THE UNIVERSITY OF DANANG UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGE STUDIES NGUYỄN HOÀNG THỤC ANH A STUDY ON CONCEPTUAL METAPHORS IN ENGLISH AND VIETNAMESE OFFICIAL ELECTRONIC NEWSPAPERS MASTER THESIS IN LINGUISTICS AND CULTURAL STUDIES OF FOREIGN COUNTRIES Da Nang, 2021 THE UNIVERSITY OF DANANG UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGE STUDIES NGUYỄN HOÀNG THỤC ANH A STUDY ON CONCEPTUAL METAPHORS IN ENGLISH AND VIETNAMESE OFFICIAL ELECTRONIC NEWSPAPERS Major: ENGLISH LINGUISTICS Code: 8220201 MASTER THESIS IN LINGUISTICS AND CULTURAL STUDIES OF FOREIGN COUNTRIES SUPERVISOR: HUỲNH NGỌC MAI KHA, Ph.D Da Nang, 2021 i STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP Except where reference is made in the text of the thesis, this thesis contains no material published elsewhere or extracted in whole or in part from a thesis by which I have qualified for or been awarded another degree or diploma. No other person9s work has been used without due acknowledgements in the thesis. This thesis has not been submitted for the award of any degree or diploma in any other tertiary institution. Da Nang, July 2021 Nguyen Hoang Thuc Anh ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENT First and foremost, I would like to express my gratitude to my supervisors, Dr.
Ngoc Mai Kha Huynh and Dr. Giao Chi Le Thi, for their endless support and assistance. Without the aid of their expertise in drawing up the research questions and methodology, there is no likelihood that I finish this dessertation with ease. Their valuable insights into the issue and informative feedback encouraged me to enhance the framework for research and ỉmprove the quality of my work.
I would also like to acknowledge my parents who are always there for supporting me financially and emotionally. In addition, I am extremely thankful to my colleagues and my friends for their helpful advice and whole-hearted assistance. Without these people, I could not have completed this thesis successfully. iii ABSTRACT On an unconscious level, metaphor is pervasively used in our daily lives; its use may not always be recognized, but key factors such as source domain, target domain, and the mapping between them will be unearthed through in-depth analysis and contrastive comparison to uncover the use of conceptual metaphor in everyday life.
This study aims to find conceptual metaphors in official Electronic newspapers in English and Vietnamese and determine the metaphorical conceptualization process. Specifically, beyond the realm of culture, a comparative examination of Vietnamese and English metaphorical representations would be done entirely by determining the similarities and differences in the embodiment of those conceptual metaphors in English and Vietnamese Electronic newspapers. Based on the potential results, some further suggestions are made to aid the process of English teaching and learning, as well as the study of English and Vietnamese language. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP.
iii TABLE OF CONTENTS. iv LIST OF TABLES. AIMS OF THE STUDY. OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY.
SCOPE OF THE STUDY. DEFINITION OF TERMS. SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY. ORGANIZATION OF THE STUDY.
CONCEPTUAL METAPHOR THEORY. Classification of Conceptual Metaphors. Conceptual Metaphor Domain. METHODS OF THE STUDY.
DATA COLLECTION AND DATA ANALYSIS. VALIDITY AND RELIABILITY. CONCEPTUAL METAPHORS IN ENGLISH AND VIETNAMESE ELECTRONIC NEWSPAPERS. CONCEPTUAL METAPHORS IN ENGLISH ELECTRONIC NEWPAPERS.
SICKNESS AND DEATH ARE DOWN/ HEALTH AND LIFE ARE UP. LESS IS DOWN/ MORE IS UP. HAPPY IS UP/ SAD IS DOWN. HIGH STATUS IS UP; LOW STATUS IS DOWN.
FORESEEABLE FUTURE EVENTS ARE UP (and AHEAD). HAVING CONTROL or FORCE IS UP. SPORT IS WAR. DISEASE IS WAR.
ARGUMENT IS WAR. BUSINESS IS WAR. IDEAS ARE FOOD. UNDERSTANDING IS SEEING.
CREATION IS BIRTH. TIME IS MONEY. IDEA IS AN ENTITY. ILLNESS IS AN ENTITY.
EMOTIONAL EFFECT IS AN ENTITY. TIME IS AN ENTITY. SPORT IS AN ENTITY. ABUSE IS AN ENTITY.
ECONOMY IS AN ENTITY. LIFE IS AN ENTITY. PHYSICAL AND EMOTIONAL STATES ARE ENTITIES WITHIN A PERSON. TIME IS A CONTAINER.
CONCEPTUAL METAPHORS IN VIETNAMESE ELECTRONIC NEWPAPERS. LESS IS DOWN/ MORE IS UP. HIGH STATUS IS UP; LOW STATUS IS DOWN. SPORT IS WAR.
BUSINESS IS WAR. DISEASE IS WAR. LIFE IS A JOURNEY. CREATION IS BIRTH.
IDEAS ARE BUILDINGS. ECONOMY IS PLANT. UNDERSTANDING IS SEEING. TIME IS MONEY.
ILLNESS IS AN ENTITY. IDEA IS AN ENTITY. FOOTBALLERS ARE MACHINES. ECONOMY IS AN ENTITY.
TIME IS AN ENTITY. LIFE IS AN ENTITY. TIME IS A CONTAINER. AN ANALYSIS OF COMPARISON AND CONTRAST IN ENGLISH AND VIETNAMESE ELECTRONIC NEWPAPERS.
Comparison and Contrast between Orientational Metaphors. Similarities between Orientational Metaphors. Differences between Orientational Metaphors. Comparison and Contrast between Structural Metaphors:.
Similarities between Structural Metaphors. Differences between Structural Metaphors. Comparison and Contrast between Ontological Metaphors. Similarities between Ontological Metaphors.
Differences between Ontological Metaphors. IMPLICATIONS FROM THE RESULTS. LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY AND SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH .94 REFERENCES SOURCES OF DATA APPENDIX viii LIST OF TABLES Number Name of tables Page of tables 2. Structural correlations of RATIONAL ARGUMENT as WAR 15 2.
Ontological correspondences of INFLATION as AN ENTITY 18 2. Mappings of LOVE as A JOUNRNEY 20 3. List of official E-newspapers used in the study 25 4. Orientational Metaphors in English E-newspapers 28 4.
Structural metaphors in English E-newspapers 34 4. Structural correlations of SPORT as WAR 38 4. Structural correlations of DISEASE as WAR 44 4. Structural correlations of ARGUMENT as WAR 47 4.
Structural correlations of BUSINESS as WAR 49 4. Structural correlations of IDEAS as FOOD 51 4. Structural correlations of UNDERSTANDING as SEEING 53 4. Structural correlations of CREATION as BIRTH 54 4.
Ontological metaphors in English Electronic newspapers 55 4. Structual metaphors in Vietnamese Electronic newspaper 64 Structural correlations of SPORT as WAR in Vietnamese E- 4. 66 newspapers Structural correlations of BUSINESS as WAR in Vietnamese E- 4. Structural correlations of DISEASE as WAR 69 4.
Structural correlations of LIFE as JOURNEY 71 4. Structural correlations of CREATION as BIRTH 73 4. Structural correlations of IDEAS as BUILDINGS 74 4. Structural correlations of ECONOMY as PLANT 75 ix Number Name of tables Page of tables 4.
Structural correlations of UNDERSTANDING as SEEING 76 4. Ontological metaphors in Vietnamese Electronic newspapers 78 Comparison and contrast between orientational metaphors in 4. 82 English and Vietnamese Comparison and contrast between structural metaphors in 4. 85 English and Vietnamese Comparison and contrast between ontological metaphors in 4.
87 English and Vietnamese Conceptual metaphors in English and Vietnamese Electronic 4. 90 newspaper 1 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1. RATIONALE In recent decades, metaphor, obviously, is a universal phenomenon which intrigues all humankind in myriad ways. However, it used to be perceived only as a rhetorical device 3 a secret weapon possessed mostly by poetic geniuses.
As one of the earliest philosopher of this original metaphor, Aristotle primarily characterized metaphor on the grounds of analogy as four different kinds, which above all bring the pleasant knowledge to the world. Another pioneering study on metaphor, by one of the most influential cognitive linguist and philosopher George Lakoff and the assistant professor Mark Turner (1989), also centers around poetry. Significantly, this intensive research aims at providing readers better comprehension of the role of metaphor in poetry. Clearly, it is unusual to find any poetry without the use of metaphor.
To give a clear example of the way metaphors add texture and beauty to a dry description, the following poem named <Hope Is the Thing with Feathers= by Emily Dickinson is taken into consideration: <Hope is the thing with feathers That perches in the soul, And sings the tune without the words, And never stops at all." A metaphorical description of hope as a bird singing in the soul transfers the poet9s experience of <hope=. The readers will come to the thought that hope is something like a bird. A hope with feathers can be related to a notion that it can fly anywhere and offer you to fly away to a new beginning. However, metaphor goes beyond just comprehension and demonstration.
As a substitute for the oudated concept, metaphor is not just a matter for poetic geniuses but a both linguistic and cognitive issue to human beings. This original theory was formulated by George Lakoff and Mark Johnson (1980). They noticed that metaphors 2 are used to describe not only a similarity between two ideas, but also the entire conceptual domain behind the idea through the conceptualisation process, which forms conceptual metaphor. Above all, since metaphor is pervasively used in our everyday life on an unconscious level, its use may not always be recognized but under profound analysis and contrastive comparison, key factors like source domain, target domain and the mapping between them will be unearthed to find out the conceptual metaphor use in everyday life.
One noticeable subject of research interest is the language of journalism. As known, newspapers are an indispensable part of modern civilization since all kinds of information related to a variety of topics such as health, economy, politics, entertainment, events and so on are highly concerned. Therefore, to linguists and language learners, newspapers are a valuable source of natural language data. And news discourse without exception provides an abundance of research on metaphor.
Some below instances of conceptual metaphor are picked out from The Vietnamnet, an official E-newspaper to highlight this viewpoint. <Thương trường nhiÃu khi chẳng khác gì chiến trường và là n¢i chāng kiÁn những cuộc đấu không có hồi kết giữa các đối thủ truyền kiếp nh° Coca-Cola và Pepsi hay McDonalds và Burger King&= <SÁn phÁm này nhanh chóng t¿o sāc hút và chiếm lĩnh thị tr°ång <fast food burger= (burger ăn nhanh) truyÃn tháng ván đang đ°ợc thống trị bçi ba ông lãn McDonald9s, Burger King và Wendy9s.= As can be seen, <chiến trường= (battlefield) is used to depict the image <thương trường= (market). All phrases cuộc chiến không có hồi kết, đối thủ truyền kiếp, chiếm lĩnh, thống trị, chiến trường present the notion that the market is where businessmen - soldiders trying to achieve targets in a competitive and even hostile environment with insufficient resources through agencies. Here the concept of <th°¢ng tr°ång= is regarded as the target domain which are defined through the conceptualisation process of mapping from the source domain <chiÁn tr°ång=.
This ontological metaphor <TH¯¡NG TR¯äNG LÀ CHIÀN TR¯äNG= underlies the 3 above linguistic expressions, which makes two distinctive image become consistent on some aspects of meaning. Moreover, Pham Thi Thanh Thuy (2017) has analysed 15 Vietnamese business articles and found out some economic metaphors through mapping process such as NÂN KINH TÀ LÀ C¡ THÄ SàNG, KINH TÀ LÀ HO¾T ĐàNG MANG TÍNH VÀT LÝ, HO¾T ĐàNG KINH TÀ LÀ PHÀN ĀNG TRONG THIÊN NHIÊN. Additionally, a cross-cultural issue arises as to a cultural distinction between metaphor concepts. As can be clearly seen, Emily Dickinson made use of <bird= as the image of <hope= to expose the desire for freedom, which stems from the Biblical story of Noah and the ark.
After forty days on the water, Noah wants to know whether there is a place to land where life can start again. He sends a dove out to search. Then she returns with an olive branch giving hope to Noah that life can begin. As the result, the bird becomes eternally pertain to the spirit of hope.