Euphemism and Metaphor as an Off-Record Politeness Strategy in Nzema Sexual-Related Communication

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Author(s): Mohammed Yakub (University of Education, Winneba, Ghana), Charlotte Fofo Lomotey (University of Education, Winneba, Ghana), Rachel G. A. Thompson (University of Ghana, Ghana)and Francis Kwaw (University of Education, Winneba, Ghana)
Copyright: 2025
Pages: 28
Source title: Socio-Cultural Concepts of (Im)Politeness: Interpretation, Linguistics, and Discourse Analysis
Source Author(s)/Editor(s): Abderrahmane Ismaili-Alaoui (Hassan II University, Morocco)
DOI: 10.4018/979-8-3373-0964-4.ch007

Keywords: Communication Studies / Education / Information Science Reference / Linguistics

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Abstract

This chapter focuses on sexual-related terms as customarily tabooed concept among the Nzema people of Ghana. Using the frameworks of Politeness and Conceptual Metaphor and Metonymy, the chapter describes the convenient means of discussing issues concerning incest, rape, abortion, uncircumcision, and sexual intercourse. The primary data was sourced through participant and non-participant observations and interviews. The study showed that, to achieve politeness, the Nzema metaphorically refer to incest as consuming one's own eggs. They construe a woman who aborts her baby as plant that bears fruits and sheds them. The uncircumcised penis is described as wrapped toffee, and as a hunter's gun in a sack. To ensure politeness, the male youth describe sexual intercourse as watering a crop, and as giving drips to a woman.

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Euphemism and Metaphor as an Off-Record Politeness Strategy in Nzema Sexual-Related Communication

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