The Metaphorical Expression of Time in Igbo

Abstract

The Igbo traditional system of reckoning time is cyclical, having recurring ecological and festive-cum-religious events as anchor points for its calculation. However, this system has been superseded by the western system which is linear. In spite of the apparent differences in the two systems, the same Igbo language is used for expressing them. This raises the question as to whether the same or different language structures or linguistic elements are used for both. This paper argues that, apart from the named entities in ecological and festive-cum-religious events, the same linguistic elements in the form of verbal constructions for the expression of concrete, physical activities, are metaphorically used for the expression of time in both systems. It seems therefore that SPACE dominates as the source domain for the metaphorical expression of time in the Igbo language. In addition, it can also be confirmed that the concepts of “Moving Time Metaphor” and “Moving Observer Metaphor” apply to the conceptualization of time in Igbo, whether expressed in the traditional or in the modern system of reckoning time in the language.

Keywords

• Time
• metaphor
• space
• moving time metaphor
• moving observer metaphor