● Audio access ●

Many Australian languages have rich vocabularies to talk about anger, with words that often associate it with an aggressive temperament and the inclination to fight. More generally, Australian languages hold a wealth of expressions to represent this emotion, and, of course, using a broad range of body parts.

 Anger, belly and other parts of the abdomen

Firstly, anger is the emotion most frequently represented by belly expressions. Since the belly is already the most ‘productive’ body part amongst our collection (as in, having the most emotional expressions), this implies a considerable number of anger expressions. Anger is also prevalent with other abdominal body parts, namely the liver, chest and abdomen area. This is not surprising, given that these body parts ‘follow’ the belly in their association with emotion. Note that the heart does not associate strongly with anger, rather, it is specialized for love and fear.

Violence and heat

While anger expressions with the belly afford a broad range of metaphors, two are notably frequent. Firstly, expressions evoking violence or agitation are more numerous for anger than for other emotions. In Warlpiri (Central Australia) for instance, miyalu pi-nyi, literally ‘stomach strike’, means ‘angry, upset’. But the most typical metaphor for anger concerns heat, as in Yolngu Matha (Arnhem Land) ŋoy-nha:ra, literally ‘belly/inside burn’, ‘be very angry, furious’. The heat metaphor also occurs with other abdominal body parts: in Alyawarr (Central Australia) for instance, alem rwenperreyel ‘liver get hot’ means ‘get angry’. Sometimes, the body part is described as cool or cold to express the absence of anger, as in Wik Mungkan (Cape York) ngangk kuchar ‘belly area cold’, meaning ‘calm’. In fact, the metaphor ‘hot body part for anger’ can occur with practically any body part in Australian languages. It is also widespread beyond Australia, and some linguists have even claimed that the representation of anger as heat is universal.

The throat

Another body part very clearly associated with anger is the throat. Contrary to the belly and other abdominal body parts which can denote many other emotions as well, the throat is much more specialized. It displays a clear split: in some regions, it associates with love and desire, whilst in others, like the Western Desert for example, it associates with mostly with anger. In some languages we have observed expressions that describe a plausible physiological reaction to anger, as in Kaurna (South Australia) yurni mintu minturninthi ‘throat contracting’, ‘become angry’. However, most throat expressions relate to having a dry throat, as in Pintupi (Central Australia) lirri pilti ‘throat dry’, ‘angry’; or a burning/hot throat, as in Arrernte (Central Australia) ahentye ampeme ‘throat burning’, ‘feel angry’.

Expressing anger with the eyes

The eyes are a part of one’s face that can communicate one’s anger, and some Australian languages have expressions that reflect this. In Wik Mungkan (Cape York), mee' pungk piimpanang is used to describe someone whose eyeballs seem to be popping out, and can also mean ‘staring’, or ‘angry’. Heat is present with the eyes as with other body parts, for instance in Djinang (Yolngu, Arnhem Land) mil burrtjirrdji ‘eyes burn/shine’ means ‘be angry eyed, be looking for a fight’.

Madness

Anger can also be represented in relation with body parts that are strongly linked to the intellect, namely the head and forehead, and more marginally the ear. In addition to heat metaphors, these body parts associate with anger via intellectual functions or mental health, as in Pitjantjatjara (Central Australia) kata rama ‘mad in the head’, which also means ‘ furious, out of control with anger’, ‘silly, irresponsible’, and ‘deaf' (see the ear page for the relation between intellection and hearing).

Sulking from the nose

Finally, the nose has a somewhat special status with respect to anger. This body part is eminently associated with social attitudes and behaviors, and thus appears frequently in anger expressions. Heat metaphors are rare with the nose; instead, anger expressions typically involve the size or shape of the nose. This is illustrated by Kukatja (Western Desert) mulya pilyparriwa ‘angry’, literally ‘long nose’. In addition, many nose expressions describe a slightly different negative emotion, namely, sulkiness. Nose expressions describing sulking attitudes often depict movements and positions of the nose, as in Gupapuyŋu (Yolngu, Arnhem Land), ŋurru-yupthun literally ‘nose go down’, meaning ‘be sulky’; or ngal-syi, literally ‘have one’s nose in the air’, meaning ‘be aloof, frown’ in Ngankikurungkurr (western Top End).

References

Amery, Rob. Emotion Metaphors in an Awakening Language: Kaurna the language of the Adelaide Plains. Paper presented at the 2017 Australian Linguistics Society Conference, Sydney, Australia, 2017.

Bowern, Claire and David Zorc. Yolngu Matha dictionary. Canberra: Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies, AILEC 0778, n. d.

Goddard, Cliff. Pitjantjatjarra/Yankunytjatjara to English dictionary (2nd edition). Alice Springs: IAD Press, 1992.

Green, Jennifer, David Blackman, and David Moore. Alyawarr to English dictionary. Alice Springs: IAD Press, 2019.

Hansen, Kenneth Carl and Lesley Ellen Hansen. Pintupi dictionary. Darwin: Summer Institute of Linguistics, 1974.

Henderson, John and Veronica Dobson. Eastern and Central Arrernte to English dictionary. Alice Springs, N. T.: IAD Press, 1994.

Hoddinott, William G. and Frances M. Kofod. The Ngankikurungkurr language (Daly river area, Northern Territory). Canberra: Pacific Linguistics, 1988.

Kilham, Christine, Mabel Pamulkan, Jennifer Pootchemunka, and Topsy Wolmby. Wik Mungkan-English interactive dictionary. AuSIL Interactive Dictionary Series A-6, Australian Society for Indigenous Languages, 2017. Retrieved from http://ausil.org/Dictionary/Wik-Mungkan/lexicon/mainintro.html.

Laughren, Mary and Warlpiri lexicography group. Warlpiri-English encyclopaedic dictionary. Electronic draft, October 2017, 2007.

Lowe, Beulah. Gupapuyŋu-English dictionary. Darwin: Aboriginal Resource & Development Services Inc., 1994. Retrieved from https://ards.com.au/resources/downloadable/gupapuy%C5%8Bu-dictionary/.

Peile, Anthony R. Body and soul: An Aboriginal view. Victoria Park, WA: Hesperian Press, 1997.

Waters, Bruce E. An interim Djinang dictionary. Darwin: Summer Institute of Linguistics, 1983.