [Lingtyp] Extended uses of temperature words

 

Dear colleagues! This query concerns extended uses of temperature terms (such as ‘warm’, ‘hot’, ‘cold’, ‘cool’, etc.), primarily in reference to emotions, human dispositions and interpersonal relations, which are the focus of my current cross-disciplinary research together with the social psychologist Hans IJzerman (https://sites.google.com/site/hijzerman/home).

As you certainly know,  “affection is warmth”and “anger is heat” are two of the most widely quoted “universal” conceptual metaphors suggested by cognitive linguists on the basis of expressions as “warm words, feelings” or “hot tempered”, well-attested in familiar languages. However, the chapters in the volume “The linguistics of temperature” (2015, John Benjamins) edited by myself (https://benjamins.com/#catalog/books/tsl.107/main <https://benjamins.com/%23catalog/books/tsl.107/main> ) clearly reveal a significant variance in using temperature metaphors. Australian languages, Hup (Nadahup), Mapudungun (Araucanian), and Ojibwe (Algonquian) basically lack any extended use of temperature terms, while the Oceanic languages in Vanuatu and Nganasan (Uralic) have very few. This is in contrast both to some European and other Asian languages, but also to the African languages Ewe, Gbaya, Gurenɛ, Likpe, Sɛlɛɛ, Abui and Kamang (Timor-Alor-Pantar), and Yucatec Maya. These latter reveal a rich inventory of extended uses pertaining to their temperature terms, ranging from the more common ones, to the idiosyncratic ones. Interestingly, languages also vary as to which temperature term has predominantly positive associations in its extended uses (e.g. ‘cold’ rather than ‘warm’). 

We would very much like to extend our linguistic database and get information on the existence of extended uses of temperature terms in other languages. We would therefore be extremely grateful for any input more or less along the following lines:

 

1.      Language X lacks any extended uses of temperature terms

2.      Language X uses / does not use ‘hot/warm’ terms for talking about positive emotions, social warmth etc. (‘warm heart’, ‘warm person’) 

3.      Language X uses / does not use ‘hot/warm’ terms for talking about aggressive, dangerous, exciting etc. experiences, emotions, people etc.

4.      Language X uses / does not use ‘cold/cool’ terms for talking about negative / positive emotions, people, states, etc. 

 

I will be happy to share any further thoughts, clarifications and materials with anyone interested in this topic.

Please send your replies directly to me.

Warmest regards,

Maria Koptjevskaja Tamm

 

Prof. Maria Koptjevskaja Tamm

Dept. of linguistics, Stockholm University

106 91 Stockholm Sweden

E-mail: tamm at ling.su.se <mailto:tamm at ling.su.se> 

Tel.: +46 8 16 26 20 (office), +46 8 26 90 91

http://www.ling.su.se/tamm

 

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