A contrastive study of conceptual metaphors in english and vietnamese newspapers on social violence

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING

QUY NHON UNIVERSITY

NGUYỄN THỊ THANH XUÂN

A CONTRASTIVE STUDY OF
CONCEPTUAL METAPHORS
IN ENGLISH AND VIETNAMESE NEWSPAPERS
ON SOCIAL VIOLENCE
FIELD: English Linguistics
CODE: 8220201

Supervisor: HÀ THANH HẢI, Ph.D.


BỘ GIÁO DỤC VÀ ĐÀO TẠO

TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC QUY NHƠN

NGUYỄN THỊ THANH XUÂN

NGHIÊN CỨU SO SÁNH ĐỐI CHIẾU
PHÉP ẨN DỤ Ý NIỆM TRONG CÁC BÀI BÁO
••
TIẾNG ANH VÀ TIẾNG VIỆT VỀ BẠO LỰC XÃ HỘI
••••

Chun ngành: Ngơn ngữ Anh
Mã số: 8.22.02.01

Người hướng dẫn: TS. Hà Thanh Hải


1

STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP
I hereby confirm that the thesis entitled
A CONTRASTIVE STUDY OF CONCEPTUAL METAPHORS
IN ENGLISH AND VIETNAMESE NEWSPAPERS ON SOCIAL VIOLENCE

is submitted to complete fulfillment for my degree of master of English
Linguistics at Quy Nhon University and has not been submitted elsewhere in
any other form for the fulfillment of any other degree or qualification.
This thesis does not contain any materials which have been written by
another person except where referenced within the text.
September 2020

Nguyễn Thị Thanh Xuân


ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

First and foremost, I would like to express my appreciation to several
people for helping me through my master thesis. First of all, I would like to
express my deepest gratitude to my supervisor, Dr. Hà Thanh Hải, for his
continuous support and advice as well as his excellent guidance to help me
complete this thesis.
I would also like to take this opportunity to thank all the lecturers of my
master's course for their valuable lectures that help me cultivate and gain a
deep knowledge of linguistics and research skills.

In addition, I would like to thank my friends for their concern, love, and
moral support.
Special thanks from the bottom of my heart go out to my dear husband
who stayed beside me through all the stages of my study in the postgraduate
program and encouraged me to finish this thesis.
Last but not least, some special words of gratitude go to my parents who
took care of my sons so that I could spend more time concentrating on my
thesis. I could not have finished this thesis without their continued supports
and encouragement that gave me strength and confidence to fulfill my dream.
September 2020

Nguyễn Thị Thanh Xuân

ABSTRACT
Conceptual metaphor, which is a cognitive device, reflects the way people


conceptualize the surrounding world. The capture of conceptual metaphors
plays a vital role in facilitating journalists to convey their information to
readers vividly and effectively. This is what prompted the present study. Based
on the cognitive perspective of Lakoff and John (1980, 2003), 176 samples
from four English newspapers and four Vietnamese ones were intentionally
collected to indicate how conceptual metaphors were employed as well as
compare the similarities and differences between English and Vietnamese
conceptual metaphors. This study aims to provide a comprehensive overview
of cognitive linguistics in general and analyze English and Vietnamese
conceptual metaphors collected from online newspapers regarding social
violence between a three-year period from the beginning of 2018 to August
2020 in particular. The result reveals that English and Vietnamese share many
conceptual metaphors in common while various features of the two cultures

still come into existence. All three types of conceptual metaphors comprising
structural, ontological, and orientational metaphors are found in the collected
data with the different frequency of occurrences and percentage. The finding
also indicate that the English media writers tend to use more conceptual
metaphors than the Vietnamese ones. Despite the limitations of a small-scale
study and time shortage, the researcher does hope that the findings would shed
more light on the whole picture of conceptual metaphors.
Keywords: Cognitive linguistics, conceptual metaphors, source domain, target domain,
structural metaphors, orientational metaphors, ontological metaphors, online newspapers,
social violence.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP ..................................................................i
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS..............................................................................ii
ABSTRACT.....................................................................................................iii


TABLE OF CONTENTS .................................................................................iv
LIST
OF
TABLES
..........................................................................................................................
vii
LIST OF FIGURES........................................................................................viii
CHAPER 1:...................................................................................................... 1
INTRODUCTION............................................................................................ 1
1.1. Rationale...................................................................................... 1
1.2. Aim and Objectives .................................................................... 3
1.2.1. Aims of the Study ................................................................ 3

1.2.2. Objectives of the Study ........................................................ 4
1.3. Research questions ..................................................................... 4
1.4. Scope of the study....................................................................... 4
1.5. Significance of the study..............................................................4
1.6. Organization of the study ............................................................ 5
1.7. Summary ..................................................................................... 7
CHAPTER 2: ................................................................................................... 8
LITERATURE REVIEW ................................................................................. 8
2.1. Introduction to cognitive semantics ............................................ 8
2.1.1. Conceptual metaphor theory .............................................. 11
2.1.2. Classification of conceptual metaphors ............................. 22
2.2. Previous studies on conceptual metaphors ............................... 26
2.3. The online newspapers on social violence ................................ 30
2.3.1. Definition of violence and social violence ........................ 30
2.3.2. Online newspapers ............................................................. 31
2.4. Summary ................................................................................... 32
CHAPTER 3: ......................................................................................... 33
METHODS AND PROCEDURES.................................................................33
3.1. Research designs........................................................................33
3.2. Research methods ..................................................................... 33
3.3. Research procedures ................................................................. 34
3.4. Data collection and data analysis .............................................. 34
3.4.1. Data collection ................................................................... 34
3.4.2. Data analysis....................................................................... 36
3.5. Validity and reliability .............................................................. 37
3.6. Summary ................................................................................... 38
CHAPTER 4: ......................................................................................... 39
FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION.................................................................... 39
4.1. Metaphor in English newspapers on social violence ................ 39
4.1.1. Structural metaphors .......................................................... 39

4.1.2. Orientational metaphors ..................................................... 43
4.1.3. Ontological metaphors ....................................................... 45
4.2. Metaphor in Vietnamese newspapers on social violence .......... 53
4.2.1. Structural metaphors .......................................................... 53
4.2.2. Orientational metaphors ..................................................... 55
4.2.3. Ontological metaphors ....................................................... 56
4.3. The similarities between conceptual metaphors in English and
Vietnamese newspapers on social violence................................................ 61
4.4. The differences between conceptual metaphors in English and
Vietnamese newspapers on social violence.................................................68
4.5. Summary ................................................................................... 76
CHAPTER 5: ................................................................................................. 78
CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATION .......................................................... 78
5.1. Conclusions ............................................................................... 78
5.2. Implications .............................................................................. 80
5.3. Limitations ................................................................................ 81
5.4. Suggestions for further research................................................ 81
REFERENCES............................................................................................... 83


LIST OF TABLES

Table 4.1. The Occurrences and Percentages of Conceptual Metaphors in
English .......................................................................................................... 39
Table 4.2. The Occurrences and Percentages of Conceptual Metaphors in
Vietnamese Newspapers................................................................................ 53
Table 4.3. The Occurrences and Percentages of Conceptual Metaphors in
English and Vietnamese Online Articles ....................................................... 62

Table 4.4. The Conceptual Metaphors Sharing the Same Meaning in
English and Vietnamese Newspapers ............................................................ 67
Table 4.5. The Most Commonly Used Conceptual Metaphors in Both
Languages ..................................................................................................... 70
Table 4.6. The Differences of Same Conceptual Metaphors in English
and Vietnamese Newspapers ......................................................................... 74
Table 4.7. The Absence and Presence of Conceptual Metaphors in
English and Vietnamese Newspapers ............................................................ 74


LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 2.1. The mappings of conceptual metaphor ANGER IS FIRE .......... 15
Figure 2.2. The mappings of conceptual metaphor ANGER IS HOT FLUID IN
A CONTAINER ............................................................................................ 17
Figure 2.3. The mappings of conceptual metaphor LOVE IS A JOURNEY . 19
Figure 2.4. The Source-Path-Goal Schema in LOVE IS A JOURNEY......... 20
Figure 2.5. Metaphorical Relationship........................................................... 21
Figure 2.6. Metonymic Relationship ............................................................. 21
Figure 2.7. The Source and Target Domains of Ontological Metaphor ........ 24
Figure 3. Eight Online Articles in English and Vietnamese...........................35
Figure 4.1. The mappings of conceptual metaphor VIOLENCE IS A PLANT49
Figure 4.2. The mappings of conceptual metaphor A CRIMINAL RECORD
IS A BUILDING........................................................................61
Figure 4.3. The Total Conceptual Metaphors in English and Vietnamese Online
Newspapers................................................................................68
Figure 4.4. The Occurrences and Percentages of Ontological Metaphors in
English and Vietnamese Online Newspapers.Error! Bookmark
not defined.
Figure 4.5.The Occurrences of Structural Metaphors in English and
Vietnamese Online Newspapers .................................................70

1


2

As previously mentioned, metaphors are not only employed to be a figure
of speech in literature but also used to express the author's thought, experience,
and cognition about facts or events in nature, society, and the real world. More
specifically, metaphors are deeply embedded not only in daily use of language
but also in thought and action (Black et al., 1981). In the same way, Ungerer
and Schmid (1996) also believe that “everyday language is rife with
metaphorical expressions” (p. 116). To master metaphors used in the
newspaper, hence, has a pivotal role to comprehend the text. This study
attempts to facilitate a better insight of conceptual metaphors as well as to
provide a discovery of conceptual metaphors in newspapers on social violence
that decodes the language involving human thought about this topic, and
contribute to enhancing understanding the necessity of these metaphors in this
specific discourse. Moreover, the study helps to identify the similarities and
differences between English and Vietnamese cultures in the use of conceptual
metaphors.
1.6. Organization of the study
The study consists of five chapters as follows:
Chapter 1, Introduction, embraces the rationale for the research, the
aims, and objectives of the study that outlines the knowledge gap to produce
the research. Following this, the significance of the study is described in more
detail. The importance of metaphors and conceptual metaphors can be
recognized in this section. Another significance of this study is to make a
comparison of the use of conceptual metaphors between two languages,

English, and Vietnamese. And then, research questions are raised to meet the
aims and objectives of the study. Additionally, the organization of the study
gives a general overview of the structure of the paper.
Chapter 2, Literature Review and Theoretical Background, provides


3

readers with the fundamental knowledge of cognitive linguistics based on the
theoretical framework of Lakoff and Johnson (1980, 2003) and Kovecses
(2002, 2010). It comprises key terms and the categories for conceptual
metaphors analyzed in the study. Theoretical matters related to the study such
as definitions of cognitive semantics and conceptual metaphor theory. Some
metaphorical expressions are added to illustrate source and target domains, and
the relations holding between them. Extra information that distinguishes
conceptual metaphors from metonymies is included to support the process of
identifying metaphors easily. This thesis focuses on three main types of
conceptual metaphors that are made up of structural metaphors, orientational
metaphors, and ontological metaphors. The features of newspaper language are
also discussed in this chapter. After Theoretical Background, it continues to the
selective summary of the previous studies in the light of conceptual metaphors,
which inspire the author to conduct this research. That is, contrastive theses
from conceptual metaphors are categorized according to various researchers.
Chapter 3, Methods and Procedures, addresses the central elements of
research methods, and research procedures of the study, which are specific
plans on how the research is conducted. This contrastive study is conducted to
examine the conceptual metaphors employed in online news reports on social
violence in English and Vietnamese. In addition to quantitative and qualitative
methods, descriptive and comparative methods are chosen in order to explore
how the conceptual metaphors work in both languages. This chapter also

explains the choice of the source data and deals with the description of samples
and how the data are collected, described, and analyzed in detail. The data of
the study is accumulated from the authentic web pages in English and
Vietnamese. There are 90 online news reports in English and 86 ones in
Vietnamese with similar lengths (more than 47.000 words each). To ensure the


4

quality of the research, validity, and reliability are also included in this chapter.
Chapter 4, Findings and Discussion, is devoted to present the result of
data analysis. Findings of the study led by data presentation, interpretation, and
discussion, as well as the conclusion are placed in this chapter. The frequency
of occurrence, similarities and differences between these conceptual metaphors
are also intensively discussed. The typical conceptual metaphors on the topics
of social violence are selected to present in the finding. To demonstrate and
summarize the finding, we employ tables and figures with explanations.
Chapter 5, Conclusions, summarizes what has been learned from the
study containing the major findings. Although Lakoff and Johnson (1980,
2003) and others show the pervasiveness of metaphors in human
understanding, not many conceptual metaphors were found in this thesis's
corpora. Besides, the implications point out the contributions to the field of
cognitive semantics. Next, the limitations follow, resulting in the open avenues
for further studies. Then, the bibliography and appendices are appended at the
end of the thesis.
1.7. Summary
Violence is a significant social problem, which attracts the attention of the
whole community. Correspondents often deliberately exploit metaphors and
conceptual metaphors to produce special effects and vividly describe the
burning issues related to social violence. Metaphors or conceptual metaphors,

however, make us hard to perceive if we do not have sufficient background
knowledge.


CHAPTER 2:
LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1. Introduction to cognitive semantics
Cognitive linguistics is a powerful approach to structure the ultimate
concepts about the word that people bear in mind and experience. It
fundamentally focuses on the relation of language and mind, so it helps us
know how language is represented in the mind. As it is of great prominence in
our lives, it has become an influential approach in many fields like cognitive
science, social science, and applied linguistics (Evans, 2019a).
Cognitive Linguistics has begun to emerge since the second half of the
1970s in the work of the so-called founding fathers namely George Lakoff,
Mark Johnson, Ronald W. Langacker, and Leonard Talmy. Cognitive semantics
is said to be originated from cognitive linguistics and a part of the cognitive
linguistics movement. It mainly focuses on what language denotation is and
how the meaning of language is encoded (Nguyễn Hòa, 2004). The language in
cognitive semantics is considered as an effective tool for the purpose of
“organizing, processing, and conveying information” (Geeraerts & Cuyckens,
2007). Lyons (1995) believes that several theories have been developed in
accordance with cognitive semantics. Focusing on specific phenomena and
concerns, every linguist started developing their own approach to describe the
features of the language and linguistic theory. It must be emphasized that
Lakoff and Johnson (1980, 2003) made a breakthrough and laid the foundation
for new cognitive linguistics that is a fundamental part of human cognition.
Many linguists inspired from this perspective have continued researching for
over thirty years.
Since notable works on metaphor and metonymy of Lakoff (1981) and

Lakoff (1987) was launched, Lakoff has become the leading cognitivist (cited


from About Cognitive Linguistics of International Cognitive Linguistics
Association). Lakoff used to be a follower of Noam Chomsky; however, he
later became the most active critic of the school of Transformational
Generative Grammar. Although the generative grammarian took a keen interest
in knowledge of the language, cognitive linguists believed that there was a
mutual interaction between natural language and knowledge of the world
(Geeraerts & Cuyckens, 2007).
In addition to Lakoff and Johnson's theory, Langacker (1988) developed
the theory of Space Grammar and Cognitive Grammar (as cited in Evans,
2019b). By the mid to late 1980s, influenced by the views of Oswald Ducrot,
Fauconnier (1994) had developed a new theory called Mental Spaces. This
theory interestingly meshes both Langacker's (2008) Cognitive Grammar and
Lakoff's theory of Metaphor. Besides, Talmy (1985, 1988) engaged in the study
of linguistic imaging systems. He also determined that cognition is the main
feature of semantics (Nguyễn Hòa, 2004). In general, various theories shared a
common correlation of language in nature with people's cognition. Modern
cognitive linguistics comprises cognitive grammar and cognitive semantics
which was believed to have been originally derived from generative grammar
(Phan Thế Hưng, 2009).
According to Ungerer and Schmid (1996), there are three main
approaches to cognitive linguistics consisting of experiential view, prominence
view, and attentional view. While the prominence view is interested in the
allocation of information, the attentional view concerns what we express
attracts our attention. As its name indicates, the experiential view mainly
concentrates on experience that language users describe “in their minds when
they produce and understand words and sentences” (Ungerer and Schmid,
1996, p. xi). The characteristics that language users describe seem to reflect the

way he/she conceptualizes the surrounding world. Accumulated experience
which can be gained from the way we express our ideas is stored in our daily
communication. For example, the word “car” is defined as a 4- wheel motor
vehicle. When we talk about an object that looks like a car, we immediately
imagine a typical car stored in our minds. That is a box-like shape equipped
with doors, windows, steering wheels, acceleration, brakes, and seats for
drivers and passengers, and is driven by an engine. The experiential view can
be exemplified by the following sentence:
Our car has broken down.
In this case, our car does not really break down like the chair collapse
having its parts come into pieces or fragments. Because of a lack of vocabulary
concerned with automobile terminology and its operation, the knowledge of
chair or other equally familiar things collapsing is adopted to understand
effortlessly what happens when the car's engine suddenly stops working or
functioning. How ideas are expressed, hence, can be developed from our
shared experience of the concrete world around us.
In general, despite three individual points of view in cognitive linguistics,
most linguists working within this paradigm believe that linguistic knowledge
reveals human being's mental world and cognition. “Cognitive linguistics takes
an experiential view on conceptualization and meaning, observing that many of
our concepts are grounded in our experience, cultural and physical” (Lemmens,
2015, p. 4). Therefore, this thesis only pursues the framework of the
experiential view pointed out by Lakoff and Johnson (1980, 2003) and
Kovecses (2002, 2010).
In Vietnam, Lý Toàn Thắng and Trần Văn Cơ who are two among the
pioneers in bringing cognitive linguistics into Vietnam have pinpointed basic
aspects of cognitive linguistics in comparison with the traditional viewpoint of

metaphors. Both Lý Toàn Thắng (2005, 2008) and Trần Văn Cơ (2007), in fact,
in their books, give an introduction and a comprehensive picture of cognitive
linguistics from the world to Vietnam, which enlightens readers about all novel
notions in the field. And again, Trần Văn Cơ (2011) not only provides the
linguistic overview but also emphasizes the cultural coherence that plays a
crucial role in determining relations between language and thought.
2.1.1.
2.1.1.1.

Conceptual metaphor theory
Overview of conceptual metaphors
In literature, metaphors used to be defined as one of the rhetorical devices

to express effectively what writers want to convey their messages to the
audience. In Lakoff and Johnson's (1980, 2003) view, not only are metaphors a
linguistic ornament but it also is an essential process indicating the thinking
and explanation. Various definitions of metaphor have been proposed.
According to Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary 8th edition, metaphor is
defined as follows:
A word or phrase used to describe somebody/ something else, in a way
that is different from its normal use, to show that the two things have the
same qualities and to make the description more powerful.
Similarly, Lakoff and Johnson (1980) define metaphors as “understanding
and experiencing one kind of thing in terms of another” (p. 5). To gain a better
understanding of complicated or abstract things in view of more concrete or
simpler ones that we can relate to is called a conceptual metaphor. As Lakoff
(1987) and Johnson (1987) state, the use of conceptual metaphors will reason
the abstract concepts.
Besides, conceptual metaphors have linguistics manifestations that are

called metaphorical linguistics expressions (Kovecses, 2010, p. 63). Ungerer
and Schmid (1996, p. 116) state that “everyday language is rife with


metaphorical

expressions”.

Conceptual

metaphors

are

revealed

by

metaphorical linguistic expressions which are the lexical items or the linguistic
expressions of the source domain. Conceptual metaphors are not often directly
utilized in a sentence while the metaphorical expressions are in contrast. The
use of metaphorical expressions is to understand the target domain. Lakoff and
Johnson (2003) find that:
Since metaphorical expressions in our language are tied to metaphorical
concepts in a systematic way, we can use metaphorical linguistic
expressions to study the nature of metaphorical concepts and to gain an
understanding of the metaphorical nature of our activities. (p. 7)
The conceptual metaphor TIME IS MONEY (Lakoff & Johnson, 1980,
pp. 7-8) is an example of a metaphorical concept that structures what we do
and how we understand when we use the word “time”. Metaphorical

expressions in the following example sentences or phrases are italicized.
You're wasting my time.
This gadget will save you hours.
I don't have the time to give you.
How do you spend your time these days?
That flat tire cost me an hour.
I've invested a lot of time in her.
I don't have enough time to spare for that.
You're running out of time.
You need to budget your time.
Put aside some time for ping pong.
Is that worth your while?
Do you have much time left?
He's living on borrowed time.


You don't use your time profitably.
I lost a lot of time when I got sick.
Thank you for your time.
From now on, any conceptual metaphor-like TIME IS MONEY means a
metaphorical concept. The above exemplars show that time is a valuable
commodity. Because the time is typically connected to work, it gets familiar if
someone uses their time to get money. Therefore, time can be understood as
“the kind of thing that can be spent, wasted, budgeted, invested wisely or
poorly, saved, or squandered” (Lakoff & Johnson, 1980, p. 8). Metaphors make
it easier for us to visualize and apprehend the concept of time.
Conceptual metaphors that help us grasp one aspect of a concept in
connection with another appear to be so common in our ordinary language. In
reality, we use linguistic expressions everyday so much that we don't realize
they are metaphors. Kovecses (2010) claims: “metaphors that may have been

alive and vigorous at some point but have become so conventional and
commonplace with constant use that by now they have lost their vigor and
have ceased to be metaphors at all” (p. xi).
Because these metaphors are commonly used and can be easily
understood, they are so-called dead metaphors or conventional metaphors. To
demonstrate these metaphors, consider the two following examples:
. . . a local branch of this organization.
. . . cultivating business relationships that can lead to major accounts.
These metaphors originated from a part of a plant (branch) or an action to
prepare and use the land for growing plants (cultivating). Indeed, it is quite
easy for us to recognize that “branch” in this context is not a part of a plant;
however, it refers to a local office or factory that belongs to a larger
organization. In the second illustration, “cultivating” is not employed for


plants, but it means developing a business relationship.
According to Lakoff and Johnson (1980), conventional metaphors are
“metaphors that structure the ordinary conceptual system of our culture, which
is reflected in our everyday language” (p. 139). Look at the following sentence:
He is in trouble now.
Without realizing that a metaphorical conceptualization (a state as a
container) is being processed, the above expression can be understood easily.
Hence, Lakoff and Turner (1989) believe that conventional metaphors can be
employed in both cognitive and linguistic levels (as cited in Yu, 2013).
2.1.1.2.

Source domain, target domain, and mapping
In conceptual metaphor theory, metaphor is thought to conceptualize one

domain of experience in connection with another domain (Kovecses, 2015, p.

2). For the sake of clarity, the domain of experience which is typically more
common and better known is used to comprehend another domain which is
more abstract and less known. According to Lakoff and Johnson (1980, 2003),
the domain of experience is called the source domain and the other is called the
target domain. Understanding the domains implies understanding the
correspondences existing between the two domains. To put it in another way,
these domains are connected by a set of correspondences or mappings. They
are regarded as the relations between domains that are said to be mapped from
one domain, the source domain, onto the other domain, the target domain.
Take the ANGER IS FIRE metaphor (Kovecses, 2010, p. 235) as an
example.
After the row, he was spitting fire.


Smoke was coming out of his ears.
He is smoldering with anger.
She was fuming.
Boy, am I burned up!
A set of mappings is constituted as follows:
ThroughSource
these mappings,
expressions shown above can
domain the metaphorical
Target domain
the anger
be explained
why,
for instance,
spitting
fire, smoke was coming out,

the fire
the thing
on
the angry
smoldering,
indicate
intense
anger person
than merely burning with
fireand
thefuming
cause of
fire more■=>
■=> in
thethe
cause
of that
anger
anger. It isthe
thisintensity
systematic
set of mappings
sense
points out how two
of fire
■=>(target
the intensity
of anger
Figure
2.1.(source

The mappings
of and anger
domains,
fire
domain)
domain),
are connected. As a
IS FIRE
matter of fact, something takes place ual
thatmetaphor
causes aANGER
thing not
burning to burn.

The fire can burn at various degrees of intensity. Similarly, something happens
that causes the person not to be angry to become angry. The person is now in a
state of anger. The degree of anger is variable. From this demonstration, it can
be concluded that the way people think is largely metaphorical. In other words,
“the human conceptual system is metaphorically structured and defined.
Metaphors as linguistics expressions are possible precisely because there are
metaphors in a person's conceptual system” (Lakoff & Johnson, 1980, p. 6).
Following the Lakoff and Johnson's (1980) point of view, Lee (2001)
believes: “A metaphor is essentially a device that involves conceptualizing one
domain of experience in terms of another. Thus, for any given metaphor,


we can identify a source domain and a target domain” (p.
6). To make it simple, the source domain refers to relatively
concrete areas of experience while the target domain refers
to something more abstract. Take source domain as the

vertical dimension of physical space and target domain as
social status in the following examples:

He has a high reputation in the department.
He has just risen to deputy manager.
John occupies a relatively low position in the firm.
Kovecses (2010) makes similar claims on conceptual metaphors. As he
defines: “[T]he metaphorical expressions that characterize A is B formulas are
regarded as the linguistic realizations or manifestations of underlying
conceptual metaphors”. ANGER IS HOT FLUID IN A CONTAINER is
another exemplar of cognitive metaphors. The existence of this metaphor can
be revealed by the following expressions.
Simmer down!
Let him stew for a little while.
She was boiling with rage.
Steam was coming out of his ears.
A set of correspondences between the source domain (hot fluid in a
container) and the target domain (anger) can be suggested such as:
Source
the
highdomain
intensity of the heat
the heat of the fluid
the physical signals of the
the container
potential danger of the hot fluid

Target
■=>
the domain

high intensity of tl
■=> the anger
■=> the behavioral signals
■=> the body of the angry
potential danger of anger
a
person
keeping the fluid inside the container ■=>
controlling
anger, etc.of the
the high intensity
Figure 2.2. The mappings of conceptual metaphor
ANGER IS HOT FLUID IN A
anger
CONTAINER

The above metaphor explains how hot fluid in a container is used to
conceptualize the anger. “In this novel elaboration of the metaphor, an element
of the source is blended with an element of the target” (Kovecses, 2010, p.


309). This blend can be seen in the sentence Steam was coming out of his ears.
In the source, there is a container with a hot fluid inside, like a pot, which
produces steam when heated. In the target, there is a person who is getting
angrier and angrier, showing signs of losing control over anger. The steam
comes from the source, the head of a person with ears comes from the target.
There is neither steam in the target nor head with ears in the source.
Lakoff and Johnson (1980, 2003) state that human beings structure the
comprehension of their experiences in the world via conceptual metaphors.
They believe that conceptual metaphors are closely related to the culture

because “it is tied to our culture”. They create a new trend of language study in
which metaphor is utilized as a means in daily life and how language users
perceive the object world. Metaphors are no longer an ornamental device in
language but as an important conceptual tool that allows our deeper
understanding of complex scientific, political and social issues (Kovecses,
2010; Ungerer & Schmid, 1996).
Holding the same view of Lakoff and Johnson (1980, 2003), Kovecses
(2002, 2010) proposes the formula of conceptual metaphor “A IS B or A AS
B”. A and B are represented for two conceptual domains in which one
conceptual domain is understood in terms of the other conceptual domain. A
set of systematic correspondences, or mappings, is established to understand
the relations between the two domains.
This definition captures conceptual metaphors both as a process and a
product. The cognitive process of understanding a domain is the process aspect
of metaphor, while the resulting conceptual pattern is the product aspect. The
source domain provides vocabulary, and the target domain is a thing that we try
to understand. Conceptual metaphors involve a mapping of concepts from one
semantic domain to another domain. The mapping is established between the


source domain and the target domain. Let take LOVE IS A JOURNEY given
by Kovecses (2010, p. 6) as an illustration of conceptual metaphors.
Look how far we've come.
We're at a crossroads.
We'll just have to go our separate ways.
We can't turn back now.
I don't think this relationship is going anywhere.
Where are we?
We're stuck.
It's been a long, bumpy road.

This relationship is a dead-end street.
We're just spinning our wheels.
Our marriage is on the rocks.
We've gotten off the track.
This relationship is foundering.
Love is a complicated emotion that we have no direct way to
comprehend, so it is metaphorically expressed by making the use of the
journey which is remarkably familiar with us. That is to say, in the metaphor of
LOVE IS A JOURNEY, the source domain is a journey and the target domain
is love (Kovecses, 2002, 2010). The below mapping shows a strong connection
between these domains.


Source
domain
Target
decisions
about which way to go
■=>domain
choices about what to do the
the
travelersof the journey
destination

■=> the
the goal(s)
lovers of the relationship
■=>

the

vehicle
■=>metaphor
the loveLOVE
relationship
Figure
2.3. The mappings of conceptual
IS A JOURNEY Since
itselfin^events
in the
theand
journey
Lakoff
Johnson's work was published
1980, the
original ideas modified
the distance
covered
relationship
■=> the
by many
researchers
have been slightly
altered from
the progress
current conceptual
made1993; Barden, Wilson & Carston,
theMany
obstacles
encountered
theory.

different
scholars (Ortony,
■=> the difficulties
2006; Gibbs, 2008) have offered alternative
points of view to conceptual
metaphor theory. However, the theoretical framework of this thesis was mainly
focused on the cognitive theory of Lakoff and Johnson (1980, 2003) and the resummarized version of Kovecses (2002, 2010).
2.1.1.3.

Image schemas
Johnson (1987) defines that image schema is pre-conceptual based on

recurrent patterns of our everyday bodily and social experience. Kovecses
(2015) proposes that image schemas are composed of “container, part-whole,
source-path-goal, force, and resistance to force and others underlie many of our
concepts” (p. 35). For example, “in, out, and enter” are the concepts of
containers; “journey, arrive, travel, and leave” are the concepts of the sourcepath-goal schema; and “push, pull, resist, and emotion” are the concepts of the
force schema.
Taniguchi (2005) provides us with the image schema of source-path-goal
in the conceptual metaphor of LOVE IS A JOURNEY.

Figure 2.4. The Source-Path-Goal Schema in LOVE IS A JOURNEY