An investigation into cognitive expressions containing heaven in english and vietnamese son

THE UNIVERSITY OF DANANG
UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGE STUDIES

NGUYỄN ĂYUN THÙY MY

AN INVESTIGATION INTO COGNITIVE
EXPRESSIONS CONTAINING “HEAVEN” IN
ENGLISH AND VIETNAMESE SONGS

Major: ENGLISH LINGUISTICS
Code: 822 02 01

MASTER THESIS IN
LINGUISTICS AND CULTURAL STUDIES OF FOREIGN
COUNTRIES

Da Nang, 2020


THE UNIVERSITY OF DANANG
UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGE STUDIES

NGUYỄN ĂYUN THÙY MY

AN INVESTIGATION INTO COGNITIVE
EXPRESSIONS CONTAINING “HEAVEN” IN ENGLISH
AND VIETNAMESE SONGS
Major: ENGLISH LINGUISTICS
Code: 822 02 01

MASTER THESIS IN

LINGUISTICS AND CULTURAL STUDIES OF FOREIGN
COUNTRIES

SUPERVIOR: NGUYỄN THỊ HUỲNH LỘC, Ph.D.

Da Nang, 2020


i

STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP
I certify that the present thesis “An investigation into cognitive expressions
containing “heaven” in English and Vietnamese songs” is my own work.
This thesis has not been submitted for the award of any degree of diploma in
any other institutions.

Da Nang, April, 2020

NGUYỄN ĂYUN THÙY MY


ii

ABSTRACT
My study examines the cognitive expression containing the word “heaven” in
English and Vietnamese songs. In addition, the research analysis throughout the
whole songs which plays an important role in understanding the meaning of songs
that the author want to say to. The concept of “heaven” is also considered as one of
the abstract entity having close relations with cognition. Therefore, this paper

attempts to conduct a contrastive analysis research of cognitive expressions of
“heaven” in English and Vietnamese. This paper chooses the quantitative and
qualitative approaches throughout the study to achieve the purpose. The source of
data will be taken from 266 songs composed by English and Vietnamese
composers.The data can be restricted to the scope of analyzing the cognitive
expressions containing “heaven” songs, not in other forms of art such as poetry,
literature or films. And there are approximately 298 cognitive expressions of
“heaven” collected from American and Vietnamese songs. The findings presented
eighteen target domains which occur in cognitive expressions of “heaven” in
American, Vietnamese, or both. To achieve the research aims and objectives the
study tries to answer two questions that are how do the cognitive expressions
containing “heaven” relate to the image of “heaven” in English and Vietnamese
songs? and what are the similarities and differences of cognitive expressions
containing “heaven” in English and Vietnamese songs?
However, fifteen cognitive expressions containing the word “heaven” occurs
in English while there remains some cognitive expressions of “heaven” that occur in
Vietnamese but not in English.

Based on the findings of the thesis, some

implications for teaching, learning and translating of conceptual metaphors will be
suggested. Furthermore, this thesis is useful for Vietnamese learners of English to
be successful in cross - cultural communication.


iii

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Statement of authorship ........................................................................................... i
Abstract ..................................................................................................................... ii

List of abbreviation ...................................................................................................v
List of tables ............................................................................................................ vii
List of figures ......................................................................................................... viii
Chapter One INTRODUCTION .............................................................................1
1.1. RATIONALE ...................................................................................................1
1.2. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES ..............................................................................3
1.2.1. Aims ..........................................................................................................3
1.2.2. Objectives ..................................................................................................3
1.3. RESEARCH QUESTIONS ..............................................................................3
1.4. SCOPE OF THE STUDY ................................................................................3
1.5. ORGANIZATION OF THE STUDY ..............................................................4
Chapter

Two

LITERATURE

REVIEW

AND

THEORETIAL

BACKGROUND .......................................................................................................5
2.1. LITERATURE REVIEW .................................................................................5
2.2. THEORETICAL BACKGROUND .................................................................7
2.2.1. The definition of heaven and paradise ......................................................7
2.2.2. Metaphor .................................................................................................11
2.2.3. Classification of cognitive metaphors .....................................................13
2.2.4. Metaphor mappings .................................................................................16

2.2.5. Summary .................................................................................................22
Chapter Three RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY .....................23
3.1. RESEARCH DESIGN ...............................................................................23
3.2. RESEARCH METHODS ...........................................................................23
3.3. DATA COLLECTION ...............................................................................23
3.3.1. Research sampling...................................................................................24
3.3.3. Research Procedure .................................................................................25


iv

3.4. DATA ANALYSIS ........................................................................................25
3.5. RELIABILITY AND VALIDITY .................................................................25
Chapter Four FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS ................................................26
4.1. COGNITIVE EXPRESSIONS CONTAINING “HEAVEN” IN ENGLISH
AND VIETNAMESE SONGS..............................................................................26
4.1.1. FIRE IS HEAVEN ..................................................................................26
4.1.2. LOVE IS HEAVEN ................................................................................27
4.1.3. GLORY IS HEAVEN .............................................................................30
4.1.4. SKY IS HEAVEN ...................................................................................34
4.1.5. GOD IS HEAVEN ..................................................................................36
4.1.6. DREAM IS HEAVEN ............................................................................38
4.1.7. FREEDOM IS HEAVEN ........................................................................40
4.1.8. PEACE IS HEAVEN ..............................................................................42
4.1.9. DEATH IS HEAVEN .............................................................................43
4.1.10. WINDOW IS HEAVEN .......................................................................45
4.1.11. ROAD IS HEAVEN..............................................................................45
4.1.12. MEMORY IS HEAVEN .......................................................................46
4.1.13. LOVER IS HEAVEN............................................................................47
4.1.14. PLANT IS HEAVEN ............................................................................48

4.1.15. HOMELAND IS HEAVEN ..................................................................49
4.1.16. LIFE IS HEAVEN ................................................................................49
4.1.17. HELL IS HEAVEN ...............................................................................50
4.1.18. AN IDEAL PLACE IS HEAVEN ........................................................51
4.2. SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES IN COGNITIVE EXPRESSIONS
CONTAINING “HEAVEN” IN ENGLISH AND VIETNAMESE SONGS. ......52
4.4. SUMMARY ...................................................................................................57
Chapter Five CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS ....................................59
5.1. CONCLUSIONS ............................................................................................59
5.2. IMPLICATIONS AND SUGGESTIONS ......................................................60


v

5.2.1. For Language Teachers and language Learners ......................................60
5.2.2. For translators and interpreters ................................................................62
5.2.3. For music fans .........................................................................................62
5.3. LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY .................................................................62
5.4. SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH...........................................63
REFERENCES ........................................................................................................64
QUYẾT ĐỊNH GIAO ĐỀ TÀI LUẬN VĂN (Bản Sao)
APPENDICES


vi

LIST OF ABBREVIATION

Cognitive Linguistics

: CL

Cognitive Metaphor

: CM(s)

CE

: Cognitive expression(s)

Source domain

: SD

Target domain

: TD

(+)

: Available

(-)

: Not available


vii

LIST OF TABLES

Number

Name of Table

Page

1.1

Summary of Definition of Heaven

6

3.1

Names and websites of Electronic Newspapers

23

4.1

CMs expressing FIRE IS HEAVEN

27

4.2

CMs expressing LOVE IS HEAVEN

29

4.3

CMs expressing GLORY IS HEAVEN

33

4.4

CMs expressing THE SKY IS HEAVEN

36

4.5

CMs expressing GOD‟S HOME IS HEAVEN

38

4.6

CMs expressing DREAM IS HEAVEN

40

4.7

CMs expressing FREEDOM IS HEAVEN

42

4.8

CMs expressing PEACE IS HEAVEN

43

4.9

CMs expressing DEATH IS HEAVEN

45

4.10

CMs expressing WINDOW IS HEAVEN

45

4.11

CMs expressing ROAD IS HEAVEN

46

4.12

CMs expressing PLANT IS HEAVEN

49

4.13

Summary

of

cognitive

of

Heaven

in

English

53

The number of song and word in English and Vietnamese

55

and Vietnamese songs
4.14

songs
4.15

Summary of cognitive Metaphors of Heaven in Vietnamese
and English songs

59


viii

LIST OF FIGURES
Number

Name of Figure

Page

2.1

Metaphorical mapping

19

4.1

The frequency of "thiên Đƣờng" and "thiên Đàng" in

56

Vietnamese songs
4.2

The frequency of "heaven" and "paradise" in English

56

songs
4.3

The number of kinds of music in English and
Vietnamese songs

57


1

Chapter One
INTRODUCTION
1.1. RATIONALE
Nowadays, a new trend in linguistics that influences language studies is
cognitive linguistics. In light of linguistics, the understanding of one idea, or
conceptual domain in term of another is cognitive metaphor. In Lakoff‟s point of
view “A conceptual domain can be any coherent organization of human experience”.
Cognitive has seen in our daily languages shape not just only our communication but
also our thought and action. This field emphasizes the importance of cognitive in
language, and it is also considered an essential and indispensable phenomenon in
both language and thinking. Cognitive linguistics study language for it serves, and
how the language system realizes these functions.
Besides, we could find the cognitive expressions in cognitive view in
literature, in our everyday life and in music. It seems undeniable that music is one
of the greatest creation human kinds in history. It is creativity in pure and undiluded
form of art.
In addition, music is a crucial element of everyday life. It is not only a way of

expressing our feeling and emotions but also a way to escape which gives us a relief
in pain, help us calm down or excites us with joy. In short, it touches our feeling
and enriches our mind. In fact, there has been a body of research on CM such as
CM of time, life, love, war, homeland, senses, etc. However, the cognitive
expressions containing “heaven” in English and Vietnamese songs commonly used
with high frequency has not been investigated yet. According to the Cambridge
Dictionary (1884) the definition of “heaven” is that “where God or the gods live and
where good people are believed to go after they die, so that they can enjoy perfect
happiness”.


2

Practically, the expressions of “heaven” in the English and Vietnamese songs
make auditors both interested and confused, sometimes cause to misunderstand in
approaching or expressing the ideas in people‟s daily life, such as the following
expressions of “heaven” in the songs.
I‟m on the wrong side of heaven and the righteous side of hell

(1.1)

I‟m on the wrong side of heaven and the righteous side of hell [184]
(1.2)

he came from an island
And he died from the street
And he hurt so bad lke a soul breaking
But say hello to heaven, heaven, heaven

(1.3)

[171]

Open up the doors of heaven, let me in
I think I‟m finally tired of living, let me in
I‟m gonna walk in the glory and tell everyone my story

[287]

Những sớm mai lửa đạn

(1.4)

Những máu xƣơng chập chùng
Xin cho một ngƣời vừa nằm xuống
Thấy bóng thiên đường cuối trời thênh thang

[45]

For these reasons, I would like to conduct the study which titles “An
investigation in cognitive expressions containing “heaven” in English and
Vietnamese songs”. Last but not least, I hope the research will help Vietnamese
learners of English apply the appraisal theory to English teaching, learning and
translating and contribute to some extent to the development of cognitive
linguistics.


3

1.2. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

1.2.1. Aims
The research aims at identifying cognitive expressions containing “heaven” in
term of metaphor in English and Vietnamese songs and investigating how the image
of “heaven” is expressed in the view of cognitive linguistics. The research aims at
discovering the differences and similarities in cognitive of metaphorical expressions
containing “heaven” in English and Vietnamese songs. In addition, the purpose of
this study is to seek how culture affects cognitive of metaphorical expressions
containing “heaven” in two languages.

1.2.2. Objectives
To achieve the aims at:
- Identifying cognitive expressions containing “heaven” in English and Vietnamese
songs.
- Finding out the similarities and differences of the image of cognitive expressions
containing “heaven” in English and Vietnamese songs in the cognitive view.

1.3. RESEARCH QUESTIONS
To achieve the research aims and objectives mentioned above, this study tries
to answer the following questions:
1. How do the cognitive expressions containing “heaven” relate to the image
of “heaven” in English and Vietnamese songs?
2. What are the similarities and differences of cognitive expressions
containing “heaven” in English and Vietnamese songs?

1.4. SCOPE OF THE STUDY
Due to the limited time, the study will only examine the cognitive expressions
containing “heaven” in English and Vietnamese songs. Besides, the researcher will
only concentrate on the similarities and differences of the expressions containing
“heaven” in these two languages.

4

1.5. ORGANIZATION OF THE STUDY
The study consists of five chapters as follows:
Chapter 1, Introductions, presents the rationale, the aims, the objectives and
the significance of the study. It is also devoted to the presentation of the research
questions, the scope and the organization of the study.
Chapter 2, Literature review and Theoretical background, provides us with
fundamental knowledge of cognitive expression. Theoretical matters related to the
study such as definition of cognitive linguistics.
Chapter 3, Research design and Methodology, mentions the methods and
procedures of the research. This chapter also deals with the description of the
samples and how the data are collected, described and analyzed.
Chapter 4, Finding and Discussion, firstly focuses on analyzing and discussing
the metaphorical expressions in Vietnamese and English songs expressions referring
to the image of “heaven”. Secondly, this chapter also compares the similarities and
differences in conceptual metaphors of “Heaven” songs. Finally, this study gives
some influence of culture of “heaven” in two languages.
Chapter 5, Conclusions and Implications, summarizes the results and suggests
implications for learning, teaching and translating conceptual metaphors of
“heaven” in Vietnamese and English songs.


5

Chapter Two
LITERATURE REVIEW
AND THEORETIAL BACKGROUND

This chapter includes two sections: Literature review and theoretical background.

2.1.

LITERATURE REVIEW
Up to now, many researchers have examined cognitive linguistics and

metaphor in general and CM in particular. CM or conceptual metaphor, was first
extensively developed by Lakoff and Johnson (1980) in their seminal study:
Metaphors We Live By. In this book, a new view of metaphor, known as the
cognitive linguistic view of metaphor, was showed in details with five new features.
This view provides new insights into how certain linguistic phenomena work, such
as polysemy and the development of meaning. It can also shed new light on how
metaphorical meaning emerges.
Another interesting book by George Lakoff (1992) about metaphor is “The
Contemporary of Metaphor”. In his book, Lakoff 1992) had pointed out that the
generalizations governing poetic metaphorical expressions are not in language but
in thought. They are general mapping across conceptual domains.
From Lakoff and Tuner‟s point of view (1989) in the book “More Than Cool
Reason” and “The Field Guide to Poetic Metaphor”, they had analyzed some
specific concepts in language as love, life, death and time.
Besides, Kovecses (2000) is known as a remarkable name among the research
investigating CM with his authoritative books Metaphor in Culture: University and
Variation and Metaphor: A Practical Introduction.
Additionally, a metaphorical book names “A Practical Introduction, Second
Edition”, was written by Kovecses (2010). In this book, Metaphor from the


6

cognitive perspectives were discussed in the theoretical background from the works
of Lakoff.
Moreover, The book, “The Cambridge Handbook of Metaphor and Thought”,
Raymond Gibbs (2008) is the most comprehensive and authoritative collection of
essays on metaphor and an excellent survey of the view of metaphor developed by
Lakoff and Johnson and other Raymond Gibbs (1994), “The poetics of Mind”; this
work also discusses a great deal of psychological widence supporting the cognitive
linguistic view of metaphor.
Generally, these linguists provide us with an overall picture of theoretical
background for investigating language in use.
Cognitive linguistic in Vietnamese, though started later with only mỏe than a
decade development, has made some contribution to the development ò cognitive
linguistic with the researches Phan Thế Hƣng (2007) “Ẩn dụ Ý niệm” and Trần Văn
Cơ (2009) “Khảo luận Ẩn dụ Tri nhân”.
Phan Thế Hƣng (2007) makes a general review on the theory of conceptual
metaphors by Lakoff and Johson in his article “Ẩn Dụ Ý Niệm”.
In “Ngơn Ngữ Học Tri Nhận- Từ Lí Thuyết Đại Cương Đến Thực Tiễn Tiếng
Việt”, Lý Toàn Thắng (2005) gives an introduction to cognitive linguistics and
explains the differences in world image, discusses anthropocentric principles,
figure, ground relationship, cognitive maps as well as others aspects in cognitive
metaphor system.
Besides, in the book “Khảo luận Ẩn dụ Tri nhận”, Trần Văn Cơ (2009)
considered as a Vietanmese translational version of “Metaphor We Live By” by
Lakoff and Johson. It aslo dicscovers the main point in lakoff and johsnon‟s
profound and decide idea on Cm
Besides, investigation in the field of cognitive metaphor has been made by
several linguistics including Nguyễn Thị Việt (2015) has already finished a general


7

view on the theory of cognitive metaphors by Lakoff and Johnson in her article “A
study of cognitive metaphors denoting the concept of “Homeland” in Trịnh Công
Sơn and Bob Dylan’s songs”; Trần Thị Thảo Miên (2015) conducted “A study on
loss and gain in meaning in the English translations of cognitive metaphors
expressing the notion of “self” in Trịnh Cơng Sơn’s songs”; Hồng Nguyễn Tôn
Ngân (2014) also conducted “A study on cognitive metaphors denoting the concept
of “life” in lyric songs in English versus Vietnamese” and Nguyễn Thị Hồng Mến
(2014) did a research “A study on cognitive metaphors denoting the concept of
“war” and “peace” in anti-war song in English and Vietnamese". Although
Vietnamese cognitive linguistics investigate CM later, they have contributed many
significant researches to the development of cognitive linguistics.
However, to the best of my knowledge, we have not been any studies that
conducted on cognitive expressions containing “heaven” in English and Vietnamese
songs in the cognitive view.

2.2. THEORETICAL BACKGROUND
2.2.1. The definition of heaven and paradise
2.2.1.1. Definition of “heaven”
From Oxford Advanced Learner‟s dictionary (1884) “heaven” is a noun
having both singular and plural form. Morphologically, it has one root morpheme
“heaven”. In terms of semantics, “heaven” is specific and frequently used “heaven”
is a polysemantic word, having at least eighth senses.
First, it is a proper noun. In some religions, “heaven” is said to be the abode of
God and the angels, the place or a state of communications with God where God
lives after death, where good people go when they die and where everyone is
always happy. It is usually imagined as being high up in the sky. It uses without
“the” as in:
For example 1: I believed that when I died I would go to heaven and see God.
For example 2: When I come to heaven, shall I be able to say to any there, Lord!

8

For example 3: the kingdom of heaven
Nếu một ngày có thiên đàng xuất hiện

(1.6)

Thì con đây là ngƣời đứng chót

[57]

For example 4: I feel like I've died and gone to heaven.
For example 5: Her voice seemed to come from a million miles away: To heaven.
Second, it is a countable noun or uncountable noun. You can use heaven to
refer to a place or situation that you like very much in other word it is a place or
situation in which you are very happy, as in:
For example 6: We went touring in Wales and Ireland. It was heaven.
For example 7: I was in cinematic heaven.
For example 8: This isn't exactly my idea of heaven!
For example 9: It was heaven being away from the office for a week.
Third, it is usually plural noun, the heavens are the sky, firmament, or space
surrounding the earth, as in:
For example 10: Four tall trees stretched up to the heavens
For example 11: He walked out into the middle of the road, looking up at the
heavens.
For example 12:
(1.5)

Mẹ Maria, mẹ là Nữ vƣơng thiên đàng

Mẹ Maria có trái tim hiền mẫu
Mẹ là mẹ chúng ta

[49]

According to Collins dictionary, the fourth tense, in any of various
mythologies, it also a place, such as Elysium or Valhalla, to which those who have
died in the gods' favor are brought to dwell in happiness, as in:
For example 13: She had created a little heaven from a sooty expanse between four
ugly chimneys.
The fifth tense used to describe that “heaven” is singular or plural and it is
sometimes capital denoting God or the gods, used in exclamatory phrases of
surprise, exasperation, etc. as in:


9

For example 14: for heaven's sake
For example 15: heavens above
Finally, it is the powers of heaven; also, God For Example 16: Heaven help you!
The sixth, according to (Cổ Việt, 2008) “heaven” is the fantasy world of souls that
do not make mistakes.
Ôi! Đâu phải qua đoạn đƣờng lửa bỏng, cuộc đời ta bỗng chốc hóa thiên đường.
(Tố Hữu)
Finally, Từ điển Tiếng Việt (1963) defines “thiên Đƣờng” as where the souls
who are deemed to have washed away sins and enjoy eternal ecstasy after death.
According to some religious beliefs it is also used to refer to the world imagining
happiness; opposition to hell as in:

For example 18: Go to the heaven
For example 19: Heaven city

2.2.1.2. The definition of paradise
Firts, it is also uncountable nound, a perfect place where people are said to go
when they die
For example 20: The ancient Egyptians saw paradise as an idealized version of their
own.
Second, it is countable, a place that is extremely beautiful and that seems
perfect, like heaven.
For example 21: A tropical paradise
Third, it is a perfect place for a particular activity or kind of person
For example 22: The area is a birdwatcher's paradise.
The Fourth, it is a state of perfect happiness
For example 23: Being alone is his idea of paradise.
They moved to the country hoping to find paradise.
The lost paradise of childhood
The finally, it is the Garden of Eden, where Adam and Eve lived.
For example 24: See also bird of paradise


10

In many religions, heaven is also a paradise because union with God gives
extremem happiness. Heaven is more spiritual, something that probably couldn't
even be imaged. In the literal sense, paradise is a perfect earthy word, free of
misery. Either can be used in metaphorical sense, and in fact, heaven probably has
wider metaphorical use that chocolate ice- cream is heaven!, so the study uses
paraside and heaven as synonym.
Table 1.1. Summary of Definition of Heaven

Noun

English meangings

Vietnamese Meanings

1. The abode of God and the 1. Thiên đàng
angels, the place or a state of 2. Những điều con ngƣời mong
communications with god where muốn đƣợc ví nhƣ
thiên đƣờng

God lives after death.

2. where good people go when 3. Quê hƣơng của Thiên
4. Chúa nơi những ngƣời tốt

they die
HEAVEN

3. a place or situation that you đi khi họ chết.
like

5. Một địa điểm hoặc tình

very much

huống mà bạn rất hạnh phúc

4. The heavens are the sky, 6. Bầu trời.
firmament, or space surrounding 7. một nơi, chẳng hạn nhƣ nơi

the earth a place, such as Elysium những ngƣời đã chết trong sự
or Valhalla, to which those who ƣu ái của các vị thần đƣợc đƣa
have died in the gods' favour are đến để sống trong hạnh phúc
8. Thần hoặc các vị thần, đƣợc

brought to do well in happiness

5.God or the gods, used in sử dụng trong các cụm từ cảm
exclamatory phrases of surprise, thán về sự ngạc nhiên , bực tức
exasperation
heaven

the

powers

of


11

2.2.2. Metaphor
2.2.2.1. Traditional Metaphor
Traditional metaphor or the study of metaphor can be traced back to scholars
from Aristotle to Richards (1936). In Aristotle‟s famous works Poetics, he gives his
definition of metaphor: “Metaphor is the application of an alien name by
transference either from genus to species, or from species to genus, or from species
to species, or by analogy, that is, proportion”.
Richards in his book The Philosophy of Rhetoric Proposes Interaction Theory
(1936) asserts that essence of metaphor lies in an interaction between a

metaphorical expression and the context in which it is used. Scholars if this time
holds that metaphor is merely a rhetoric phenomenon, a transference form one word
too another, and a device to enhance forcefulness and ornateness of expressions,
thus only those talented linguistic masters of writers can well manipulate.
Moreover, metaphor is typical viewed as characteristic of language alone, a matter
of words rather than thought or action. For this reason, most people think they can
get along perfectly without metaphor.

2.2.2.2. Modern Metaphor
Studies of metaphor have taken on an absolutely new look ever since 1980s,
evidenced by Metaphors We Live by collaborated by Lakoff and Mark Johnson
(1980) They found that metaphor is pervasive in everyday life, not just in language
but in thought and action. Our ordinary conceptual system, in term of which we
both think and act, is fundamentally metaphorical in nature. They pointed out false
assumptions in traditional views mentioned below:
- All everyday conventional language is literal, and none is metaphorical
- All subject matter can be comprehended literally, without metaphor.
- Only literal language can be contingently true or false.
- All definitions given in the lexicon of a language are literal, or metaphorical.


12

- The concepts used in the grammar of a language are tall literal, not are
metaphorical.

2.2.2.3. Cognitive linguistics
In Lakoff point of view (1987), “A practical Production”, branch of
linguistics that interprets language in term of the concepts, sometimes universal,
sometimes specific to a particular tongue which underlie its forms is Cognitive

linguistics (CL). It is thus closely associated with semantics but is distinct from
psycholinguistics, which draws upon empirical finding from cognitive psychology
to explain the mental processes that underlie the acquisition, storage, production and
understanding of speech and writing.

2.2.2.4. Cognitive metaphor
Cognitive metaphor has a secret relationship with cognitive which underlie its
forms is cognitive linguistics, so this is the reason why the cognitive theory is
employed to examine” cognitive expressions containing “heaven” in English and
Vietnamese songs.
In light of cognitive linguistics, cognitive metaphor (CM) is defined as the
understanding of one idea, or conceptual domain, in terms of another in light of
cognitive linguistics. Lakoff devotes a significant amount of time to current events
and political theory, suggesting that respected linguistics and theorists of cognitive
metaphor may tend to channel their theories into political activism.
Cognitive metaphors are seen in language in our everyday lives. Conceptual
metaphors shape not just our communication, but also shape the way we think and
act. In George Lakoff and Mark Johnson‟s work, Metaphors we live by (1980), we
see how everyday language is filled with metaphors we may not always notice.
The fundamental tenet of conceptual metaphor theory is that metaphor
operates at the level of thinking. Metaphors link two conceptual domains, the
“source” domain and the “target” domain. The source domain consists of a set


13

literal entities, attributes, processes and relationships, linked semantically and
apparently stored in the mind.
These are expressed in language through related words and expressions, which
can be seen as organized in groups resembling those sometimes described as

“lexical sets” or “lexical fields” by linguistics. The “target” domain tends to be
abstract and take is structure form the source domain, though the metaphorical link,
or conceptual metaphor. Target domains are therefore believed to have relationship
between entities, attributes and processes which mirror those found in the source
domain.

2.2.3. Classification of cognitive metaphors
To explain clearly, cognitive, or conceptual metaphors can be classified
according to the cognitive functions that they perform. According to Kovecses,
(2002) there are three kinds of cognitive metaphors which are structural metaphors,
ontological metaphors, and orientation metaphors:

2.2.3.1. Structural Metaphors
The source domain provides a relatively rich knowledge structure for the
target concept in this kind of metaphor. For example, the concept of time is
structured according to motion and space. Given the time is motion metaphor, we
understand time in term of some elements: physical objects, their location and their
motion.
There is a background condition that applies to this way of understanding
time: the present time is at the same location as a canonical observer. Given the
basis elements and the background condition, we get the following mappings:
Times are things
The passing of time is motion.
Future times are in front of the observer; past times are behind the observer.
One thing is moving, the other is stationary; the stationary thing is the deictic
center.


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The “time is motion” metaphor accounts for a large number of linguistic
metaphors in English. The mappings not only explain why the particular
expressions mean what they do but also provide a basic overall structure, hence
understanding, for our notion of time. Without the metaphor it would be difficult to
image what our concept of time would be.

2.2.3.2. Ontological Metaphors
According to Kovecses (2002), ontological metaphors provide much less
cognitive structuring for target concepts than structural ones do. We conceive of our
experiences in term of objects, substances, and containers, in general, without
specifying exactly what kind of object, substance, or container is meant. The
cognitive function of ontological metaphors merely give a new ontological status to
genal categories of abstact target concepts and brings about new abstact entities. For
example, we don not really know what the mind is, but we conceive it as an object.
By this way we can understand more about it. In this sense, we can have some
expressions such as:
My mind just isn‟t operating today
We‟re still trying to grind out the solution to this equation.
I‟m a little rusty today.
We can easily find out the metaphor THE MIND IS A MACHINE in the
above sentences thanks to our experience of physical objects.
There are some source and target domains for this kind of CM as follow:
Source domains
Physical object

Target domain
 nonphysical or abstract entitles (e.g.., the mind)
Events (e.g.., going to the race)
Actions (e.g.., giving someone a call)

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Substance

 activities (e.g.., a lot of running in the game)

Container

 undelineated physical objects (e.g.., a clearing in the forest)
Physical and nonphysical surfaces (e.g.., land areas, the
visual field)
States (e.g.., in love)

We can conceive personification as a form of ontological metaphor. In
personification, human qualities are given to nonhuman entities.

2.2.3.3. Orientational metaphors
According to Kovecses (2002), orientational metaphors provide event less
conceptual structure for target concepts than ontological ones. Their cognitive job is
to make a set of target concepts coherent in our conceptual system. The name
“orientational metaphors” derives from the fact that most metaphors that serve the
function have to do with basic human spatial orientations, such as up down, centerperiphery, and the like.
In this kind of metaphor, target concepts are conceptualized in a uniform
manner. For example, all the following concepts are characterized by “upward”
orientation, while their “opposites” receive a “downward” orientation.
MORE IS UP; LESS IS DOWN:
Speak up, please.
Keep your vice down, please.
HEALTHY IS UP; SICK IS DOWN:

Lazarus rose fro the dead.
He fell ill.
CONCSCIOU IS UP; UNCONSCIOUS IS DOWN: