“Until grey hair appears on the hands and feet”- On the Significance of Human Body Parts in African Idiom, Using the Example of the Idioms of the Fon from Benin

Idiomatic is a branch of lexicology dealing with idioms. It is the study of the peculiarities of a language, a dialect, and the totality of idioms of a language. While it is having already been the subject of several studies in a so-called written culture as Germany, it has been sparsely researched in societies with a strong oral tradition, such as those in Africa. This article therefore focuses on 56 idioms of the Fon from Benin (West Africa). The focus is on the significance of human body parts in the Fon idioms and on their cultural aspect. The aim of the paper is to fill the gap in Beninese idiom in particular and in Africa in general.