Abstract:
This study examines the serial structure of chained metonymies associated with the body parts "hand" (hannuu) and "head" (kâi) in Hausa. It focuses on identifying the common metonymic mappings within these chained metonymies and the primary semantic domains in which they occur. The analysis is based on Hilpert’s (2005) chained metonymy model and Conceptual Metonymy Theory, originally proposed by Lakoff and Johnson (1980) and later refined by Radden and Dirven (2007). Data were gathered through participant observations, where the literal meanings of expressions involving the body parts were recorded, along with additional meanings that evoked multiple conceptual shifts. The findings reveal that "hand" and "head" are extensively utilized by Hausa speakers to form conceptual expressions through chained metonymies. Moreover, the results support Hilpert’s (2005) claim that chained metonymies typically originate with E-metonymies.
Keywords: Chained Metonymies, Conceptual Metonymy, Metonymic Mapping, Categories-Metonymies, Entity-Metonymies, Hausa Language
DOI: 10.36349/djhs.2025.v03i02.001
author/Yusuf Ahmed Gwarzo & Muhammad Dayyib Auwal
journal/Dundaye JOHS, December 2025
