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Conceptualization of Animal Names in the Learning of Foreign 

Language by the Advanced Igbo and Yoruba Chinese Learners 

 

 

Okoye Chinenye Loyce1, Ezeudo Chika2 & Makinde Peter 

Oyewole3 

 Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka 

clo.okoye@unizik.edu.ng1 chikaezeudo@gmil.com2 

po.makinde@unizik.edu.ng3 

 

 

Abstract 
The present study is set out to compare the conceptualization of 

animal names in the learning of Chinese as a Foreign Language 

(FL) by advanced Igbo and Yoruba speaking learners. The study 

will make use of Language Awareness (LA) theory by Hawkins 

(1984), in order to explore the importance of sociolinguistic 

competence in language learning. The notion is that possession of a 

huge quantity of vocabulary and knowledge of grammatical rules do 

not necessarily lead to the proficiency in a language, learners 

should be aware of the correct meaning of words in transferring 

intended meaning and use well-formed sentences along with society 

norms in order to avoid any misunderstanding, communication 

breakdown, or wrong judgements. The data contain a list of 60 

animal names, presented in Chinese, Igbo, and Yoruba with their 

English gloss. The objective is to examine some of the 

communicative features of the animal names, investigate how the 

animal names are conceptualized for better understanding of 

Foreign Language learning, and also determine the level of 

similarities and differences between the language groups and 

cultures in using animal names in terms of meaning. The results of 

mailto:clo.okoye@unizik.edu.ng
mailto:08033264516.%20chikaezeudo@gmil.com
mailto:po.makinde@unizik.edu.ng


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43 

 

the finding show that animal names can be helpful in vocabulary 

building; for derivation of noun, verbs and adjectives. They provide 

insights into how language determines the cognitive and socio-

cultural dimensions of a specific linguistic community. The study 

proves that animal names can be regarded as one possible means to 

learn the cultures of different people, the results prove that the 

semantic connotations of animal imagery used to describe human 

beings and their characteristics is of wide if not universal use. 

Furthermore, the results show that some of the animal names in 

these languages have attained the status of national icon. This paper 

seeks to address the gap in the conceptualisation of animal names 

in the teaching/learning of Chinese as Foreign Language by the 

advanced Igbo and Yoruba speaking learners.   

Keywords: foreign language, learning/teaching, conceptualization 

of animal names, Igbo, Yoruba, Chinese 

 

 

1. Introduction 

It has become increasingly evident that the awareness of the 

language structure may be necessary for students, but they need also 

the pragmatic awareness. Pragmatic awareness includes such 

aspects as the knowledge about language use in the target culture, 

semantics, sociolinguistics and social psychology. Thus, from the 

point of view of social interaction/sociolinguistics; language, 

interaction and culture are interrelated aspects that are central to 

language awareness activities for L2 learners (Dufva, 1994). 

Conceptualization of animal names for communicative purpose in 

different languages and cultures require pragmatic reasoning in 

order to understand them.  Bruner (1975:65) notes that “the primacy 

of syntax may be a valuable axiom for linguists, but the primacy of 

semantics is a better axiom for psychology’’. This is more so as 



Conceptualization of Animal Names in the learning of Foreign Languages by the 

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44 

 

animal names are used with certain communicative aim that 

surpasses their linguistic form and meaning. Animal names can be 

helpful in vocabulary building; for derivation of nouns, verbs and 

adjectives. They also provide insights into how language determines 

the cognitive and socio-cultural dimensions of a specific linguistic 

community. The current study is on the conceptualization of animal 

names in the learning of Chinese as Foreign Language by Igbo and 

Yoruba L1 speakers. The study excludes the beginners and 

intermediate learners because conceptualization of animal names is 

better understood by the advanced learners of a FL.  This is very 

timely as need for teaching/learning of Chinese increased through 

the introduction of Chinese studies at Nnamdi Azikiwe University 

by the establishment of Confucius Institute (CI) and the Department 

of Chinese Studies in 2006 and 2013/2014 academic sessions 

respectively.  

 Since Igbo, Yoruba and Chinese belong to different 

language families, scholars have tried to highlight those areas that 

constitute learning difficulties to L1 Igbo and Yoruba Chinese 

learners. From the existing literature, it is obvious that few cross-

linguistics studies were conducted between different languages such 

as the present study. Hence the study will contribute to filling the 

gap in the literature on conceptualization of animal names in Foreign 

Language learners on the one hand, and enriching the cross-

linguistic studies between languages like Igbo, Yoruba and Chinese 

on the other hand. 

 Igbo is one of the three major indigenous languages of 

Nigeria. The Igbo live in the Southeast of Nigeria in the states of 

Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu and Imo, as well as in parts of Delta 

and Rivers states. Igbo is classified as a Niger-Congo language 

(Williamson and Bleach 2000). The term ‘Igbo’ refers to both the 



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45 

 

people and the language. Igbo is a tone language and like any other 

language is very rich in animal words. 

 Yoruba language is also one of the three major languages 

spoken in the South-western Nigeria. Yoruba language ‘has very 

many dialects with varying degree of mutual intelligibility’ 

(Arokoyo 2010, Akinlabi and Adeniyi 2017). Yoruba is a tone 

language; it is also a member of the Benue-Congo branch of the 

Niger-Congo language family. Most recent classification by 

Adeniyi (2010) classified Yoruba dialects into seven (Eastern 

Yoruba, North–Eastern Yoruba, Central Yoruba, South-Western 

Yoruba, Western Yoruba, South-Eastern Yoruba and North-West 

Yoruba). The Standard Yoruba is the form that every Yoruba can 

speak and it serves as a common heritage of the Yoruba people.  

Igbo and Yoruba were said to be related based on the fact that they 

are both tone languages and of the Niger-Congo language family. 

They are now different languages because they are no longer 

mutually intelligible and the original parent language, the proto-

Yoruba/Igbo language no longer exists. 

 Chinese on the other hand is the official language of the 

People’s Republic of China and Taiwan. It is one of the four official 

languages of Singapore and one of the six official languages of the 

United Nations. It belongs to the Sino–Tibetan language family. 

Chinese include varieties from eight main dialect groups; Putonghua 

(Mandarin), Yue (Cantonese), Wu (Shanghainese), Minbei 

(Fuzhou), Minnan (Taiwanese), Xiang, Gan and Hakka. The 

Northern/Mandarin dialect covers three fourths of China’s territory 

and includes two thirds of its population. Standard Chinese is known 

as ‘Putonghua’ which literally means ‘common speech’. Putonghua 

uses the dialect of Beijing as the basis for its pronunciation. Chinese 

is now one of the most widely used living languages; with more than 



Conceptualization of Animal Names in the learning of Foreign Languages by the 

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46 

 

a billion native speakers worldwide Yip and Don (2016), cited in 

Okoye (2021). 

 The significance of this study is to contribute to raising 

teacher and student’s awareness in the cross-cultural differences in 

animal names between the three languages and cultures, improving 

the teaching/learning of Chinese as FL, Igbo and Yoruba. This will 

enable the teachers/learners to understand the conceptualization of 

these animal names in their own culture and in the culture of others. 

Also help in solving the misunderstanding caused by these 

differences and cope with metaphoric use of animal names in an 

easy way.  Moreover, this study is hoped to be a modest contribution 

to fill the academic gap in the area of conceptualizations of animal 

names in culture and cognition. 

 

1.1 Research Questions 
The following research questions will help in guiding the current 

study; 

• What are some of the animal names in Igbo, Yorùbá and 

Chinese lexicons? 

• How are these selected animal names conceptualized in 

these languages? 

• What similar/different cultural/world-views exists in these 

languages through the animal names? 

 

2. Literature Review 
Recent studies show a great surge of interest in the conceptualization 

and social significance of animal names. There have also been 

investigation on connotative meanings and correlations between 

animal names/expressions and human attributes.   

 Olátejù (2005) undertakes a study of animal metaphors in the 

Yorùbá language with a view to highlighting the stylistic and 



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47 

 

communicative potentials of these metaphors. Both the domestic 

and wild animals involved in metaphors and their individual 

distinctive characteristic features which motivate their metaphorical 

interpretations are highlighted. The study also discusses the sources 

of animal metaphors, which are said to be located in three areas, 

namely: the Yorùbá naming culture, animal characteristic habits and 

behaviour, and the Yorùbá poetry. A two-dimensional approach is 

adopted: stylistic and cultural. The study notes that stylistically 

animal metaphors contribute to aesthetics and poetic elegance of 

literary texts through their lexical tones, which can be stylistically 

manipulated. Further, animal metaphors are also used as a novel or 

additional mode of expression in both literary and routine 

communication. Although Olátejù’s work is an examination of 

animal metaphors in Yorùbá, it informs the current study on the 

nexus between metaphor and culture. That is, metaphors are 

founded on culture and often serve as a good resource for the 

understanding of cultural beliefs.   

 In his comparative study of animal-related proverbs in 

English and Chinese, Jie (2008) notes that some conceptual 

metaphors are universal and the universality can be found at the 

generic level; animals have their own features and cultural 

connotations in different languages.  He concludes that it is only 

when people are acquainted with the cultural conventions and long 

customs can they begin to understand the cultural differences in 

animal proverbs between the two languages. According to him, 

there are cases where a particular expression is in correspondence 

with meaning and culture as noted in the example below: 

 ‘You may lead a horse to the water, but you cannot make 

him drink’. 

In Chinese, it also uses the same animal of “horse”. The proverb 

says,’ you may be acting in the best interests of the horse by taking 



Conceptualization of Animal Names in the learning of Foreign Languages by the 

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him to the trough, but if he doesn’t want to drink he is not going to’. 

This means that you can do your utmost to make a person share your 

views, yet there is a point beyond which he will not go. In this 

proverb, “a person who doesn’t want to accept others’ opinion” is 

understood in terms of “a horse that doesn’t want to drink”. The 

proverb applies to the conceptual metaphor of PEOPLE ARE 

ANIMALS. 

METAPHOR 
• SOURCE --------------------TARGET 

• a horse ----------------------- a person 

 

The study concludes that the use of CIH in analysing animal 

proverbs can help in overcoming difficulties in experimental works 

on proverbs and studying proverbs as utterances.  

 The study of Rashidi and Ghaedi (2013) is on contrastive 

discourse analysis of Persian and English animal proverbs. They aim 

at the analysis of the discoursal features of Persian and English 

proverbs relating to cat, dog, and donkey and the thematic classes 

they belong to. They adopt Busman’s (1995) model of Prototype 

alongside Schmitz’s (1983) Isomorphism to full or lack of 

isomorphism between Persian and English proverbs relating to 

animals. The findings reveal among other things that animal 

proverbs in English show that society, economy, politics, prototypes 

are much more dominant than law, belief or religion prototypes as 

found in an Iranian context or themes on culture in general. Also the 

social prototype falls into thematic categories of behaviour, 

working, experience, performance and way of life. Furthermore, 

both cultures have a common working prototype collectively; in 

conclusion, the study observes that proverbs in both societies are 

treasures of wisdom. Also, as it concerns similarities (full 

isomorphism), has to do with linguistic universals.  Since metaphor 



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is universal, and a lot of concepts are similar in both languages, the 

similarities in animal proverbs can be explained away by this fact. 

Also, differences or lack of isomorphism are traced to differences in 

culture, beliefs and values of Persian and English speakers. Hence, 

translators have to be bicultural to understand and translate properly 

the heavy semantic load that is culture specific in some proverbs. 

 Liu’s (2013) work is a comparative study of English and 

Chinese Animal Proverbs from the perspective of Metaphors. The 

study is carried out from three (3) main aspects: the same animal 

produce the same association and metaphorical meaning; the same 

animal produce different emotions and associations; different 

animal produce the same association and metaphorical meaning. His 

findings show that animal proverbs are an important part of 

language, an indispensable element of culture. The comparison of 

the 3 types of animal proverbs shows the similarities and differences 

in living environment, language styles, religious beliefs, values, 

thinking mode and aesthetics of the two cultures. The researcher 

concludes that research has deepened the understanding of people in 

different cultures who exhibit similarities or differences of different 

cultures by employing similar or different proverbs. Understanding 

this phenomenon is helpful for us to promote communications and 

overcome language exchange barriers.  

 Sameer’s (2016) study is a comparison of English and 

Arabic proverbs on dogs and horses. The study uses elected model 

gathering approach of Lakoff & Turner (1989), and Hsieh’s (2006) 

approach of semantic molecules.   The focus is on a cognitive, social 

and pragmatic view in order to establish that metaphoric and 

metonymic –mappings are cognitive mechanism which yield sets of 

explicature and form the origin of implicature. The findings reveal 

that in both languages, the proverbs have the same functions and 

refer to the same intended meaning; thereby implying the same 



Conceptualization of Animal Names in the learning of Foreign Languages by the 

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mental mechanism, for metaphor and metonymy. Hence, it can be 

said that both dogs and horses have nearly the same semantic 

molecules in both languages. They indicate the same contents, that 

is, dogs’ proverbs usually indicate something bad and scruffy while 

those containing horse expressions indicate something good and 

noble. 

 Okoye‘s (2021) study is on ‘a domain-based comparative 

analysis of Igbo and Chinese animal-related Proverbs. The study 

employs both the Conceptual Metaphor Theory (CMT) and Cultural 

Conceptual Theory (CCT) to investigate the cognitive mechanisms 

that are employed in the comprehension and the use of animal 

proverbs in Igbo and Chinese based on their metaphoric and socio-

cultural environments. The study concludes that it is only when 

people are acquainted with the cultural conventions and long 

customs can they begin to understand the cultural specificities in 

animal proverbs between the two languages.  The present study is 

the conceptualization of animal names in the learning of Chinese as 

a Foreign Language (FL) by Igbo and Yoruba speaking learners. 

The study will make use of the Language Awareness (LA) approach 

by Hawkins (1984). 

 

3. Research Approach 

The research framework/approach adopted is Language 

Awareness (by Hawkins 1984). It originated in the United 

Kingdom. Language Awareness is neither a methodology nor a 

theory of learning. Rather, it may be understood as a cover term for 

a wide range of approaches towards language learning and teaching 

that has been increasingly discussed and applied both within the LI 

and L2 context during the past few years. 

 The study will make use of Language Awareness (LA) 

approach by Hawkins (1984), in order to explore the importance of 



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51 

 

sociolinguistic competence in language learning. The notion is that 

possession of a huge quantity of vocabulary and knowledge of 

grammatical rules do not necessarily lead to the proficiency in a 

language, learners should be aware of the correct meaning of words 

in transferring intended meaning and use well-formed sentences 

along with society norms in order to avoid any misunderstanding, 

communication breakdown, or wrong judgements.  

 Conceptualization of animal names for communicative 

purpose in different languages and cultures require pragmatic 

reasoning in order to understand them.  This is so, as they show how 

different connotative meanings of animal names and correlations 

between them and human traits are culturally bounded.  Thus 

through language awareness approach, students in a foreign 

language classroom may be encouraged to think about the 

similarities and differences between languages. In this study, the 

conceptualization of animal names by Foreign Language learners 

reveals that it has become increasingly evident that learning of 

languages is not a matter of language only. Matters of interaction 

and culture are integral elements of language learning/teaching. 

Through this practical application of Language Awareness the level 

of language proficiency also increases. 

 

3.1 Methodology 
For the purpose of this study, sixty (60) animal names in Igbo, 

Yorùbá and Chinese are collected and analyzed. The intention is to 

choose the most frequent animal names referred to in daily speech; 

this comprise of four-legged animals, birds, insects and amphibians. 

The study adopts a descriptive survey research design in the 

collection of both primary and secondary data. Few adult native 

Igbo, Yorùbá and Chinese speakers are used to generate primary 

data; also information was gotten from internet and libraries. Since, 



Conceptualization of Animal Names in the learning of Foreign Languages by the 

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the researchers are L1 speakers of Igbo and Yorùbá languages; this 

enables us to employ our intuition/knowledge in generating primary 

data. The comparison was to give a detailed account of to what 

extent the Igbo, Yorùbá and Chinese animal names share an 

underlying conceptualization and reflect different cultural beliefs. 

Furthermore, the cross-cultural analysis was to highlight the 

different world views in the languages under study through animal 

names. 

 

4. Data Presentation and Analysis 
In the data in table 1 below, we present 60 animal names. Some of 

these are selected for analysis.   

 

Table 1: Animal names in Igbo, Yoruba and Chinese 

S/

N 

IGBO YORUB

A 

CHINESE ENGLIS

H 

GLOSS 

1 Ewu Ewúré 羊yáng Goat 

2  Ọ̀kụkọ ̀ Adìe 鸡jī Fowl 

3  M̀gbàdà Ẹgbín 羚 līng Antelope 

4 Efi Abo Malu 牛niú Cow 

5  Ị̀nyị̀nyà Ẹṣ in 马 mă Horse  

6  Ele Àgbọ̀nrín 鹿lù Deer  

7 Nkịtā Ajá 狗gŏu Dog   

8  Nkịtā ọhị̄ā Ìkokò 鬣狗liè 

gŏu 

Hyena  

9 Nwonogbō/Bùusù/N

wam̀ba 

Ológbò 猫māo Cat   

10  Atụrụ̄ Àgùtàn 羊yáng Sheep  



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11 Èbùnè/Èbùlè Àgbò 公羊gōng 

yang 

Ram   

12 Ezì Ẹlédè 猪zhū Pig  

13  Agwọ Ejò 蛇shé Snake  

14  Agụ̄ òwùrù Amòtẹkù

n 
豹bào Leopard   

15  Ǹgwèlè/Ǹgwèrè Alangba sìjiăoshé四

脚蛇 

Lizard  

16  Ejù/Ejùnè/Ejùlà Ìgbín 螺luó Snail  

17  Ọ̀dụ̀m Kìnìún 狮子shīzi Lion  

18  Enyi Erin/Àjàn

àkú 
大象dā 

xiāng 

Elephant   

19 Àdakā Elegbede  黑猩猩
hēixīngxin

g 

Chimpan

zee   

20 Ọzọ̀dim̄gbā Inaki, 

Inoki  
大猩猩 dà 

xīng xing 

Gorilla  

21  Ènwè Òbọ 猴子hóuzi Monkey   

22 Eke 

 

Erè, Òjòlá 巨蟒
jùmăng 

Python  

23 Tòlotòlo/Tòrotòro Tòlótòló 火鸡huŏjī Turkey  

24  Ọ̀bọ̀gwụ̀ 

 

Pẹpẹiyẹ 鸭yā Duck   

25 Enyi Nnụ̀nụ̀ Ògòngò 鸵鸟tuó 

niăo 

Ostrich   

26 Ndùrù/Ndùli Ẹyẹlé 鸽子gēzi Pigeon   

27 Ọ̀sa Ọkẹrẹ 松鼠
sōngshŭ 

 Squirrel   



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28  Mbè Ìjapá 龟guī Tortoise   

29  Agụiyī Ọni  鳄è Crocodil

e   

30 Awọ ̀ Ọpọlọ 黾mĭn Toad   

31  M̀bàla/M̀bàra Àkèré 蛤há Frog  

32  Ùdènè/Ùdèlè Gunugu 鹫鸟jiù niăo Vulture   

33 Arụrụ Ikan, 

Ikamudu 
白蚁báiyĭ White 

Ant   

34 Ùgò Idì 鹰yīng Eagle   

35 Agbịsị̀ Tanpepe, 

Kokoro 

dudu  

蚂蚁măyĭ Black 

Ant   

36  Ụ̀kpànà Ẹlẹtẹ  蜢mĕng Grasshop

per   

37 Anwụntà Èfọn 蚊子wén zi Mosquito 

38  Nkwọ Àwòdì, 

Àṣ á 

鸢yuān Kite   

39  Idìdè Ekolo 蚯蚓qiūyĭn Earth 

Worm   

40  Òkoǹ gònò Dakodako

  
螳táng Praying 

Mantis   

41 Ùdudō Alántakù

n 
蜘蛛zhīzhū Spider  

42  Akpị̀ Àkeke  蝎子xiēzi Scorpion   

43  Ìlòkòlòị̀bụbā Labalábá 蝴蝶húdié Butterfly   

44 Chịǹchị̀ Ìdun 臭虫chòu 

chóng 

Bed Bug  

45  Aṅụ̄ Oyin 蜂fēng Bee  



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46   Ijījī Eṣ inṣ in 蝇子yíngzi House 

Fly  

47  M̀bụzụ ̀ Ìrẹ 蟋蟀xī 

shuài 

Cricket   

48  Òkpò Aràn 虷gān Worm  

49 Ụ̀chịchā/ọ̀chịchā Áyán 蟑螂zhānglá

ng 

Cockroac

h 

50  Ụsụ Àdán 蝙蝠biānfú Bat   

51  Òtù kpokpo Akoko  啄木
鸟zhuómùn

iăo 

Wood 

Pecker  

52   Azụ̀ Ẹja 鱼yú Fish   

53 Nyanwụrụedè kọlọkọlọ 狐狸húli Fox   

54 Ugwùmagànà Agemon, 

ògà  
避疫bìyì Chamele

on   

55  Ìkwìkwiī Òwìwí 猫
头鹰mīotóu

yíng 

Owl  

56 Ewii/ òke bèkeè Ehoro 兔子tùzi Rabbit   

57  Ọgbakụlụ Tanisanko

  
蜈蚣
wúgong 

Centiped

e   

58 Esu Okun  千足虫
qiānzúchón

g 

Milliped

e   

59  Ndùrù/Ndùli Ẹyẹlé 鸽子gēzi Pigeon   

60  Agụ Òwùlù Ìkookò  狼láng Wolf   

 

 

 



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4.1. Data Analysis  

 

4.1.1 Semantic Connotation of some Selected Animal 

Names/Expressions 

Animal names/expressions explore the semantic interaction in the 

cultural backgrounds within different societies. There is an 

interconnection between semantic molecules and these animal 

names  as they serve as semantic contributors in cultural domains, 

e.g. ‘cat’ for women in German (Hsieh 2006). Also, various acts of 

speech in the form of animal names/expressions reveal people’s 

thoughts. This, in essence demonstrates different mentalities as well 

as the Igbo and Yorùbá speakers’ group-centric and Chinese 

speakers’ individualistic modes of thought.          

In Igbo, Yorùbá and Chinese, the semantic connotation of 

the following animal names, such as; dog, goat, tiger and lion refers 

to a wide range of positive and negative associative meanings which 

most of the words inherently carry with them. 

Igbo:  Nki̟ta (dog) - in the Igbo culture,  “dogs” are variously 

perceived as taboo, a dirty animal, meat to quench hunger or as 

item for rituals, experienced, happy, faithful, enduring, patience etc 

Ewu (goat) - a stupid person, a lecherous man, a womanizer, 

seducer, adulterer, pervert, loser, fornicator, sensualist, wanton etc. 

O̟du̟m (Lion) - connotes strength, ruthless, fearless, and a bold 

person 

 

Yorùbá:  Aja (dog), just as in the Igbo language, dog is perceived 

as a promiscuous animal but in the hands of a hunter, just as in Igbo 

and other cultures, dogs are useful animal based on their alertness, 

sightedness when it comes to hunting.  

Ewure (goat) = semantically depicts stubbornness, a person could 

be said to be a goat if such a one is stubborn 



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E̟kùn (Tiger); courageous, bold as in “Ọmọ ekùn ni e” meaning a 

courageous person 

Kìnìún (lion); is seen as the king of all animals, a very strong person. 

 

Chinese:  

狗gŏu (dog); From the socio-cultural point of view, the dog is useful 

for hunting, guarding the home; it is mainly kept outside the home, 

as it is considered to be a dirty animal.  

The word ‘dog’ in the cultures is perceived as rude and insultive. 

Some of the positive connotations are, experienced, happy, faithful, 

enduring, patience etc. 

羊yáng (goat); the Chinese worldview about the word羊 connotes 

positive traits such as peace, success and auspicious, co-operate 

better under leadership, modest, obedient among its negative 

meanings are; timid, docile, lack will-power, weak, shy, like to 

depend on others, irresponsible etc.  

狮子shīzi (lion) - is perceived as powerful, courageous, and fierce. 

 

4.2 Animal Names in Metaphor 
Animal metaphors map different metaphoric expressions from the 

source to the target domain. They are used to describe inferior or 

undesirable human traits and habits. Kövecses (2002) notes that 

much of human behaviour seems to be metaphorically understood 

in terms of animal behaviour, that is, animals as metaphors for our 

fears, aspirations, and desires and our physical and emotional and 

spiritual connections with the animal’. This has implications in the 

PEOPLE ARE ANIMAL conceptual metaphor in which the source 

domain of animals is mapped into the target domain of humans. The 

linguistics expressions related to animals get their meaning when 

‘…animals were personified first, and then, the ‘human basics 



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animal characteristics’ were used to understand human behaviour’ 

Examples:  

Igbo: 

  Ńki ̟́tā gbọ́kátá ụ ̄jā, yá tàá àtà kà éwèé mārā nà ézē di ̟̀ yá 

ń’ọ́nụ̄. 

When the dog has barked for some time, it should try biting so that 

people will know that it has teeth. 

METAPHOR 
           SOURCE --------------------TARGET 

 Ńkí̟tā, a dog barking ----------------------- a person’s idle 

threat 

Barking is viewed as undesirable when it is not backed with attack 

on the enemy. It is pointless to make idle threats. Hence, a person 

who makes excessive threats is seen as a dog barking if he/she does 

not attack. 

 

Íhé ọ̀kụ́kọ ̄ bù ḿmírī àchụ́ di ̟̀ yá ḿkpà. 

That which the chicken is chasing under the rain is 

important. 

METAPHOR 
                  SOURCE --------------------TARGET 

            ọ̀kụ́kọ ̄,   chicken ----------------------- committed person  

The chicken is chasing that which is important under the 

rain. This is similar to a person who is committed to an 

important task, without minding the circumstances. 

 

Yoruba: 

- Aja ti yoo sanu ki n gbo fere ode.  

- The dog that will be lost never hears the hunter’s whistle.  

- METAPHOR 
                SOURCE --------------------TARGET  



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                        Aja, dog ------------ a disobedient person 

This metaphorically means that a disobedient child/person will 

never take to correction.   

 

- Adie funfun ko mo ara re lagba. 

- The white chicken does not realise its age. 

- METAPHOR 
                      SOURCE --------------------TARGET  

             Adie funfun, white chicken ------------ an elderly person  

This means that an older person is supposed to respect himself. 

 

- Gbogbo alangba lo d’anu dele, a ko mo eyi t’inu nrun/ All 

lizards lie flat on their stomach, therefore it is difficult to 

determine which has a stomach ache.  

- METAPHOR 
-                    SOURCE --------------------TARGET  

Gbogbo alangba, all lizards ------------ people with different 

problems 

Meaning: Everyone looks the same on the outside but all have 

different problems they are dealing with that you do not know about. 

 

- Ekùn ọkọ Síjúwọlá meaning Tiger, husband of Sijuwola. 

METAPHOR 
                   SOURCE --------------------TARGET  

  Ekùn, Tiger ------------ a strong, fierce, daring person 

Metaphorically, Sijuwola is predicated as ekun, the tiger for 

possessing a strong, fierce, daring attribute.  

 

Chinese:   

受伤的山羊不是快乐的山羊. Shòushāng de shānyáng bù shì kùàilè 

de shòushāng. An injured goat is not a happy goat. 



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                                  METAPHOR 
                                             SOURCE --------------------TARGET  

 受伤的山羊,an injured goat  ----------------------- a person 

denied justice 

Act of injustice is a very objectionable act. The same goes for a 

person who has been denied justice, he/she will not be happy 

because of the bad treatment.  

 

有劳得奖。yo ̆u láo de jiăng. A good dog deserves a good bone. 

                      METAPHOR 
                 SOURCE --------------------TARGET  

有劳得奖, a good dog ----------------------- a good person 

Being good is worth a reward. Being good is a dog behaviour that is 

as desirable as is a similar human behaviour because both are worth 

a reward. 

 

4.2.1 Animal Names in Personal/Given Names 
Some personal names are derived from animal names that 

traditionally convey symbol of strength, heroism, or greatness. 

Some are nicknames given by friends or well-wishers in form of 

compliment for their achievements. Examples; 

Igbo:  
• ogbuagū – the killer of leopard.  

• Lion- odum- king of animals, totemic animal for strength, 

agility, boldness, and courage, used in metaphor, adages, 

similes, and proverbs to illustrate positive energy and 

abilities  like omekagu. (see Okoye, Uguru &Okorji 2016) 

Yoruba:                                  

Unlike to the Igbo language, Yoruba does not have animal names in 

personal/given names, rather animal names in personal/given names 



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are metaphorically contextualized. Therefore, the contextual 

situation/condition under which animal metaphors are used is of 

paramount importance. The usage and understanding of an animal 

metaphor involves some perception of attitudes, experiences or 

dispositions of both the speaker and the addressee. Animal 

metaphors appear to be more difficult compared with ordinary 

metaphors. For example, when a child is called or referred to as 

‘eranko’ (animal) the meaning that is immediately available to him 

is [- human], only to discover later when being told or prompted that 

other meanings are possible, e.g. [stubborn; deserving beating with 

stick]. 

• Amotekun  

•  

Chinese:  
龟 guī tortoise is the 9th of the 12 animals in the Chinese zodiac. 

Many parents try to give birth in a year of the monkey; they believe 

that this will make their babies clever. The saying, ‘your kid is like 

a monkey’, is perceived as praise’. It is considered as a symbol of 

wisdom, endurance, wealth and long life 

望子成龙(hope a son/child will become a dragon,  meaning ‘long 

for a child to succeed in life. 

4.2.2 Animal Names in traditional Folklore/Tales 
In Igbo and Yoruba tales, tortoise is the trickster symbol which is 

always associated with cunny, wisdom, and fast thinking, 

intelligent, clever, an unreliable person, ingratitude. In Chinese, the 

monkey is prominent in folklores.  According to Xin (2018), ‘this is 

because Sun Wukong (the Monkey King) of the novel ‘The Journey 

to the West ‘was able to freely go to the Dragon Palace and suppress 

the Dragon King at his will, with fishermen praying to the wooden 

monkey figures-images of the Monkey King for safe voyages.  The 

common saying is ‘Shihou (stone monkey) comes with blessings of 



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safety since ancient times. In the current age of internet, the monkey 

has become a popular icon in the internet of China, for example; 

Youxi Monkeys is ‘a hot comic figures on the internet used in QQ 

chatting pictures, comics, animated short films and computer games. 

Also in the screen art, the traditional monkey opera has been adapted 

to both big and small screens, in animation, paper –cutting art, and 

ink-wash painting, scientific and documentary films are also done 

about monkeys. Also visible in New Year paintings and also in the 

folk handicraft works used for blessings. Simply put, the monkey 

exists everywhere’. 

 

4.2.3 Symbolic Animal Names 
In Igbo and Yoruba cultural worldviews, Monkey known as ‘enwe’ 

and ‘ijapa’ is seen as the symbol of wisdom, longevity, cunning, 

clever, endurance, peace, patience, slow, steady, stable, security, 

orderliness. It does not react crazily or do anything on impulse. 

Olátúnji (1984: 51) defines metaphor as a linguistic situation in 

which “an object, action or situation is described in a terminology 

proper to another”. Among the Yorubas, ijapa (tortoise) is described 

as a cunning and clever animal. There is a saying: Ijapa ologbon ewe 

meaning tortoise is a crafty animal depicting tortoise as a wise 

animal. In Igbo land, enwe (tortoise) is one of the animals that many 

communities hold sacred, worship as well as forbid anybody from 

harming or killing. According to Nwokedi (2016); ‘the monkey is 

accompanied by a totemic belief, different communities in Igboland 

have their totems which they regard as sacred animals, as such, and 

they don’t kill them. They are oral tradition handed down from the 

ancient generation to the next generation’ In parts of some states 

(Lagwa in Abor Mbaise in Imo, Akpugoeze in Oji-River in Enugu 

State, Akwa Ibom and Awka in Anambra State), sclater’s monkey 

is not killed or eaten owing to social taboos… in Akpugoeze, 



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monkeys are not harmed because they are considered the property 

of two shrines/deities. In Lagwa monkeys are unharmed because 

they are said to protect the residents during the slave trade or war 

time, monkeys have totemic affiliation with the community, and for 

instance, the throne chair of the traditional ruler of Lagwa is carved 

with the images of monkeys’.  

 According to Chinese belief, ‘龟gui’ (tortoise) is an 

auspicious animal; it is a symbol of good luck’. The tortoise is one 

of the four sacred creatures in Chinese culture, others includes the 

Phoenix, the Dragon, and the Ky-Lin (Unicorn likeness). Chinese 

believe that the tortoise has the secrets of heaven and earth within 

its body. It is known to possess oracular powers; also the shell is 

believed to hold the mysteries of the future. That is why many 

consider it wise to wear a tortoise amulet for good luck.  Tortoise 

shells were used in ceremonies to predict the future during Chinese’s 

Shang dynasty (1766-1122 BC). It has remained the same millions 

of years; it rarely dies from disease and can go without food for more 

than a year. Being one of the animals that has endured longest on 

earth, it is considered as a symbol of wisdom, endurance, wealth and 

long life. 

Chinese People love monkeys for so many reasons; the 

monkey (with a big ‘M’) is the 9th of the 12 animals in the Chinese 

zodiac. Many parents try to give birth in a year of the monkey; they 

believe that this will make their babies clever. The saying, ‘your kid 

is like a monkey’, is perceived as praise’. 

 Xin (2018) also affirms that ‘the monkey is regarded as an 

intelligent, smart, lively and brave animal. In traditional Chinese 

culture, the monkey is much adored and admired. There has been a 

kind of culture in China surrounding the monkey, which is an 

indispensable component of Chinese culture and is seen in various 

aspects, including literature, arts, history, folk customs, and daily 



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life’. In the Chinese zodiac, which is a very ancient part of Chinese 

culture, the monkey is the ninth sign of the zodiac, called ‘shen hou’.

 ‘shen’ belongs to the metal element in the history of Wuxing 

(meaning ‘five elements’, referring to wood, fire, earth, metal and 

water in traditional Chinese philosophy and medicine, hence the 

name ‘jin hou’ as ‘jin’ means ‘metal’ in classical Chinese 

Literature’. 

 Fu (2018) notes that In Chinese literature ‘monkey sounds 

like ‘high official’, in Chinese. the Chinese  character ‘猴 hóu’, 

‘monkey’ is pronounced the same as ‘候hou’, ‘high official’ and the 

association dates back hundreds of years into feudal times. Also in 

ancient Chinese painting, the imagery of monkey as mobility in 

animal painting was visible in the following; 

A monkey hanging a seal on a maple tree symbolizes getting 

promoted to a very high position with an official seal. A monkey 

riding on the back of another monkey symbolizes retaining a high 

official standing from one generation on to another. 

• A monkey riding a horse symbolizes getting promoted 

quickly. 

• Furthermore, Fu notes that in traditional Chinese mythology, 

‘the mythical monkey as a protecting god is all pervading 

and all powerful, many traditional homes use the images of 

the monkey (god) as a talisman of protection. 

4.2.4 Animal Names in Gender-biased language 
Igbo, Yoruba and Chinese present the portrayal of women and men 

with negative meanings in gender- biased words/sentences such as; 

stupid, timid, docile, lacking will-power,, weak, shy, nagging, noisy 

like to depend on others, irresponsible etc. Examples of animal 

names in such gender-biased language are presented below: 

Igbo: 



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 na- akwa ka o ̟ku ̟ko̟ - cackling like a hen.  Meaning noisy and 

constantly complaining. 

In Igbo expressions meaning of hen is normally associated with 

noise, hence, a woman is compared with a hen, in relation to  

behaviour, in that ‘hen’ constantly produce a sound similar to the 

one produced by several women talking. 

O̟ na-eme ka ewu - behaviour like a goat. Meaning a stupid and 

foolish woman. 

Agbo̟ ka nki ̟ta – barking like a dog, meaning a nagging woman. 

Alaru u ̟la ka edi – to sleep like a sloth, meaning lazy and idle 

woman, 

Ari ̟ ka éjùlà – to craw like a snail, used to refer to a sluggish.  

Yorùbá:  
In Yoruba language, the following animal names are gender-biased: 

Aja (Dog) - promiscuity for a male 

Ekun (Tiger) – strong, fierce, daring  male   

‘ẹlédè’ (Pig ) –used for a dirty male 

Chinese: 

她性格温顺善良尽享一只小绵羊.tā xingngé wēnshùn shànliáng, 

jùxiàng, yìzhī xiāo miányáng – she is as gentle as a sheep 

牝鸡司晨‘pìn jī sī chén’ has the meaning, ‘a hen heralding the break 

of day’ that is, a woman ruling the house. Also, women meddling in 

politics. 

The hen stands for the wife/women especially the inquisitive or 

talkative woman and a usurper, whereas the cock refers to the 

husband/men.  

一馬不被兩鞍 a horse doesn’t have two saddles, meaning ‘a widow 

does not remarry’   



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嫁雞隨雞，嫁狗隨狗; when a woman is married to a rooster, she 

has to stick with a rooster; when she is married to a dog, she has to 

stick with a dog 

河東獅吼 lioness roar, meaning ‘having a shrewish wife’. 

 

 

5. Summary of findings and conclusion 
The study examined the conceptualization of animal names in the 

learning of FL by the advanced Igbo and Yoruba Chinese Learners. 

Having done this, it establishes the semantic connotations of some 

selected animal names, animal names in metaphoric expressions, 

animal names in personal/given names, animal names in traditional 

folklores/tales, symbolic animal names and animal names in gender-

biased expressions in Igbo and Yorùbá Vis a Vis Chinese (FL). The 

comparison was to give a detailed account of to what extent the Igbo, 

Yorùbá and Chinese animal names share an underlying 

conceptualization and reflect different cultural beliefs. Furthermore, 

the cross-cultural analysis was to highlight the different world views 

in the languages under study through animal names. 

 In conclusion, the study has been able to achieve the 

objectives of the study by answering the research questions.   In 

answer to the first question, animal names have been established in 

the lexicons of Igbo, Yorùbá and Chinese (see table 1 above). Also 

for the second and third research questions,  the conceptualization 

of animal names by Igbo and Yorùbá Chinese learners have been 

highlighted; animal names are used semantically to connote both 

negative and positive attributes of humans. Animal names are also 

used in metaphoric expressions, folklores, gender – biased 

languages, usually intended to satirize or rebuke. Finally animal 

names reflect the different/similar cultural world-views and describe 

human characters. Language awareness approach to FL teaching has 



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drawn the attentions of the teachers/students to the fact that 

conceptualization of animal names for communicative purpose and 

proficiency in different languages and cultures require pragmatic 

reasoning in order to understand them. Finally, further research that 

involves broader based data across more languages is recommended 

in order to establish a more in- depth results. However, it is hoped 

that this modest study has contributed to the expanding of 

knowledge about the topic under study and has provided a body of 

data for future research in the area. 

 

 

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