[Lingtyp] 'Cold' as 'peace, harmony', especially in greetings and wishes

[Maria Koptjevskaja Tamm]

Dear colleagues,

In a number of sub-Saharan African languages ‘cold’ (or ‘cool’) can be used in reference to peace and harmony in various contexts, including human propensities (‘X is gentle, kind, generous’) and (emotional) states (‘X is pleased, content, etc’). This use is also sometimes present in wishes/blessings and in greetings, e.g., the Ewe translation of '‘Grant us peace (Dona nobis pacem)' literally means ‘Let our skin become cold’, or the Ga greetings exchange A: ‘Here all?’ – B: ‘Here cold/cool’.
 
I would be very grateful for more examples of such (or similar uses) – both from African and non-African languages.

Many thanks and all the best,

Maria / Masha

Prof. Maria Koptjevskaja Tamm
Dept. of linguistics, Stockholm university, 106 91, Stockholm, Sweden
tel.: +46-8-16 26 20 (office)
www.ling.su.se/tamm
tamm at ling.su.se