Tài liệu The use of conceptual metaphors in children's healing stories

PEOPLE‘S COMMITTEE OF BINH DUONG PROVINCE THU DAU MOT UNIVERSITY NGUYEN THANH THAI THE USE OF CONCEPTUAL METAPHORS IN CHILDREN’S HEALING STORIES MASTER THESIS MAJOR: THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE CODE: 8 22 02 01 BINH DUONG - 2019 PEOPLE‘S COMMITTEE OF BINH DUONG PROVINCE THU DAU MOT UNIVERSITY NGUYEN THANH THAI THE USE OF CONCEPTUAL METAPHORS IN CHILDREN’S HEALING STORIES MASTER THESIS MAJOR: THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE CODE: 8 22 02 01 SUPERVISOR: NGUYEN HOANG TUAN, Ph.D. BINH DUONG - 2019 UBND TỈNH BÌNH DƢƠNG CỘNG HÒA XÃ HỘI CHỦ NGHĨA VIỆT NAM TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC THỦ DẦU MỘT Độc lập – Tự do – Hạnh phúc Bình Dương, ngày …… tháng …… năm 2019 NHẬN XÉT CỦA NGƯỜI HƯỚNG DẪN KHOA HỌC 1. Họ và tên học viên: Nguyễn Thành Thái Khoá: 2015-2017 2. Chuyên ngành: NGÔN NGỮ ANH Mã ngành: 8 22 02 01 3. Đề tài nghiên cứu: The Use of Conceptual Metaphors in Children’s Healing Stories 4. Họ và tên Ngƣời hƣớng dẫn khoa học: TS. Nguyễn Hoàng Tuấn 5. Nhận xét: (Kết cấu luận văn, xác định đề tài nghiên cứu, mục tiêu nghiên cứu, tổng quan lý thuyết, phương pháp nghiên cứu, kết quả nghiên cứu, thái độ làm việc của học viên,…) Bố cục luận văn hợp lý. Đề tài nghiên cứu phù hợp với mã ngành đào tạo. Mục tiêu nghiên cứu đƣợc xác định cụ thể: 1) khảo sát và thống kê, phân loại các ẩn dụ ý niệm trong các văn bản tiếng Anh; 2) xác định các biểu thức tiếng Anh đƣợc dùng để diễn đạt ý niệm. Cơ sở lí thuyết tƣơng đối đầy đủ, và liên quan đến đề tài. Phƣơng pháp nghiên cứu phù hợp. Kết quả nghiên cứu có giá trị thực tiễn, giúp hiểu rõ nội dung văn bản tiếng Anh và có nhiều ứng dụng trong phân tích văn bản, giảng dạy tiếng Anh, cũng nhƣ trong giao tiếp, giáo dục, điều chỉnh hành vi trẻ em thông qua ẩn dụ tiếng Anh. Học viên có khả năng nghiên cứu khoa học, khiêm tốn học hỏi và thực hiện nghiêm túc các công việc đƣợc giao. 6. Kết luận: Đồng ý cho học viên bảo vệ luận văn. Chữ ký của Ngƣời hƣớng dẫn (ghi rõ họ tên) STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP Apart from the references, this thesis does not contain any 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. This thesis has not also been submitted for the award of any degree or diploma in any other tertiary institution. Thus, I hereby certify my authority of the thesis submitted entitled ―The use of conceptual metaphors in children‘s healing stories‖ in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts. Binh Duong, February 2019 Nguyen Thanh Thai i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS To fulfill this thesis, I own great debt to my supervisor, my lecturers, and my family. I would like to express my sincere gratitude and appreciation to my supervisor, Dr. Nguyen Hoang Tuan, whose wisdom and interesting lectures has inspired me to conduct this thesis. His encouragement, guidance, patience, and support of material from the very initial stage to the final stage in accomplishing this thesis have been invaluable. I am greatly indebted to all my lecturers at Thu Dau Mot University for their endless enthusiasm and undeniable helpful lectures. I would be very grateful to the staff of the Post-graduate Department for their support during the time of studying. Last but not least, my warmest thanks are due to my family for their motivation and encouragement. To all of them, I dedicate this study. Binh Duong, February 2019 Nguyen Thanh Thai ii ABSTRACT This thesis is an attempt to analyze the conceptual metaphors used in children‘s English healing stories on the basis of the application of the conceptual metaphor theory proposed by Lakoff and Johnson (1980) in the hope that it provides more insights into the variable uses of conceptual metaphors. Through qualitative approach, the data for the analysis were collected from 99 English healing stories for children in Burns‘s (2005) book 101 healing stories for kids and teens: Using metaphors in therapy. After the data collection procedure, the thesis found out 176 linguistic samples that reveal the existence of 64 conceptual metaphors denoting 28 conceptual domains including anger, argument, bad, body, conscious/unconscious, control, death, emotion, family, fear, future events, good, happiness, heaven, human personalities, knowledge, life, marriage, mind, nature, purpose, relationship, respect, sadness, state, thought, time, and visual field. In addition, the results of the analysis of these 64 conceptual metaphors show that the conceptual metaphor contributes significantly to the understanding of the implicit meanings of the metaphorical linguistic expressions in the examined stories. As an illustration, in the examined stories, the abstract concept LIFE was found to be understood in terms of the knowledge we use to talk and reason about concrete concepts including A BUILDING, A CONTAINER, A GAMBLING GAME, A GAME, A JOURNEY, MONEY, and WAR. Based on these results of the analysis, the thesis suggests some implications for teaching English through metaphors, acknowledges several limitations of the thesis, and makes suggestions for further research. Key words: conceptual metaphor; conceptual domain; mapping; healing. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP ........................................................................ i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ................................................................................... ii ABSTRACT .......................................................................................................... iii TABLE OF CONTENTS ...................................................................................... iv LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................... vii LIST OF FIGURES............................................................................................. viii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ............................................................................... ix Chapter 1. INTRODUCTION .............................................................................. 1 1.1. Rationale ................................................................................................... 1 1.2. Objectives of the Study ............................................................................. 4 1.3. Research Questions ................................................................................... 5 1.4. Scope of the Study .................................................................................... 5 1.5. Significance of the Study .......................................................................... 5 1.5.1. In Terms of Theory ............................................................................. 5 1.5.2. In Terms of Practice ........................................................................... 6 1.6. Overview of the Thesis ............................................................................. 6 Chapter 2. LITERATURE REVIEW ................................................................... 7 2.1. Cognitive Linguistics ................................................................................ 7 2.2. Conceptual Metaphor ................................................................................ 8 2.2.1. Definition ............................................................................................ 8 2.2.2. Source Domain – Target Domain ..................................................... 12 2.2.3. Cross-Domain Mapping ................................................................... 16 2.2.4. Conceptual Metaphor Identification ................................................. 20 2.2.5. Classification of Conceptual Metaphor ............................................ 29 2.2.6. Metaphor Versus Other Figures ....................................................... 33 2.2.7. The Importance of Conceptual Metaphor ........................................ 34 2.3. Healing story ........................................................................................... 35 2.3.1. The Concept of Healing.................................................................... 35 iv 2.3.2. Healing Story .................................................................................... 38 2.4. Chapter Summary ................................................................................... 39 Chapter 3. METHODOLOGY ........................................................................... 41 3.1. Research Design ...................................................................................... 41 3.2. Sampling ................................................................................................. 41 3.3. Research Instrument ................................................................................ 42 3.4. Data Collection Procedures ..................................................................... 43 3.5. Data Analysis .......................................................................................... 44 3.5.1. Quantitative Analysis ....................................................................... 44 3.5.2. Qualitative Analysis ......................................................................... 44 3.6. Research Ethics ....................................................................................... 45 Chapter 4. FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS ................................................... 46 4.1. Conceptual Metaphors Used in Children‘s English Healing Stories ...... 46 4.2. Metaphorical Expressions Used to Reveal the Existence of Each Conceptual Metaphor Used in Children‘s English Healing Stories ....... 48 4.2.1. Conceptual Metaphors of Anger ...................................................... 48 4.2.2. Conceptual Metaphor of Argument .................................................. 49 4.2.3. Conceptual Metaphors of Bad .......................................................... 50 4.2.4. Conceptual Metaphors of Body ........................................................ 51 4.2.5. Conceptual Metaphors of Conscious and Unconscious ................... 52 4.2.6. Conceptual Metaphor of Control ...................................................... 52 4.2.7. Conceptual Metaphors of Death ....................................................... 53 4.2.8. Conceptual Metaphors of Emotion................................................... 54 4.2.9. Conceptual Metaphors of Family ..................................................... 57 4.2.10. Conceptual Metaphors of Fear ......................................................... 57 4.2.11. Conceptual Metaphor of Future Events............................................ 60 4.2.12. Conceptual Metaphors of Good ....................................................... 60 4.2.13. Conceptual Metaphors of Happiness ................................................ 62 4.2.14. Conceptual Metaphor of Heaven ...................................................... 64 4.2.15. Conceptual Metaphors of Human Personalities ............................... 64 v 4.2.16. Conceptual Metaphor of Knowledge ............................................... 67 4.2.17. Conceptual Metaphors of Life .......................................................... 68 4.2.18. Conceptual Metaphor of Marriage ................................................... 71 4.2.19. Conceptual Metaphor of Mind ......................................................... 72 4.2.20. Conceptual Metaphors of Nature ..................................................... 73 4.2.21. Conceptual Metaphor of Purpose ..................................................... 74 4.2.22. Conceptual Metaphor of Relationship .............................................. 74 4.2.23. Conceptual Metaphor of Respect ..................................................... 75 4.2.24. Conceptual Metaphors of Sadness ................................................... 75 4.2.25. Conceptual Metaphors of State ........................................................ 77 4.2.26. Conceptual Metaphors of Thought ................................................... 79 4.2.27. Conceptual Metaphors of Time ........................................................ 81 4.2.28. Conceptual Metaphor of Visual Field .............................................. 83 4.3. Chapter Summary ................................................................................... 83 Chapter 5. CONCLUSION, IMPLICATIONS AND LIMITATIONS ............. 85 5.1. Conclusion .............................................................................................. 85 5.2. Implications ............................................................................................. 86 5.3. Limitations and suggestions for further research .................................... 87 REFERENCES ..................................................................................................... 89 APPENDICES...................................................................................................... 96 vi LIST OF TABLES Table 2.1: Ontological Correspondences between Source Domain JOURNEY and Target Domain LOVE ............................................................... 17 Table 2.2: Epistemic Correspondences between Source Domain JOURNEY and Target Domain LOVE ...................................................................... 18 Table 2.3: Pragglejaz Metaphor Identification Procedure (2007) ..................... 21 Table 2.4: From Linguistic to Conceptual Metaphor in Five Step (Steen, 2009, 1999) ................................................................................................. 24 Table 2.5: Three Category Levels (Croft & Cruse, 2004) ................................. 28 Table 2.6: Definitions of Healing From Published Concept Analyses ............. 36 Table 4.1: Correspondences between the Concept JOURNEY and the Concept MARRIAGE ..................................................................................... 72 vii LIST OF FIGURES Figure 4.1. The number of linguistic samples in one story................................. 46 Figure 4.2. The number of source domains used to conceptualize target domains .......................................................................................................... 47 Figure 4.3. The classification of the identified conceptual metaphors ............... 84 viii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS (a) Entity F Activity IP Incomplete proposition P Proposition Pragglejaz Peter Crisp, Raymond Gibbs, Alice Deignan, Graham Low, Gerard Steen, Lynne Cameron, Elena Semino, Joe Grady, Alan Cienki, and Zoltan Kovecses. SIM Similar ix Chapter 1. INTRODUCTION As a background of the study, this first chapter tells the readers why this thesis is carried out as well as what achievements it hopefully contributes to the future of metaphor research and other metaphor-related research disciplines like therapy and education. In particular, the author provides the history of metaphor research as the basis for this thesis decision. Then, the objectives, research questions, scope and significance of the thesis are presented. Finally, the overview of the thesis is outlined so that the readers can keep track. 1.1. Rationale Over the past 2,000 years, metaphor has been studied as one of the best rhetorical devices used to convey or comprehend events, emotions, ideas, or concepts that are best to be expressed or understood nonliterally (Porta & Last, 2018). Generally, metaphor has been defined since the time of Aristotle as the implicit comparison through a visual resemblance between two entities (Richards, 1965; Leech, 1969), as in Achilles was a lion in the fight (Evans & Green, 2006). However, the metaphorical comparisons are completely different from ordinary comparisons and from similes which are explicit comparisons using the words like or as. As an illustration, Achilles is as strong as a lion is an ordinary comparison and Achilles is like a lion is a simile, whereas Achilles was a lion in the fight is a metaphor (Evans & Green, 2006). In these respects, Ricoeur (1977) asserted that metaphor for most people is the rhetorical flourish which is a matter of extraordinary language usage. He, furthermore, pointed out that people are often unable to get well with metaphor because they think that it is closely associated with poetic language and, beyond that, it is assumed to be the ornament of language. However, George Lakoff and Mark Johnson (1980) raised a considerable challenge towards such viewpoints on metaphor by proposing a new theoretical framework of metaphor, namely, conceptual metaphor in their seminal book Metaphors We Live By. Contrary to the pre-existing framework, they, Lakoff and Johnson, asserted that metaphor is not only a matter of language or more 1 specifically of words, but also a matter of human thought processes that enable people to reflect or perceive the world. In keeping with this premise of conceptual metaphor theory, Lakoff and Johnson (1980) provided as much linguistic evidence as possible for their assertion that metaphor is ―pervasive in everyday life, not just in language but in thought and action‖ (p. 3) and that ―human conceptual system is metaphorically structured and defined‖ (p. 6). As an illustration, Lakoff and Johnson (1980) pointed out that in some cultures people conceive of argument metaphorically as a war. The reason is that many of the things people do in arguing are largely structured by the things people do in a war such as attack, defense, win, lose, etc. As a result, this way of perceiving argument partly structures the way people talk about it. For example, ―Your claims are indefensible‖; ―He attacked every weak point in my argument‖; ―I‘ve never won an argument with him‖ (Lakoff & Johnson, 1980, p. 4). It can be, therefore, claimed that most of these linguistic expressions (italicized words) are neither literary nor intended to present a kind of rhetorical flourish. Indeed, most of them are used effortlessly in everyday life by ordinary people, not just by special talented people. Metaphor is, thus, no longer restricted to the field of rhetoric in which a word or phrase denoting one kind of entity is used in reference to another through their likeliness or analogy (Ricoeur, 1977), but, beyond that, it reflects and structures the way people perceive, think, and do through human conceptual system. Owing to the fact that the theory of metaphor proposed by Lakoff and Johnson is new and contrary to the pre-existing way the linguists had thought about metaphor (Kövecses, 2002; Tran, 2011), it has been examined in a number of subsequent publications in the world (e.g., Metaphor: A Practical Introduction by Kövecses (2002, 2010); Cognitive Linguistics: An Introduction by Evans and Green (2006); Cognitive Linguistics by Croft and Cruse (2004)) and in Vietnam (e.g., Ngôn ngữ học tri nhận - Từ lí thuyết đại cương đến thực tiễn tiếng Việt by Ly Toan Thang (2005); Ngôn ngữ học tri nhận - Từ điển by Tran Van Co (2011)). However, a review of these publications shows that much attention had 2 been concentrated on making the in-depth discussions on the contents of Lakoff and Johnson‘s theory of metaphor with a view to making a clearer picture of the conceptual metaphor, rather than trying to demonstrate whether it is realistic or not. For this reason, the theory of metaphor proposed by Lakoff and Johnson (1980) has been accepted as a major breakthrough not only in language but also in metaphor research. Therefore, since the time Lakoff and Johnson published their book Metaphor We Live by, the conceptual metaphor theory has become a solid basis for many research projects on metaphor worldwide. For example, the conceptual metaphors of love were studied by Kövecses (1986) in Metaphors of Anger, Pride and Love: A Lexical Approach to the Structure of Concept. His further research in this area was published in The Language of Love (1988), Emotion Concepts (1990), Metaphor and Emotion (2000). In Vietnam, the conceptual metaphor theory has also attracted a great deal of attention from linguists and researchers in the field (e.g., Do, 1998; Ly, 2005; Nguyen, 2007; Phan, 2007; Tran, 2007, 2009; Phan, 2007; Nguyen, 2009; Pham, 2010; Le, 2013; Nguyen, 2015; Sy, 2016; Nguyen, 2017). As a result, the number of studies has increased until recently. However, these studies had mainly focused on analyzing the conceptual metaphors used in literature, poems, idioms, business documents, journalism, or political discourses with a view to uncovering the roles of the conceptual metaphor in denoting and interpreting the metaphorical meanings; and to suggesting the implications of the identified conceptual metaphors in teaching, learning, or translation. It can, therefore, be concluded that in accordance with the world‘s research trend in metaphor, metaphor research in Vietnam has also moved to a new period, namely, conceptual metaphor. To some extent, the scope of studies had also been vast and broad. However, until recently there has not been any research conducted on analyzing the conceptual metaphors used in children‘s stories despite the fact that for centuries people have used stories and storytelling as an effective way of conveying values, exploring life (Taylor, 1996), creating 3 meaning in life, or teaching concepts (Pernicano, 2014). Beyond that, in cognitive science, stories and storytelling are considered as the magic ways people in general and children in particular make sense of their lives and recognize their personal identities through the described characters in the stories (Bruner, 1986; Sarbin, 1986; Polkinghorne, 1988). Moreover, it has been found recently in therapy practice that stories have been used as facilitative interventions for healing traumatized children by many therapists (e.g., Swatton & O‘callaghan, 2014; Struik, 2017; Veronese & Barola, 2018). The reason is that, through stories and metaphors embedded in stories, the therapists can access the inner world of a child so as to help him/her make sense of that world, connect to the world of the others, and discover solutions to problems they currently have (Pernicano, 2015). This means that children will have a chance to ―reveal their painful memories, demonstrate their desires, express their emotions, gain a clearer understanding of their experiences, and seek solutions to their own problems‖ (Snow, Ouzts, Martin, & Helm, 2005, p. 63). For these reasons, the researcher decided to carry out the thesis on ―the use of conceptual metaphors in children’s healing stories‖. This thesis is absolutely necessary because it is expected to provide more insights into the variable uses of conceptual metaphors or, more specifically, into the use of conceptual metaphors in children‘s healing stories. 1.2. Objectives of the Study With the intention of making a small contribution to the future research on conceptual metaphor, the current thesis aims at analyzing the conceptual metaphors used in children‘s English healing stories on the basis of the application of the conceptual metaphor theory. In terms of implication, the results of the analysis will be used for suggesting the role of the conceptual metaphors in interpreting or understanding the meanings of metaphorical linguistic expressions. In the meanwhile, the thesis suggests some implications for teaching English through metaphors. 4 1.3. Research Questions In order to achieve the objectives of the study, the following research questions are raised: 1) What conceptual metaphors are used in children‘s English healing stories by Burns (2005)? 2) What are the metaphorical linguistic expressions that reveal the existence of those conceptual metaphors? 1.4. Scope of the Study In keeping with the objectives of this thesis, the primary focus the author shall maintain is on analyzing the conceptual metaphors used in the examined children‘s healing stories on the basis of the application of the conceptual metaphor theory. The results of the analysis will be then used not only for suggesting the role of the conceptual metaphors in interpreting or understanding the meanings of metaphorical linguistic expressions but also for suggesting some implications for teaching English through metaphors. This means that the thesis neither examines whether or not nor measures the extent to what the identified conceptual metaphors could heal children‘s trauma or could educate children. In this regard, the suggestions are solely for pedagogical purposes. 1.5. Significance of the Study 1.5.1. In Terms of Theory The thesis is expected to make a small contribution to a fuller understanding of a new research trend in metaphor in Vietnam, namely, conceptual metaphor. More expectedly, through the results of the study, the role of conceptual metaphor will prove more meaningful not only in language research but also in other disciplines such as pedagogy. Together, the suggested roles of the conceptual metaphors in interpreting or understanding the meanings of metaphorical linguistic expressions are expected to foster further research projects that will be focused on the conceptual metaphors used in children‘s healing stories. 5 1.5.2. In Terms of Practice This thesis is a research project that is conducted on the basis of the application of the conceptual metaphor theory in analyzing the conceptual metaphors used in children‘s healing stories. The results of analysis are expected to help the potential readers (e.g., language researchers and teachers of English) better understand the roles of the conceptual metaphors in interpreting or understanding the meanings of metaphorical linguistic expressions. Moreover, the suggestions made from the result of the analysis will expectedly serve as a basis for teaching English through metaphors in Vietnam. 1.6. Overview of the Thesis Chapter 1 ―Introduction‖ starts with the background of the study. It tells the readers why the current study is carried out as well as what achievements it hopefully contributes. Particularly, the author provides the history of metaphor research as the basis for this thesis decision. The subsequent sections cover the objectives, research questions, scope and significance of the study. Chapter 2 ―Literature review‖ presents a review of the theories about cognitive linguistic, conceptual metaphor, healing, and healing story. Chapter 3 ―Methodology‖ describes the methodology of the study. In particular, it deals with research design, sampling, research instrument, data collection procedures, data analysis, and research ethics. Chapter 4 ―Findings and Discussions‖ presents all the conceptual metaphors identified in the selected children‘s healing stories. In each conceptual metaphor, the analysis is given as the basis for suggesting the role of the identified conceptual metaphors in interpreting and understanding the meanings of metaphorical linguistic expressions in the examined stories. Chapter 5 ―Conclusion, Implications, and Limitations‖ summarizes the research results, suggests some pedagogical implications, acknowledges several limitations, and offers suggestions for future research in the field of conceptual metaphors. 6 Chapter 2. LITERATURE REVIEW As the theoretical background of the study, Chapter 2 presents theories that are closely related to the research field. In particular, it begins with the theoretical framework of conceptual metaphor. However, the most notable point in this chapter is that a complete method for conceptual metaphor identification is provided on the basis of two pre-existing methods. In addition, the definitions of healing and healing story are also provided. 2.1. Cognitive Linguistics According to Tran (2011), the world‘s history of linguistics had undergone three great revolutions. They are: Saussure‘s revolution in the early 20th century, Chomsky‘s in the 1950s, and Lakoff-Johnson‘s in the late 20th century. He also claimed that, out of them, Lakoff-Johnson‘s opened a new research trend in linguistics, starting officially in the 1980s of the twentieth century. That is the study of language under both linguistic and psychological perspectives. Up until recently, it has been seen as a modern branch of linguistics, namely, cognitive linguistics whose primary aim is to examine the way people perceive the world on the basis of language and culture (Ly, 2005; Tran, 2011). In this new research trend, language researchers get involved in studying how language reflects human thought on the one hand and how it adapts and evolves in accordance with human cognitive change on the other (Croft & Cruse, 2004; Geeraerts & Cuyckens, 2007; Robinson & Ellis, 2008). In other words, to study cognitive linguistics is to explore linguistic worldview (bức tranh ngôn ngữ về thế giới as translated by Tran (2011)) in which the world existing independently of the human mind is captured, conceptualized, or described into everyday language. In these respects, the focus of cognitive linguistic research is not on words or sentences but on concepts embedded in everyday language (Ly, 2005; Tran, 2011). For cognitive linguists, the so-called concept is viewed as the basis for studying the mutual relationship between language and human cognition; though, it is neither the patterns of language nor those of culture. However, this does not 7 mean that concept has no relation to language and culture; but in contrast, concept is expressed under the form of single words and, at times, sentences in case the concept is abstract. But, what is concept? At a first glance, concept (ý niệm as translated and illustrated by Diep (2008)) is defined variously, for example, as a symbol of thought (Askoldov, cited in Tran (2011)), as a notion (Tsesnokov, cited in Tran (2011)), or as a phenomenon represented symbolically inside the mind of a human being (Evans & Green, 2006). These ways of defining concept is in part difficult to understand. However, the further review of literature shows that concept is basically defined not only as the consequence of the process of reflecting the reality into human mind, but also as the result of cognition or conceptualization, and also as the embodiment of man‘s knowledge and experience of everyday realities (Ly, 2005). In simple words, concept is the basic unit of consciousness (Slyshkin, 2000) and the result of the perceptual experience of a phenomenon (Evans & Green, 2006). As an illustration, house is a concept. It is the symbolic result of perceptual experience of a thing that is made by man usually for protecting against dangerous effects such as sunshine, wind, rain, wild animals, or crime. Though there are many differences in shapes, a house basically has walls, roofs, doors, windows, and floors. Additionally, in the context of social relationship, the concept of house is experienced as family (Vo, 2017), for example, ―I would have called you, but I didn‘t want to wake your entire house at seven on a weekend‖. In some other cases, house is to refer to wives or husbands, for instance, ―Nhà tôi đi vắng rồi‖ (my wife went out). In this case, nhà tôi (my house) refers to either the wife of the man or the husband of the woman. 2.2. Conceptual Metaphor 2.2.1. Definition As mentioned in Chapter 1, the theory of conceptual metaphor proposed by Lakoff and Johnson (1980) is new and contrary to the pre-existing way the linguists had thought about metaphor (Kövecses, 2002; Tran, 2011). For that reason, it has been examined in a number of subsequent publications in the 8