Journal: Conspectus
Volume: CONSPECTUS 35:1 (Apr 2023)
Article: Euphemisms And Metaphors For Menstruation In The Old Testament And Two Ghanaian Bible Translations
Author: Charles Owiredu

Conspectus 35:1 (April 2023) p. 61

Euphemisms And Metaphors For Menstruation In The Old Testament And Two Ghanaian Bible Translations

Charles Owiredu

Daniel Institute, Central University

About The Author

Prof. Charles Owiredu is a Langham Scholar and holds a Ph.D. from Durham University, England. He is a theologian, an educator, and an anthropologist. His area of interest is in Biblical Studies and African Thought. He is a faculty member at Daniel Institute, Central University. He has taught Biblical Languages in several universities. [email protected]

This article: https://www.sats.ac.za/conspectus/euphemisms-metaphors-menstruation-old-testament https://doi.org/10.54725/conspectus.2023.1.4

Abstract

This article discusses the metaphors for menstruation in the Old Testament. It aims to explore the metaphorical conceptualizations of menstruation in the Hebrew Bible and compare them with their translations in two Ghanaian Bibles (Twi and Gã). The Conceptual Metaphor Theory of Lakoff and Johnson (1980) is used to analyze the data. The findings of the study indicate that in both Ghanaian and Israelite thought regarding menstruation, ideas of indisposition and separationareprominent.This leads to the identification of the metaphors, MENSTRUATION IS AN ILLNESS, MENSTRUATION IS SEPARATION, and MENSTRUATION IS A GENDER MARKER. The understanding of the metaphors of menstruation gleaned from the euphemisms used for menstruation in both cultures seems to give greater comprehension to the Ghanaian reader of the texts on menstruation in the Old Testament.

Keywords

menstruation, Old Testament, Twi language, Gã language, euphemism, Conceptual Metaphor Theory

1. Introduction1

In recent times, linguists have dedicated much attention to discussing metaphors beyond figures of speech. Cognitive metaphor theorists are focusing their research on a conceptual level. This shift has become

Conspectus 35:1 (April 2023) p. 62

popular in many fields of study, but its application to the field of Biblical Studies has not been sufficiently explored. Several scholars have studied menstrual practices in cultures of the world. Some work has been done in Ghana (Agyekum 2002), and in India, where it is strongly associated with dirtiness (Dhingra Kumar and Kour 2009). However, no significant work has been published on the metaphorical conceptualization of menstruation in the Bible in relation to Ghanaian thought and languages.

Menstruation is a biological experience that is interpreted in different ways in various cultural and religious contexts. The concept of menstruation ...