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Emotional expressions involving the head are moderately frequent across the continent, yet display higher concentrations in Arnhem Land. Although we use the English term ‘head’ for simplicity here, in some languages this translation is slightly inaccurate, because the words in fact mean primarily ‘crown of head’.  

Social awareness

In many languages around the world, the head is construed as the seat of intellectual functions. This applies to Australian Indigenous languages, particularly in Arnhem Land. As with the ear, the association of the head with emotions often relies on the cultural link between intelligence and social adequacy, whereby good understanding underpins appropriate and agreeable behavior. Head expressions are therefore characteristically social: they specialize for social attitudes such as being compliant and obedient or stubborn, responsible, selfish, socially and emotionally inappropriate or distant. Anger and shame, two eminently interpersonal emotions, are also well represented. Shame is conditioned by social awareness, particularly in its typically Australian version which encompasses fear of being seen, social avoidance as well as respect. Social awareness is in turn grounded in understanding, which may explain the link to the head. Accordingly, there are many expressions where the head is presented as the part of the person that experiences shame, as we see in Ngalakgan (Arnhem Land), where mira-yeṛ- ‘head ashamed’ is used to mean ‘ashamed’.

 Anger and other negative emotions

Apart from social intelligence, another intellectual state that links the head to emotions is madness. In a number of Australian languages, words for ‘mad’ also denote attitudes such as ‘foolish’, ‘irresponsible’ or ‘furiously angry’, for instance. Such words often combine with the head, like in Pitjantjatjara (Western Desert) kata rama ‘head mad’, ‘irresponsible, furious’. This contributes to the relatively strong presence of anger in head expressions. The intellectual function of imagination can also play a role: in Gupapuyŋu (Yolngu, Arnhem Land), ḻiya-marrtji ‘head goes/walks’ means ‘be homesick’, probably relating to ‘travelling’ back home in thoughts.

Another characteristic of head expressions is that they are almost exclusively negative. Apart from a few generic expressions meaning ‘feel good’ or ‘be good’, or rare references to calmness and self-control, head expressions do not map onto positive emotions. This negative trend also occurs with the forehead and nose, which also associate with predominantly social emotions.

Hard heads and other metaphors

As for the metaphors used in head-based expressions, the most frequent is ‘hard head’ (or ‘strong head’), mapping onto negative social attitudes such as stubbornness or non-compliance. This can be illustrated in Wembawemba (Victoria), where tarmi-mureng ‘hard head’ means ‘obstinate’, a metaphor no doubt familiar to speakers of English and other European languages. Head expressions also feature metaphors that occur with most other body parts in Australian Indigenous languages. Among these are metaphors of destruction, as in Dalabon (Arnhem Land) kodj-dadj(mu) ‘head cut’, meaning ‘become upset and interrupt interactions’; heat for anger, as in Arrernte akaperte urinpe ‘head+hot’, meaning ‘irritated or angry’; as well as ‘itchy head’ for ‘dislike, reject’.

References

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

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

Hercus, Louise A. Wembawemba dictionary. Canberra: L. A. Hercus, 1992.

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

Merlan, Francesca. Ngalakan grammar, texts and vocabulary. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics, 1983.

Ponsonnet, Maïa. The language of emotions: The case of Dalabon (Australia). Amsterdam/ Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Co., 2014.