Perhaps the most widespread metaphors for emotion in Australian languages are those where a body part is depicted as strong, hard, weak or soft. As an example of such a ‘hardness’ or ‘resistance’ metaphor, consider the expression aleme elperterre in Kaytetye (Central Australia), which literally means ‘belly hard’ and is used to describe someone who has no feelings, never shows emotion.

 Resistance metaphors are common with all body parts bar the throat and occur frequently throughout the continent. This type of metaphor exhibits two distinct trends. With some expressions, resistance – or hardness – maps onto negative emotions, as in the Kaytetye example above, where a hard belly associates with austerity and emotional dryness. In the same way, body parts are depicted as soft, as in the Dalabon (Arnhem Land) expression kodj-kerlk ‘head soft’, used to describe good-tempered people. In contrast, hardness – here understood as strength – can also map onto bravery, self-confidence and other positive attitudes. We see this in Wubuy (Nunggubuyu, Arnhem Land), where wurrij-badawadad ‘chest hard’ means ‘brave, inwardly strong’. Most body parts feature in both types of resistance metaphors, positive and negative ones.

 The emotions represented by resistance metaphors vary depending on the body part. Hardness of the head or forehead, when seen as negative, systematically relates to negative social attitudes: being stubborn, non-compliant, selfish, etc. Wik Mungkan (Cape York) offers a typical example, where kuchek-thayan ‘head hard’ means ‘stubborn’. A hard belly can also associate with these negative social attitudes, however it may represent a range of other emotions as well, including anger or lack of compassion, for instance. While a soft head may stand for good temper, soft eyes normally stand for compassion, as in Djinang (Yolngu, Arnhem Land), where mil biḷbaḷingi ‘eyes soft’ means ‘kind, compassionate’. When resistance is regarded positively, with most body parts it corresponds to social self-confidence and self-assertiveness; although when it comes to the heart – a body part which typically maps onto fear – resistance implies bravery, as in Kaurna (South Australia) pulthawilta ‘heart hard’ meaning ‘bold, brave, fearless’ (and see above with the chest).

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.

Hore, Michael. Nunggubuyu dictionary. Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies, AILEC 0247, 1994.

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.

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

Ross, Alison and Myfany Turpin. Kaytetye to English Dictionary. Alice Springs, N. T.: IAD Press, 2012.

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