Conceptual Metaphor Theory Research Articles

Exploring Self-Construction of the American International Image: A Conceptual Metaphor Perspective

While press releases and cultural transmission materials are common materials for understanding a country's self-construction of international images, to what extent the speeches at international conferences are effective in shaping national images is yet to explore from a perspective of cognitive linguistics? The present study compiles the minutes of 26 meetings of the United Nations Security Council on the situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian issue, from which the speeches by U.S. representatives were selected to establish a corpus, and explores the self-construction of the American international image with conceptual metaphor theory. It is found that JOURNEY metaphor, BUILDING metaphor and so on are instrumental in shaping its image of advocating peace, but SEED metaphor and NEIGHBOR metaphor, etc. reveal its intention to perpetuate the conflict and double standards in dealing with the two conflicting parties.

TRANSLATIONAL CONSTRUCTION OF ISLAND IDENTITY IN AMERICAN NRMS’ TEXTS: POSTSTRUCTURALIST STUDY OF MALTA NARRATIVE IN AMERICAN ENGLISH AND KIRUNDI NWTS

The study investigated the construction of Island Identity through translation in American New Religious Movements’ texts (NRMs). The research used the descriptive qualitative method that is based on the American studies interdisciplinary method and Kristeva’s theory of intertextuality and notions of identity, abjection, and revolt. Moreover, Kovecses’ theory of Conceptual Metaphor (CM) in American Studies and Schmidt’s CM translation typology were used. Primary data were collected from the Kirundi New World Translation (NWT), American English NWT, and New American Standard Bible (NASB). Secondary data were obtained from books and articles about American NRMs, island, and CM translation. It was found out that in the conceptualization of alterity about island identity the source text (ST) is in abjection to the mainstream NASB. Moreover, the findings proved that, despite the subversion tints of the ascetic virtues from the center of the church, the target text (TT) is a nihilation of all island identity forms. Furthermore, it was discovered that the Burundi JW Bible imitates the ST to revolt against colonial and nationalist conceptualization and ipso facto to construct an island identity that supports the church’s propensity for the postnational and global discourse of American society and culture.

As metáforas conceptuais nos discursos parlamentares da Alemanha e do Brasil

This article presents partial results of an ongoing doctoral research, in which metaphors on the topic of "immigration" occurring in parliamentary speeches from Germany and Brazil in 2018 are identified and analyzed. Our aim is to find out which metaphors occur in these speeches and which factors, if any, make them more or less influential in political polarization. To do so, this research is based on Conceptual Metaphor Theory and Critical Discourse Analysis. The lexical items “migrante”, “imigrante”, “refugiado”, “Migrant” and “Flüchtling” were searched in the transcripts of the meetings of the German Parliament and the Brazilian House of Representatives with the aid of the AntConc’s concordance tool to identify metaphorical patterns. Then, we analyzed the metaphors based on Critical Discourse Analysis. The results reveal that conceptual metaphors contribute to create the division between in- and outgroup, which is characteristic of polarization.

Framing a feminist phenomenological inquiry into the lived experiences of women entrepreneurs

PurposeThis article aims to explore the potential of feminist phenomenology as a conceptual framework for advancing women’s entrepreneurship research and the suitability of interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) to the proposed framework.Design/methodology/approachThe article critically examines the current state of women’s entrepreneurship research regarding the institutional context and highlights the benefits of a shift towards feminist phenomenology.FindingsThe prevailing disembodied and gender-neutral portrayal of entrepreneurship has resulted in an equivocal understanding of women’s entrepreneurship and perpetuated a male-biased discourse within research and practice. By adopting a feminist phenomenological approach, this article argues for the importance of considering the ontological dimensions of lived experiences of situatedness, intersubjectivity, intentionality and temporality in analysing women entrepreneurs’ agency within gendered institutional contexts. It also demonstrates that feminist phenomenology could broaden the current scope of IPA regarding the embodied dimension of language.Research limitations/implicationsThe adoption of feminist phenomenology and IPA presents new avenues for research that go beyond the traditional cognitive approach in entrepreneurship, contributing to theory and practice. The proposed conceptual framework also has some limitations that provide opportunities for future research, such as a phenomenological intersectional approach and arts-based methods.Originality/valueThe article contributes to a new research agenda in women’s entrepreneurship research by offering a feminist phenomenological framework that focuses on the embodied dimension of entrepreneurship through the integration of IPA and conceptual metaphor theory (CMT).

The effect of implied motion in travel photographs on visit intention: The mediating role of mental imagery

Travel photographs play a crucial role in tourism marketing, and implied motion, that is, the use of techniques that give the illusion of movement, (e.g., through the use of blurring techniques, slow-speed photography, and images with rippling waves, or falling leaves) is a common feature within these images. The effect of implied motion in tourism photographs on tourist behavioral intention, however, had not been investigated up to this point. Drawing on conceptual metaphor theory, this study examined the influence of implied motion in travel photographs on tourists' intention to visit a destination. The results of four experiments suggest that travel photographs depicting implied motion can increase tourists’ visit intention and that mental imagery is the mediator. In addition, the moderating effects of verbal motion cues and attraction type were verified. Theoretical and managerial implications are also discussed.

French political symbolism and identity construction

The present study examines how the language of political symbolism operates within the framework of identity construction. It focusses on the themes of sovereignty during the 2022 French presidency of the European Union and the national presidential election campaign. On the basis of Conceptual Metaphor Theory, it suggests that, apart from purely linguistic features, extra-linguistic factors are also essential in order to convey a global view of symbolic rhetoric. The analysis is conducted according to an overall 6-tier model of figurative origins involving the parameters of personal background, political context, cultural history, reference, conceptual metaphor and linguistic metaphor. By applying the parameters of the model, it is proposed that the core of political argumentation in the corpus analysis is based on national symbols and the conceptual mapping they embody. The basic hypothesis of the model assumes that a politician attempts to portray the symbolisation of unity in accordance with his or her political background and personal biography. A political narrative is thereby created within the current political context using predominant symbols in cultural history. An over-riding factor is the role of referential points which may determine divergence in conceptual mapping. These features then lead to the construction of conceptual metaphors which can take on a particularly hyperbolic structure in the ensuing linguistic metaphors. The implications of the study highlight the important role of symbolism in political debate, its interaction with conceptual metaphor, the relevance of extra-linguistic factors portrayed by the 6-tier model, the link between cultural history and hyperbolic linguistic structures and political divergence in similar symbols.

Cultural Courtesies: Decoding Politeness Formulas in the Aseer Dialect of Arabic

This study analyzes politeness formulas within the Aseer dialect of Arabic, employing Conceptual Metaphor Theory and the Embodiment Hypothesis as theoretical frameworks. With a dataset encompassing a total of 300 formulas, comprising 210 related to body parts and 90 linked to devotion formulas, the research unravel the conceptual metaphors and metonymies inherent in these expressions. The study elucidates the cultural alignment of these formulas and their consistency with societal norms, contributing to the preservation of oral heritage in the Aseer region. The findings highlight how human beings utilize metaphor metonymy to embody abstract ideas, emphasizing the cultural significance of these politeness formulas and their connection to the physical and cultural experiences of the Aseer community. The outcomes of the study do not only enhance our understanding of politeness formulas but also pave the way for cross-dialect and cross-linguistic comparisons and applications in various fields, such as cross-cultural pragmatics, ethnographic studies, semantic mapping, and cultural preservation.

COGNITIVE LINGUISTIC METAPHORS

Today many metaphor researchers work in the framework of cognitive linguistics. The cognitive linguistics revolution began in 1980 with the publication of George Lakoff and Mark Johnson’s Metaphors We Live By. In their book, Lakoff and Johnson amassed an amazing number of examples showing that the way we talk about abstract domains appears to be systematically structured by the way wetalk about certain more concrete domains. Thus, we talk about theories and arguments as if they were buildings: theories can have support and arguments can be demolished. These observations gave rise to the theory of conceptual metaphor which moved metaphor out of language into our conceptual organization. According to Lakoff and Johnson, linguistic expressions such as ‘to demolish a theory’ or ‘the foundation of a theory’ are not isolated expressions but parts of the conceptual metaphor THEORIES ARE BUILDINGS.

Eloquent Metaphors: Leveraging Linguistic Tools for Leadership in Biden's Inaugural Political Rhetoric

This study examined the intricate use of metaphorical language by President Joe Biden inaugural address, revealing its profound impact on political rhetoric and public perception. Utilizing conceptual metaphor theory as a framework, this study thoroughly identified and analyzed different types of metaphors in Biden's speech: conceptual, structural, and cultural. The analysis revealed how these metaphors transcend mere linguistic ornamentation and serve as fundamental cognitive tools that shape collective understanding and emotional connection. Biden’s speech, which is rich in metaphors, transforms complex political and social challenges into relatable stories and images that, resonate deeply with a wide audience. This study also contextualizes metaphorical use in a broader historical and cultural context, highlighting the dynamic nature of the political discourse. Moreover, it sheds light on the educational importance of understanding metaphors, emphasizing their roles in enhancing communication and rhetorical skills in various fields. This study offers deeper insight into the strategic use of metaphors in political rhetoric and how they play a crucial role in the interplay between language, cognition, and persuasion.

MODULATION OF MOVING CONCEPTUAL METAPHORS IN VIETNAMESE TRANSLATION IN ECONOMIC DISCOURSE

The emergence of Cognitive Linguistics (CL) and the introduction of Conceptual Metaphor Theory (CMT) by Lakoff and Johnson (1980) have provided a novel lens through which metaphor translation can be examined. The persistent concern of translation practice remains the effective transmission of meaning and messages. To achieve this objective, modulation may be needed to effectively communicate the intended information. This sequential mixed method study investigates the translation of metaphoric expressions rooted in the conceptual metaphor “ECONOMIC CHANGES ARE WAYS OF MOVING” in English and Vietnamese economic press releases. The findings reveal that a significant number of metaphoric expressions are retained in translation with minimal alterations, suggesting a high degree of cross-linguistic conceptual coherence concerning economic changes. However, occasional modifications are observed, highlighting the potential influence of modulations on the conceptualization of economic events and the underlying conceptual metaphors within the Vietnamese economic context. This study contributes to providing insights into the dynamic interplay between language and conceptualization in the translation of economic news.

A Corpus-Assisted Analysis of Conceptual Metaphors in K-Beauty Metaphoric Advertising

Over the past few decades, the Conceptual Metaphor theory has attracted scholarly and practitioner attention in the construction of metaphoric advertising, which is driven by the claim that abstract concepts intended to be delivered are better communicated through a conceptual metaphor (Reddy 1979). Metaphoric advertising is a communicative mechanism that sends out intended messages while also provoking positive emotions and triggering attention from the recipient. In order to augment prior findings, this article aims to provide the metaphorical account of a conceptual mechanism delineated in K-Beauty metaphoric advertising by classifying their sub-types into structural, orientational, and ontological metaphors. To that end, this study compiled the K-Beauty metaphoric advertising corpora, which held over four thousand tokens of slogans and taglines extracted from beauty product advertisements generated in translated English, thus aiming to discuss primary instances of metaphorical mappings and conceptualizations, as well as their persuasive functions. Overall, the results evidenced that structural metaphors outperformed the other two sub-types, typifying systematic qualities and rich source domains. Of all the conceptual metaphor sub-categories, it was observable that the ENTITY and SUBSTANCE metaphors, which are a sub-type of ontological metaphors, were the most robust, signifying that ontological metaphors may adopt an imaging mechanism to transfer metaphorical mappings from a source domain to a target domain. The findings argue that particular metaphor choices in metaphoric advertising are closely linked to a cognitive mechanism triggered by cultural awareness pertaining to persuasion and promotion. Based on the current findings, implications and future research directions will also be discussed.

Metaphorical Meaning of Texts Integrated in the Multimodal Political Cartoons of Corruption in The Daily Nation Newspaper

The language of cartoons is not as direct as the language of news reporting in that it is characterized by satirical and metaphorical pictures; and codified and connotative wordings which makes it socially appropriate and relevant to inform, educate and entertain the general public. Cartoons are used to satirize and lampoon socio-political abuses like corruption. In Kenya, corruption poses one of the greatest challenges facing the Kenyan government and reports on corruption scandals in the media are the order of the day. The present research studied the unique nature of the language of cartoons with focus on portrayal of corruption. The specific objective was to establish the metaphorical meaning of texts integrated in the multimodal political cartoons of corruption in The Daily Nation Newspaper. The research was guided by the tenets of the pictorial metaphor model founded by Charles Forceville (2006) within the conceptual metaphor theory. The study was limited to multimodal political cartoons depicting corruption in The Daily Nation Newspaper in 2018 and 2019, a period characterized by mega corruption scandals in Kenya. The study adopted the analytical research design. The study population comprised 14 multimodal political cartoons with metaphoric expressions in The Daily Nation Newspaper in 2018 and 2019. Random purposive sampling technique was used to select the required cartoons and the sample size was dictated by saturation sampling. A total of 14 metaphorical expressions were purposively sampled from the 14 political cartoons. The data was then coded and analyzed qualitatively into themes of the respective conceptual metaphors. The findings were that the conceptual metaphors of corruption in The Daily Nation Newspaper are investigating corruption is turning a stone to reveal what is underneath, coruption is dirty money, corruption is stench, bribery is purchase, corruption is war, corruption is robbery, strategising is warming up, corruption is a movie, ......

A Cognitive Semantic Analysis of Hausa Personifications

This paper investigates the cognitive aspect of Hausa Personifications. The objective of the study is to discover the Hausa personifications found in the language expressions as a result of feature mappings from animate concepts to inanimate ones. The other objective is to come up with a cognitive semantic analysis of the Hausa personifications. The studied personifications are metaphorical and the Conceptual Metaphor Theory of Lakoff and Johnson (1980) is used as a guide frame in mapping the attributive features of the living entity to the inanimate ones. The observation technique is used in collecting the data for the study. One of the findings of the study reveals the kind of features merged between the animate and the inanimate concepts to form the Hausa personifications. Another important finding of the research indicates that the attributive features attached to animate entities are mapped upon the inanimate concepts conceptually to make the Hausa expressions personified. And finally, the study considered the analyzed Hausa personifications as similar to dead metaphors.

Cross-Cultural Conceptualizations of Love: Cognitive Linguistic Analysis of Metaphors in Poems of Kabir and Rumi

This study explores the conceptual metaphors of love in the selected thirty Hindi poems by 15th-century Indian mystic poet Kabir and thirty poems by 13th-century Persian Sufi mystic poet Rumi. This research involved the thematic analysis with an emphasis on Identifying Conceptual Metaphors of Love in the poems of the two renowned poets. The findings reveal that poems by Kabir employed thirteen conceptual metaphors, while that of Rumi utilized eleven, revealing commonalities in eight metaphors such as LOVE IS MERGER, LOVE IS MATERIAL, and LOVE IS DRINK/DRUG. Employing Conceptual Metaphor Theory by Lakoff and Johnson (1980) and Metaphor Identification Procedure developed by the Pragglejaz Group (2007), the research provides a cross-cultural analysis of divine love conceptualization. The findings support cognitive linguistic theses on conceptual metaphors, contributing to a nuanced understanding of love across two distinct cultures.

CONCEPTUAL METAPHORS AND PRAGMATICS MEANINGS IN CHRISTINA PERRI’S SONGS: “HURT”, “BLUE” & “MOTHERS”

the writer raises the issue of types of conceptual metaphors and the pragmatic meaning of these metaphorical expressions found in Christina Perri's songs entitled "Hurt", "Blue" and "Mothers". The aim is to introduce the types of conceptual metaphors and the pragmatic meanings contained in them to make it clear that collaboration between concept metaphors and pragmatics can be done and is becoming increasingly familiar to most people, especially in the field of linguistics. This research applies George-Lakoff's (2013) conceptual metaphor theory and Brown-Yule's (2013) pragmatics theory to find the meanings contained therein. A qualitative descriptive approach will be used in this research. The results of the research confirm that there are 3 types of conceptual metaphors in the three selected songs and in conveying their meaning, Christina Perri conveys the meaning contained in the conceptual metaphor expressions conveyed contextually not based on the background of the song lyrics created.

Conflict and warfare metaphors in the Nigerian media conceptualization of corruption

ABSTRACT The incidence of corruption in Nigeria is monumental, widespread, pervasive and endemic. Studies on corruption in Nigeria have been approached from diverse perspectives including insights from social sciences and humanities. This study is based on the tenets of Conceptual Metaphor Theory (CMT). The CMT approach expresses the role of language, culture and cognition in the communication of human experiences. The underlying motivation for conceptualizing corruption as warfare is because it is pervasive, dangerous and destructive and can stifle national development. The Nigerian media have been at the forefront of reporting cases of public sector corruption and in doing so have deployed different metaphorical frames in conceptualizing the phenomenon. This study chiefly investigates the dominant use of conflict and war metaphors in the conceptualization and communication of corruption and anti-corruption discourses in the Nigerian media. Thus, this study uses insights from CMT to unearth and analyze some of the metaphorical schemes and categories that have been used by six Nigerian newspapers, namely; The Guardian, The Punch, Daily Trust, The Nation, Vanguard and Sun to represent corruption and anti-corruption rhetoric.

Undergraduate students’ experience of emergency online learning and its challenges

One consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic was emergency online learning leading to extensive research worldwide to identify its challenges from the perspective of students. However, there is still room for a more in-depth analytical framework to understand how the students felt about and perceived it. Drawing upon Lakoff and Johnson’s Conceptual Metaphor theory, this paper explores the ‘metaphorical representation’ of a group of undergraduate students’ experiences at a Malaysian university via a semi-structured interview. There were 57 participants. The obtained data were analyzed both qualitatively and quantitatively using Braun & Clarke’s thematic analysis as well as MAXQDA Software. The findings reveal five main challenges due to the five changes brought about by emergency online learning in terms of ‘learning environment, class assignments, interaction, information delivery, and lecturer/student role’. Finally, this paper ends with suggestions to address the identified challenges as well as making recommendations for future research. Keywords: Adult learning; COVID-19; metaphor analysis; online learning; remote teaching.

Кога метафорите престават да бъдат метафори

The text examines the problem of metaphors and the extent to which their meaning can be considered conventional. First, Lakoff and Johnson's theory of conceptual metaphor is examined to show that metaphors define the way we think and perceive the world. Then, by means of Grice's theory of meaning, an attempt is made to show metaphors and their meaning as having pragmatic content depending on the context. Subsequently, Marmora's formula on social conventions is applied, which will help to show metaphors as arising from common acceptance and repetition of their meaning, to conclude that when metaphors are transformed into dead metaphors, society ceases to accept their meaning as metaphorical.

Analyzing the Rhetoric of the Aqsa Flood War (2023-2024): A Study of Hamas' Official Discourse through Conceptual Metaphor Theory and Critical Discourse Analysis

This research paper investigated the representation of the Aqsa Flood War (2023-2024) within the authorized discourse remarks of the Palestinian spokesman, Abu-Obaidah, by tackling the conceptual metaphor theory and the critical discourse analysis theory. All of the discourses released by Hamas over the first three months of the war were gathered and analyzed using Van Dijk’s critical discourse analysis theory and George Lakoff’s Conceptual metaphor theory. The two approaches were utilized to examine the connotation of Hamas' rambling speeches that were full of implied signification. The data were obtained from online videos of Abu-Obaidah discourses, and the transcripts were translated from the source language, Arabic, into English. The result indicated that many war themes were highlighted within the official remarks of Hamas like war rhetorical statements, war’s achievements, jihadists’ glorifications, implied / direct threats for the enemy, war justifications, and ongoing actions. Indeed, Hamas speeches project their ideologies showing the terrorism of the Israeli party and how they occupied their holy land.

Metaphor comprehension in the acquisition of Arabic.

Metaphors are key to how children conceptualise the world around them and how they engage socially and educationally. This study investigated metaphor comprehension in typically developing Arabic-speaking children aged 3;01-6;07. Eighty-seven children were administered a newly developed task containing 20 narrated stories and were asked to point at pictures that best illustrated the metaphoric expression. The results were examined through a mixed ANCOVA, testing the effects of chronological age, metaphor type (primary, perceptual) and metaphor conventionality (conventional, novel) on metaphor comprehension. Children could understand some metaphors just after their third birthday, and their comprehension increased with age. Children's performance was somewhat better on primary than perceptual, and much better on conventional than novel metaphors. These findings are discussed in light of conceptual metaphor theory (Lakoff & Johnson, 2008) and structure mapping theory (Gentner & Markman, 1997), confirming differences in the acquisition of different metaphor types.