The semantics and pragmatics of polysemous body-part nouns in Kiswahili

This article investigates the semantics and pragmatics of polysemous body-part nouns in Kiswahili, focusing on kichwa ‘head’, mkono ‘hand/arm’, jicho ‘eye’ and uso ‘face’. Utilizing a cognitive-linguistic approach, this study views polysemy as a meaningful phenomenon rooted in physical experience rather than merely a disjointed set of meanings. The study is based on secondary sources of data collected from reputable dictionaries, published linguistic research and Kiswahili text corpora. The findings indicate that each of these nouns creates a radial semantic network centred on a concrete bodily meaning, from which further meanings develop through conceptual metaphor and metonymy. The extended meanings systematically relate physical functions to more abstract realms such as authority, agency, perception, social relationships and assessment. This relationship mirrors broader Bantu patterns of embodiment. The pragmatic analysis reveals that the activation of specific meanings is significantly influenced by context, especially in idiomatic and figurative expressions. The role of context underscores the relationship between established meanings and inferences drawn from discourse. The analysis illustrates that the polysemy of body parts is structured, physically grounded and pragmatically enhanced. The findings of the study support the notion that semantics and pragmatics form a continuous spectrum in the creation of meaning.