Abstract:
This paper examined containment metaphors in the target
domains of happiness, sadness and anger in Dholuo. It further
sought to examine the conceptual metaphors that can be
derived from the general source domain of containment and to
explain the vital relations that are manifested in the containment
conceptual metaphors. One hundred metaphorical expressions
describing the emotions of happiness, sadness and anger were
collected from the conversations of ten native speakers of
Dholuo. A total of fourteen conceptual metaphors were derived
from three basic emotions of happiness, sadness and anger. The
study adopted a descriptive research design. The study found out
that emotion is a notion that is interconnected with language.
Moreover, feelings influence reasoning and thought processes
thereby explaining our comprehension of the world and its
reality. The study further found out that conceptual metaphor
is a crucial principal that the mind employs to comprehend an
abstract entity such as emotion.
Keywords: conceptual metaphors, containment, emotions,
metaphorical expressions, reality
