Wednesday, July 30, 2025

HEAD = GOURD in Algeria

The metaphorical identification of heads with gourds is probably obvious enough to arise spontaneously anywhere that gourds are in regular use (even English has expressions like "stoned out of his gourd".) In Algeria, it is historically reflected in some varieties' lexicon. Kabyle has in most contexts replaced pan-Berber ixf with novel a-qəṛṛu, whose betrays its loanword origin. The immediate source seems to be dialectal Arabic qəṛṛuʕ, attested in the meaning "head" around Jijel, but originally "big gourd", imposing the augmentative template CaCCūC on the noun qarʕ (dialectal qəṛʕa) "gourd, squash". (One might also consider a role for Classical ʔaqraʕ "mangy, bald", dialectal gəṛʕa "bald".

The thing about metaphors, though, is that they appear across multiple domains, not just in language. I recently learned of a traditional Algerian treatment for migraines (reported to be very effective) that involves cutting a fragment of gourd, writing various symbols on it, and pressing it against the appropriate place on the head of the affected person. The same metaphor that produced lexical change in Kabyle has evidently inspired curative practices next door. Perhaps a wider cultural survey would yield examples in other domains as well?

1 comment:

Hamid Ouyachi said...

In Moroccan Tamazight (Morocco, CA & SE), you also find 'aqəṛṛu' for 'head', in proximity with 'aqəṛṛuy' for 'horn (animal)). In addition, the word for 'round bread baked with a hot stone in it' is 'aqullu'.
Another interesting bit is the pair 'uxsas / [t]axsay[t] (sometimes 'taġsayt, taġṣayt)' = 'head / pumpkin, squash, gourd'.