“Cuore rosso”, “cuore bianco”. Metafore ed espressioni idiomatiche riferite al “cuore” in zulu

The recent cognitive linguistic approach has shown that metaphorical expressions cross-linguistically derive from conceptual models, which are based on bodily experience. Due to its ambivalent nature, the body represents a fundamental metaphorical source domain, it being the universal model of human experience, and the mirror of cultural values shared by the community. The heart, in particular, as the “vital centre” of human body, often occurs in figurative expressions, where metonymically it stands for a person’s personality, character, consciousness, and emotions. In Zulu, inhliziyo (heart) carries a wide range of semantic connotations appearing in a number of idiomatic expressions that reflect the conceptualisation of the body as a “container” of emotions.