Life as a journey metaphor in Kinyarwanda
By Alexandre Kimenyi

The journey metaphor is extensively used in Kinyarwanda in both the spoken, written and poetic language. Speakers, however, are not aware of the use of these expressions as metaphoric because in the majority of cases, the journey metaphor expressions are thought to be used in "the primary plane" of expression. There are non-metaphoric words which are used to refer to these concepts. This complex super metaphor is similar to the one discussed by Lafoff and Johnson (1980) and (1999) and it also seems to have the same basic conceptual metaphors. The ones that will be discussed here are 'time','power','career','growth'and 'discussion'. This similarity in the use of the same metaphor in two unrelated languages suggests that the journey metaphor is probably universal, which is expected in both generative and cognitive linguisitcs, the study of the 'unconscious mind'.

I. Time as a perpetual traveler

In Kinyarwanda, time is primarily conceived as a moving object or a bound space: position, point of departure, path, container, vehicle, direction or destination. As an object, it has a surface and an inside. For these reasons, time expressions share the same prepositions as space expressions. Three prepositions, namely mu, ku and i which become mó ,hó and yó, respectively as clitics to the verb, are used. Mu is found with expressions which refer to containers or inside, ku is used to refer to surfaces and i to small locations such as cities and villages. The following examples are used for illustration purposes.

1a. Ba-vuu-ye muu nzu. 'They just came out of the house'
they-come out-asp in house
b. Ba-vuu-ye mó. 'They just came out of it'.
they-come-out-asp in
2a. Mw-iica-ye kuu ntébe. 'You are sitting on a chair'.
you-sit-asp on chair
b. Mw-iica-ye hó. 'You are sitting on it'.
you-sit-asp on
3a. Du-tuu-ye i Kigali. 'We live in Kigali
we-live-asp in Kigali
b. Du-tuu-ye yó. 'We live there'
we-live-asp there

When they are used as temporal prepositions, i marks hours, ku marks days, whereas months and years are preceded by the prepositon mu. Parts of the day use either ku or mu. There doesn't seem to be a general rule which can predict when to use either one.

4. i sáasitá 'at twelve'; ku manywa 'during the day'; mu gicúku 'in the middle of the night; ku waa mbere 'on Monday'; mu kwéezi kwa mbere 'in the first month'; mu mwáaka 2000 'in the year 2000'.

Since time is primarily seen as space, many linguistic expressions referring to time are space linguistic items. Not only do they share the same prepositions as seen above and other function words such as demonstratives, conjunctions, pronouns and some suffixes but the same content words as well as examples which follow indicate.

5.umwáanya 'space/time': ntaa mwáanya mfité 'I don't have space/space'
Araaza mu kaánya 'S/he is coming in a short while/in a small space'
ható 'small space/very soon'
muu nzu aha. 'in this very house.
nóone aha. 'right now'
today here
vubá aha. 'very recently/very soon'.
Ejó ni hó yagíiye. 'It is yesterday that s/he left'/Yesterday it is where s/he went.
yesterday is where s/he-left
Aho ni hó yagíiye. 'There, it is there that s/he went
there is there s/he-went
Iyó agiiyé ara(bí)tubwíira. 'When s/he goes, s/he tells us'.
where s/he-goes s/he-(it)-us-tell
Iyó agiiyé ara(há)tubwíira. 'Where s/he goes, s/he tells us'.
where s/he-goes s/he-there-us-tells
Siinzí igihe azáagarukira. 'I don't know when s/he is coming back'.
I-don't-know when s/he-will-come back
Siinzí ahaantu azáagarukira. I don't know from where she will return'.
I-don't-know where s/he-will-return
'Far' and 'early' have now different prefixes , but in some Bantu languages, the prefix and the stem are the same:
6. yagiiye kure 's/he went far'; yagiiye kare 's/he went early'

Like in English, events are seen as locations, the passage of time as a movement which follows a specific path towards a final destination as we see below:

7. Amasáahá arateembeera. 'The hours are running'
hours are-taking-a-walk
Amadákiiká arazúunguruka. 'The minutes are going around'
minutes are-going-around
Imyáaka irahíta indí irataaha. 'Years came and went'
years passed others came-home
Umwáaka mushyá uri haáfi. 'The new year is near'
Igihe kiratiinze. 'The time is getting late'
time is-late-to-arrive
Améezi aríihuuta. 'The months are running fast'
months they-run-fast
Igihe kiríiruka. 'The time is running'
time it-runs
Igihe kiragegeze. 'It is time/Time has arrived'
time it-just-arrived
Umwáaka uragiiye. 'The year is about to finish'
year it-just-left
Imíinsi iríicuma. 'The days are advancing'
days they-pushing-themselves-slowy
Icyúumwéeru gitaahá. 'Next week'
week which-is-coming-home
Améezi arí imbere. 'The months ahead'
months which-are in front

1.1. The cyclicity of time

Time always comes back to the point of departure. It is not unidirectional like in English where it goes from left to right. For this reason, future expressions are referred to using past expressions as the following examples illustrate:

Abáana baáje kudusuura ejó kaándi bazaataaha ejó na nóone.
children they-came to-us-visit yesterday and they-will-go-back yesterday also
'They children came to visit us yesterday and they will go back tomorrow also'.
Mperuuka muri Afrika keéra arikó keéra nzaasubirayó.
I-was-last in Africa a-long-time-ago but a-long-time-ago I-will-return-there
I was in Africa a long time ago but I wll return in the distant future
Umugoré avuuye aha vubá arikó aragaruka vubá.
woman she-just-left here recently but she-is-returning recently
The woman just left recently but she will be back soon.

Tomorrow is 'yesterday' coming back and the distant future is the distant past coming back.

1.2. The phenomenological aspect of time

Time in Kinyarwanda is a product of events. It is not objective. Because of this, it may fail to materialize if events which produce it don't take place. It is also elastic, short or long depending on the length of the event. The following are expressions which refer to parts of the day which are given for illustration purposes:

muu nkokó 'in the chickens'>time when roosters crow; mu bunyoni 'in birds'>time when birds wake up; ku gasusuruko 'on body warming'>time when it starts getting warm (late morning); mu mashoora (y'íinká) 'during the time when cows go to the watering places>around 2 pm; kiberiinka 'time suitable for cows'>the time when the sun starts disappearing in the horizon; inká zíhuumuje 'time after milking'>around eight pm; igicúku kíniha 'when the night is groaning'>around midnight', etc.

Rwandans use a lunar month calendar. The word for 'moon'and 'month are the same ukwéezi. The word for 'crop' and 'year' is the same also: .umwáaka. These words are obviously metonymically related. The meaning of 'month' developed from 'moon' and that of 'year' from 'crop', because most of the main crops are planted and harvested once a year.

1.3. The final destination of the traveling time is home

Time in Kinyarwanda is considered as an odyssey. The traveler may wander, get lost, fail to reach the destination but the final destination is always home. This concept will be discussed later . The following examples, clearly show this to be the case.

Umwáaka mushya uri haáfi. 'The new year is near'
year new is near
Wikéendi iri bugufí. 'The weekend is close'
weekend is near
Ubukwé bureegereje. 'The wedding is approaching'
wedding approaches
Baárategereje imyáana irahíta indi irataaha. 'They waited and years came and went'.
they-waited years passed others returned-home
Amahóro mu Rwanda aracyáari kure, azaaza bítiinze.
peace in Rwanda is-still far it-will-come it-is-late
'Peace in Rwanda is still far; it will come late'.
Nohéri irabaangutse. 'Christmas came very fast'
Christmas comes fast
ubutáaha'what comes home'> 'next time'

As we will see later, the reason why the traveling time is seen as a return home is not because of the "figure-ground reversal", discussed in Lakoff and Johnson (1999) where the speaker or observer becomes the traveler, the moving object whereas time becomes a stationary location but because of the orientation metaphor where time is in front of the stationary observer and moving towards him or her.

2. Power as a journey

The majority of words which refer to power are journey metaphors. There are very few words used in the primary plane expression which are used to express this semantic field.
Thus 'to govern'; 'rule'; 'lead'; 'command' are translated into Kinyarwanda as either gutwáara 'to carry', kuyobora 'to lead' or kuroongoora 'to take people or animals somewhere'. Rulers are abatwaáre 'carriers', abayobozi 'leaders' or ibiroongoozi 'conductors'. If leaders are bad, they can cause their subjects 'to take the wrong directions' kuyobya, or make them 'pass through bad paths' gucíisha/kunyura muu nzira mbí. Power itself is seen a destination. This destination is either vertical or horizontal. But its direction might be uncertain as the following examples show:
Abatuúrage ntíbaazí ahó abayobozi babajyaána/babaganíisha/babeérekeza.
citizens don't-know where leaders they-are-taking-them/directing-them/heading-them
'The people don't know where the leaders are taking them/directing them/heading them to'.
When power is vertical, it is understood as either a pedestal or a mountaintop. The following examples illustrate this concept:

kuzaamuka mu butégetsi 'to climb in power'; kumanura 'to bring down (to demote); guhirika 'to push' (to overthrow/to topple); kuvaanahó 'to remove'; kuvahó 'to step down'; kwiicara 'to sit down'(to step down); kwiicaza 'to cause to sit down' (to fire); kujyahó 'to go on it' (to assume power); gushyírahó 'to put on' (to appoint); gusúbirahó 'to go back on it' (to go back to one's former position); kugwa 'to fall'.

Power as a horizontal destination is shown by the following examples:
kujya ku butegetsi 'to go on leadership' (to come to powe); kugera ku butégetsi 'to arrive on power'; gushyíra imbere 'to put in front '(to promote); kwíirukana 'to chase away' (to fire); kwiigizayó 'to push away' (to fall from grace); gusúbiza inyuma 'to push back' (to demote); guhéra inyuma 'to remain behind' (not to receive promotion); guhágarika 'to stop' (to fire), guseezera 'to say bye' (to retire), ibyeegera 'close ones' (people close to people in power).

3. Discussion as a journey

Discussion is considered as a journey and people involved in the discussion as travelers. The travelers are either leaders and followers or companions. A successful discussion or agreeing on something, reaching a conclusion depends on whether the leaders and companions are good or bad. Good communicators are good leaders because they show the right directions to follow and the itinerary to take. Their roads are straight. They don't beat around the bush. They go straight to the point. Bad communicators, on the othe hand, are bad leaders because followers don't know their positions, where they are coming from, where they are heading, and the final destination. Because of poor communication , followers are either left behind or get lost. The trip can start from the same departure point or from different positions. A good discussion which leads to total agreement is the one in which discussants start from the same position, follow the same path and reach their destination. Unsuccessful discusssions are the ones in which discussants start from different positions, whose paths cannot cross or meet, or pass each other.
Here are some expressions which illustrate this metaphor.

gucá iruhande 'to pass by side'> to ignore
gucá hiírya 'to pass the other side'> to ignore
kuréenga ku kiintu 'to go over something'> to ignore something
kuréengwahó 'to have something pass over you'>to forget
kuréenga 'to go beyond'>to exaggerate/to be untolerable
gukúrikira 'to follow'>to understand
kwíivamó 'to get out of oneself'>to betray oneself
kwíisubirahó 'to go back to onelf'>to correct oneself
kwíisubira 'to go back to oneself'>to change one's mind
dusúbiramó 'to go back in'>to repeat
kudáhuurá 'not to meet'>not to agree
kunyúra 'to pass through'> 'to please';
kunyúramó 'to go through it'> to explain very briefly
kunyúrahó 'to pass over it'>to refuse to respond to something
kunyúra iruhaánde 'to pass by the side'
gucá hó 'to pass on'> to forget/neglect
gucá iruhaánde 'to pass by the side'>to ignore
guhítahó 'to pass over it'>to ignore a point in a conversation
kunyurwá 'to be a conduct'>to be satisfied
kugana 'to go in some direction'
kwéerekeza 'to head somewhere'
guhúura 'to meet'>to share the same idea
gutáandukana 'to depart from each other'>to differ in opinions
guhágarara 'to stand up'>to have a position in argumentation
gucá mw'iijaambo 'to go through somebody's word'>to interrupt
gucuumbika amagaambo/gahuúnda 'to lodge words'/'agenda'>to postpone a conversation/agenda
kwiicara kw'ijaambo 'to sit on a word'>to wait for something that has been promised
gusúbira kw'ijaambo 'to go back to the word'>to change one's opinion
kwíimuka kw'ijaambo 'to move from the word'>to change one's mind
gucíikwa n'íjaambo 'to have words escape'>to say words unintentionally
kugaruka kuu ngiingo 'to return to the topic'
kunyúra inzira imwé 'to go through the same path'>to agree on everything
kunyúranya 'to cause to go in different directions'>to differ in ideas and opinions
gutáakara 'to get lost'> to be unable to understand what the interlocutor is saying
gusíga 'to leave behind'> to be unable to understand
kuyobya 'to mislead'>to give wrong advice
gutéeshukwa 'to suddenly go in the wrong direction by a small mistake'>to mistakenly say something which was not intended
kwíitwaaza 'to carry with'>to find a pretext/an an excuse
ijaambo ryiizá ni mugeenzi w'Iimáana ' a good word a God's companion'
guhéra 'to stay permanently where one has gone'>to fail to give a response; kuyoboza i Mututu .'to ask directions to Mututu hill'
'to be uninformed'
kwíiraza i Nyaánza. 'to pretend not to know'
to-ask-for-lodging at Nyaánza
kubúunza/kugeenza amagaambo 'to carry with/walk with words'>'to divulgue secrets, to tell lies about somebody, to say unkind words about somebody
risubize aho urivaánye 'take it back where you got it'>stop that topic
jya iyo ujyá 'go where you are going'>leave me alone
Ijaambo ryaa múkurú riratiinda ntírihera 'the word of the elderly is late to come, it doesn't fail to return from its trip'
gusiimbuka 'to jump over'
kubaanguka 'to arrive fast'>to respond very quickly'
kugana 'to go in the direction of'; kwéerekeza 'to go in the direction of'
gucuumbika amagaambo 'to logde words'>to postpne a conversation'
kugaruka 'to come back to'
kwíimuka kw'iijaambo 'to move from a word'>to change one's minnd'
gusúbira kw'iijaambo 'to go back to the word'
kwiicara kw'iijaambo 'to sit on a word'
kunyáruka 'to go fast'>to be laconic'
kunyúramó 'to go through things'>to explain very briefly'
kubaanguka 'to walk very fast'>to enunciate/to speak with ease' ;
gutáruka 'to jump in small leaps'>to change discussion topics (kuvúga ni ugutáruka >speaking jumping in small leaps'); gucá híiryá;
kwíishyira ukíizana 'to end up by bringing yourself'>to be independent
kwíicisha bugufí 'to make oneself pass through short'>to be humble;

Here are some sentences illustrating the use of this metaphor.

Siimboná ahó uhagáze 'I cannot see where you stand'
I-dn't-see where you-stand

Ntituuzí ahó utujyaána. 'We don't know where you are taking us'.
we-don't-know where you-take-us

Siinzí ahó weerékeza. 'I don't know which direction you are heading to'.
I-don't-know where you-are-heading

Twaatákaye, ntitwuumvá ibyó uvugá. 'We are lost, we don't understand what you are saying'. we-got-lost not-we-understand what you-say
Communication success or failure depends also on the manner of "traveling": such as walking fast, jumping, flying, running or walking slowly.

gusiimbuka 'to jump'>to ignore the interlocutor's opinion
guhubuka 'to rush'>to speak wihout thinking
gutáruka 'to make small leaps and bonds'>to change topics frequently
kuvúga ni ugutáruka 'to speak is to make small leaps and bonds'>to speak is to make consistently change topics
kubaanguka 'to return quickly'>to be articulate
guteebuuka 'to return fast'>to speak easily
kunyáruka 'to be fast'>to be laconic
gucúumbagira 'to limp'>to lack solid arguments
kugoongana 'to hit each other while driving'>to confront each other
gucéengera 'to slip through cracks'>to understand

Conversation is also considered as a passage. The road conditions: size, length, or whether it straight or sinuous will affect the conversation:

inzira zigorórotse 'straigth paths'>clear
inzira zigarágara 'visible ways'>clear argumentation
amacáakubíri 'roads with different directions'>dissentions/division
inzira zinyuránye 'roads which pass through each other'>different ways
kugira inzira 'to have a way'>to be reasonable'
guhéeruka inzira mu ki. 'to be out of touch with reality'
to-have-seen-the-last time path in summer

A normal walk and straight paths are the only ones which permit normal conversatation.

4. Career as a journey

Career such a profession, business, studies, and projects are seen as journeys. Starting a new activity is embarking on a new journey. The beginning is the point of departure and the end the destination. Fruitful results in the chosen activity is an easy trip. Problems are due to the length and conditions of the road and the terrain.
Stopping a journey is stopping an activity. The manner of traveling such as walking fast, running, limping, flying, crawling,... indicates the state of the activity.

kunyúra muu nzira zigarágara. 'To do things in a transparent way'
to pass in way which-are-visible
kunyúra muu nzira zigorórotse. 'To do things in a straight way'
to pass in ways which-are-straight
kugeendera ku matégeko. 'To do things legally'
to walk on laws
gucá mu matégeko. 'to do things legally'
to pass in laws
gucá ku matégeko. 'to break laws'
to pass over laws
kwíitwaara néezá/náabí 'to behave good/bad'
to-self-carry good/bad
gukúura inzira ku murimá. 'to stop a habit'
to remove path from field
kubá muu nzira zó . 'to be in the process of'
to-be in path of
kwiigira imbere .'to push ahead'
to-push in-front
kubúza umuuntu gutáambuuka. 'To prevent somebody from progressing'
to-prevent person to-make-a-step
gucá umuuntu imbere. 'To create obstacles for somebody'
to-pass somebody in-front
gucá umuuntu inyuma. 'to do things in somebody's back'
to-pass person behind
kwíirukira iby'íisí. 'to lust after material wealth'
to-run-for of world
gushoora 'to take cows to the drinking well'>to invest
kujya mu biintu 'to go into things'>to start some kind of activity
kwíihuutira 'to hurry for something'> to act fast
gutsikira 'to make a false step'>to follow a bad example
kuzígura 'to be sinuous (path)'> to quit what one was doing
gusúbira inyuma 'to go back behind'>to go backwards
gusígara inyuma 'to remain behind'>not to advance

Career is a journey par excellence because it is about goals which are seen as destinations.

5. Growth as a journey

Growing up is a journey and aging is the near completion of it. Birth is the point of departure and death the final destination.

kubáduka 'to rise suddenly and leave'>to grow very fast'; kumínuka 'to disappear from view because of descending the other side of the hill'>to fade away in old age'; kugera aharéenga 'to reach the horizon'>to be close to death; kugera kure 'to arrive far'>to be far in ill-health'; kuva mu bwáana kugera mu busóre 'to come from childhood to arrive to adulthood'>from childhood to adulthood'; uraréenga mpíinguka 'you are going beyond the horizon while I am emerging from the other side of the hill'>you are fading away because of old age while I am growing up'; kunyúra mu byáago 'to pass through bad luck'; gucá murí rwiínshi 'to go through a lot'>to suffer a lot; kunyúra inzira nyiínshi 'to pass through many paths'>to go through a lot'; guhúura n'úruvá guséenya 'to meet the one (death) which has just come back from destroying'>to be subject of bad luck.

Euphemistic expressions for dying are journey metaphors:
kuruhuuka 'to rest'; gutabaaruka 'to come back from the war front'; gutaaha/kwíitahira 'to go home'; kwíigeendera 'to leave'.

7. Auxiliary verbs as journey metaphor verbs

The majority of auxiliary verbs in Kinyarwanda happen to be journey metaphors, as the examples provided below indicate:

kujya 'to go'
Abáana bajya báduhamara 'The children usually call us'
children they-go they-us-call
kuuza 'to come'
Abáana baraaza kuuza 'The children are coming'
they-are-coming to-come
kugeenda 'to walk/leave'
Abáana barageenda bákura 'They children are growing'
children they-walk they-grow
gusígara 'to stay'
Abáana basigaye bíitonda 'They children are behaving well now'
children they-stay they-behave-well
kugera aho 'to arrive there'>finally
Abáana baarize bágeze aho baracéceka
children they-cried they-arrived-there they-become-quiet 'The children cried and finally stopped'
kwíirirwa 'to spend the day somewhere'>to spend the day doing something'>to not try
Ntimwíirirwe imuhira . 'Don't spend the day at home'
Ntimwíirirwe múhamagara. 'Don't spend the day calling'/ 'Don't try to call'
kuráara 'to spend the night somewhere'>to spend the night doing something
Abáana baraaye báduhamagaye 'The children called us last night'
children they-spent-night they-us-called
kuva ahó 'to leave there'>to end up'
Arava aho agútuka 'He will end up insulting you'
s/he-is-going-to-leave there s/he-you-insult
guhíta 'to pass'>right way
Muhité múdusubiza. 'Answer us right away
you-pass you-us-answer
kugumya 'to keep in the same position'/to continue.
Abáana baragumya báhamagara.'The children keep calling'
children they-stay-in-the-same-position they-call
gusaangwa 'to be found'>to be in a habit
Abáana basaanzwe báhamagara.'The children usually call'.
children they-are-found they-call
guteba 'to be late to arrive'>finally
Baáratebye baraaza. 'They finally came'
they-were-late-to-arrive they-came

A full discussion on the genesis, form and function of auxiliary verbs is found in Kimenyi (1986). This is a case of deiconization or demetaphorization. The speakers are not aware that these auxiliaries started as journey metaphors and this deiconization is expected as a natural process in Peirce's semiotics.

8. When is the journey a departure or a return?

The most important area of research of the life as a journey metaphor crosslinguisitically is to determine and explain when and why the journey is seen as a departure in some instances but as a return in others. We saw earlier that in Kinyarwanda time as a journey metaphor is an odyssey (returning home in its historical and etymological sense): a journey which may consist of different trips, many directions but whose final destination is home. Whereas, others such as growth, career, etc. are perceived as departures. We also found that in Kinyarwanda people "go to power" whereas in English they "come to power".

Using Lakoff and Johnson's schema, this phenomenon can be explained by either the "figure-ground reversal" where the object and the observer reverse roles or the orientation metaphor which tells how things are positioned, such as knowing what it is in front and what is behind. According to the figure-ground reversal analysis, both the observer and the objects can travel (Moving Observer and Moving Object Metaphors). It is thus possible to have ambiguous structures in which either interpretation of departure or return are acceptable.
This can be illustrated by the following time as journey metaphor examples:

Ikí rigiye kugera.
summer it-goes to-arrive
'The summer is going to arrive'.
Tugiiye kugera mu kí.
we-are-going to-arrive in summer
'We are going to arrive in summer'.

In the first sentence, time travels and is coming foward towards the observer who is stationary. In the second sentence, time is stationary and the observer is the one who is moving.
Let us now look at the following sentence:

Tuzáahuuré mbere y'úbukwé.
we-fut-meet-subj before wedding
'Let us meet before the wedding'

In this example, the sentence is ambiguous as who is doing the traveling since both the observer and the time (the wedding event) are moving in each other's direction. The wedding event is advancing towards the location of the observer but it may happen also that the observer may be perceived to be moving towards the time event for the meeting.

In the power, career, growth as journeys, there doesn't seem to be any ambiguity. The journey is always a departure.

The answer to this puzzle lies in the phenomenon of perception which greatly depends on the location and position of both the speaker and the moving object. Other factors such as size, shape and light might be involved also in the perception. Perception also is both individually and culturally bound as the proverbial example "to see the glass half-full or half-empty" indicates. Locations, positions and movements are not perceived the same way in different cultures and even in the same speech community. The reason why for instance, the majority of plant names in Kinyarwanda, have reduplicated stems like words which imply repeated movements or sounds, is because they are seen as moving rhythmically as well (Kimenyi, 1986). These concepts of back and front, return and departure, therefore don't have any objective value. They depend mostly on the observer's location and position. The journey as a departure or the journey as a return fall in the categogry of perception.
To understand this, let us look at the use of the verb of kujya 'to go' and kuuza 'to come'. When the movement is towards the hearer away from the point of the departure, the verb kuuza 'to come' is used as in the case of movement towards the speaker.

Tuzaava muri Ameriká tuuzé kubareeba murí Afuriká
we-will-leave in America we-come to-see-you in Africa
'We will depart from America and come to see you in Africa'
Muzaava ryáarí murí Afuriká ngo muuzé kutureeba murí Amerika?
you-will-leave when in Africa so-that you-come to-see-us in America?
'When are you leaving Africa to come and see us'?
Tuzaava murí Ameriká tujyé kureeba abáana murí Kanadá.
we-wiil-leave in America we-go to see children in Canada
'We will depart from America and go and see children in Canada'.
Muzaava ryáarí murí Afurika ngo mujyé kureeba abáana murí Canada?
you-will-leave when in Africa so-that you-go see children in Canada
'When are you leaving Africa to go and see children in Canada'?

In the normal setting, speaker and hearer face each other and are thus in front of each other. The interlocutor is not showing his or her back, because if s/he did, the speaker in many languages, will be located behind the hearer. This position of face-to-face is always extended to long distance interlocutors, the ones that are spoken to by telephone or by mail. It is the reason why a movement towards the speaker or the hearer is perceived as a return and not as a departure. A movement towards another direction away from the speaker or the hearer is seen a departure.

Another example is provided for illustration

Ngw'iinó tubyuuké. 'Let's get up' (singular)
come here we-should-get-up
Nimuuzé tubyuuké. 'Let us get up'
you-come we-get-up

In the above sentences, the speaker is talking to someone and people who are in the same bed with him or her or the same room. The speaker and the addressee(s) may not be necessarily facing each other. These examples show clearly that regardless of the interlocutor's location and position, s/he is perceived to be in front of the speaker facing each other.

These two verbs kujya ''to go' and kuuza 'to come' can be used as auxiliairies in both past and future tenses with a slight semantic difference, which will help understand when the journey is seen as a departure or a return.

Abáana baraaza guhámagara nímugórooba.
children they-are-coming to-call in-evening
'The children are going to call in the evening'.
Abáana barajya guhámagara nímugórooba.
children they-are-going to-call in-evening
'The children are going to call around evening'.
Abáana baáje guhámagara nímugórooba.
children they-came to-call in-evening
'The children (finally) called in the evening'.
Abáana baágiiye guhámagara nímugórooba.
chilren they-went to-call in-evening
'The children ended up calling around evening'.

The auxiliary kuuza is the one which is used more often to express near future and past events which almost failed to materialize. The auxiliary expresses tense, which is in the time domain. And time, as we have already noted, is a traveler coming home. The use of the auxilariy kujya 'to go' is the anomalous one.
It is revealing to note that when the verb doesn't have a complement (a ground), only kuuza 'to come' (return meaning) is allowed, whereas kujya 'to go (the departure meaning) is not:

Abáana baraaza guhámagara.
children they-are-cming to-call
'The children are going to call'.
Abáana barajya guhámagara.
children they-are-going to-call
'The children are going (somewhere) to call'.
*'The children are going to call'.

Abaána baáje guhámagara.
children they-came to-call
'The children finally called'.
Abaána baágiiye guhámagara.
children they-went to-call
'The children went to call'.
*'The children endep up calling'.

In the present tense with the perfective aspect, it is kujya which is used as an auxiliary and kuuza is not.

Abáana bagiiye guhámagara.
children they-go to-call
'The children are going (are about) to call'.

Abáana baaje guhámagara.
children they-come to-call
*'The children are going to call'.

As an auxiliary, the verb kujya is allowed where kuuza is usually used only if the main verb has a complement. The complement may be a location, time, manner or a consecutive event. The observer, according to the orientation metaphor is facing two objects in front of him or her namely the subject abáana , and the complement, nímugórooba in the sentences above which are facing each other and moving towards each other. Although both are in front of the observer only one is facing him/her and coming forward namely the complement whereas the moving object is going forward turning its back to the observer.

It is now possible to explain why, in English people "come to power", "come to conclusion" and in Kinyarwanda they "go to power". It is not due to the "figure-ground reversal" but to the Orientation Metaphor. In both languages, power is a space, final journey destination. In English, however, the destination is the same location that the observer stands in. People who come to power are metaphorically in front of the observer, coming towards him, facing him. In the case of Kinyarwanda, both power and people traveling to it are in front of the stationary observer. Power is farther away. And people who go to that direction of power have their backs turned against the stationary observer as in the case of the use of the auxiliary verb kujya discusssed above.

Conclusion

The study of the journey metaphor in Kinyarwanda has shown that speakers use metaphors without being aware of it. Like other components of language such as phonology and syntax"which use a finite set of rules for infinite purposes", semantics too, where metaphors belong, consists also of a finite set of primary conceptual metaphors which are used to refer to infinite experiences. There is an asymmetry between the linguistic signs and their referents. This asymmetry is the one which is responsible for polysemy. This polysemy does not exist only between signs with both a literary and metaphoric meaning but among conceptual metaphors as well. It is the reason why the same 'dead' or 'live' metaphors are used in different conceptual metaphors with unrelated meanings. For instance, the metaphor
kugera kure 'to get far' is found in both the 'career as a journey' and 'growth as journey', where it means respectively 'to progress' and 'to be in physical decay' or 'near death', respectively. A typology of these universal conceptual metaphors should be identified in further studies.Their number must be very much limited. Parametric variations are ofcourse expected in some areas such the figure and ground configurations and the orientation metaphor discussed earlier. Others such as the expression lynching in American English discussed in New York Times (February 18, 2000) which is used as a 'stinging metaphor to refer to profound societal injustices' and has penetrated the national American psyche because of the nation's historical communal existential experience or the Kinyarwanda cow metaphors discussed in Kimenyi (forthcoming) are ofcourse cultural specific and these are expected as well.

References

Kimenyi, Alexandre. forthcoming. "Cow metaphors in Kinyarwanda".Anthropo-
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