Metaphor Frequency and Distribution in Three Sesotho Newspapers’ Coverage of HIV and AIDS

Abstract

This study examines the frequency and distribution of linguistic metaphors in selected Sesotho newspapers (Lentsoe, Leselinyana and Moeletsi) in their coverage of HIV and AIDS. The results reveal that 83.9 metaphors occur per 1 000 words, and that the majority of these metaphors are conventional. The findings show that linguistic metaphors are evenly distributed between the three newspapers analysed. There are also similarities between the newspapers regarding the most frequently used metaphorical expressions. Metaphors created by using the locative case marker -ng and the metaphorical expression bontsha (show) and its inflected forms are the linguistic metaphors used most frequently by the newspapers. The findings show that there is a difference in the frequency of metaphors during the period 1986–1995 and later periods, with fewer linguistic metaphors used in 1996–2010. However, the metaphors created using the locative case marker -ng and bontsha (show) and its inflected forms remain the most frequent linguistic metaphors in each period.