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Tài liệu Conceptual metaphors denoting “anger” in the dailystar.co.uk and cand.com.vn (2012 2013) from cognitive semantics

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VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY – HA NOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POSTGRADUATE STUDIES ----------o0o---------- TRẦN THỊ MINH YẾN CONCEPTUAL METAPHORS DENOTING “ANGER” IN THE DAILYSTAR.CO.UK AND CAND.COM.VN (2012-2013) FROM COGNITIVE SEMANTICS (Ẩn dụ ý niệm biểu đạt “sự tức giận” trong báo dailystar.co.uk và báo cand.com.vn (2012-2013) dưới góc độ ngữ nghĩa học tri nhận) M.A. Minor Programme Thesis Field: English Linguistics Code: 60220201 Hanoi – 2014 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY – HA NOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POSTGRADUATE STUDIES ----------o0o---------- TRẦN THỊ MINH YẾN CONCEPTUAL METAPHORS DENOTING “ANGER” IN THE DAILYSTAR.CO.UK AND CAND.COM.VN (2012-2013) FROM COGNITIVE SEMANTICS (Ẩn dụ ý niệm biểu đạt “sự tức giận” trong báo dailystar.co.uk và báo cand.com.vn (2012-2013) dưới góc độ ngữ nghĩa học tri nhận) M.A. Minor Programme Thesis Field: English Linguistics Code: 60220201 Supervisor: Dr. Huỳnh Anh Tuấn Hanoi – 2014 DECLARATION Title: “Conceptual metaphors denoting “anger” in the dailystar.co.uk and cand.com.vn (2012-2013) from Cognitive Semantics Perspectives” I certificate that no part of the above report has been copied or reproduced by me from any other person‟s work without acknowledgements and that the report is originally written by me under strict guidance of my supervisor. Hanoi, 27h November, 2014 Trầ n Thi ̣Minh Yế n i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First and foremost, I would like to express my deep gratitude to my supervisor Dr. Huỳnh Anh Tuấn who has given me invaluable advice, suggestions as well as the inspiration and encouragement to complete this thesis. I am sure the paper would have not been possible without his big help and such useful guidance. My great thankfulness is also given to the teachers of Faculty of Postgraduate Studies for their ideas to my paper and many thanks to all my friends who have encouraged and helped me during the time of collecting necessary data, information for the study. Especially, I would like to acknowledge and extend my heartfelt gratitude to my whole family for their support given to me through the long time of 2 years in university as well as in difficult time to finish this thesis. In addition, I personally wish to thank all my readers for their attention, and I would highly appreciate any comments to my study. ii ABSTRACT Metaphor, especially conceptual metaphor, is a cognitive device for humans to conceptualize abstract domains. Having chosen Lakoff and Johnson‟s Conceptual Metaphor Theory as the analytical framework, 77 samples from English and Vietnamese newspapers were analyzed to address how conceptual metaphors for anger work in English and Vietnamese newspapers as well as indicate the similarities and differences between English and Vietnamese in terms of those conceptual metaphors. It aims to enhance the effectiveness of teaching, learning and understanding conceptual metaphors in English and Vietnamese. Within the limit of a brief research, the author expect that the two languages - English and Vietnamese - which express the conceptual metaphors involved will reveal some different features of the two cultures. iii Table of contents i DECLARATION ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii ABSTRACT iii Part A INTRODUCTION 1. Rationale 1 2. Significance of the study 2 3. Aims of the study 2 5. Scope of the study 4 6. Methodology 4 7. Organization of the study 4 Part B DEVELOPMENT 5 Chapter 1 Literature Review and Theoretical Background 5 1.1. Literature Review 6 1.2. Theoretical Background 6 Cognitive Semantics 7 1.2.1.1. Definition of cognitive semantics 7 1.2.1.2. Main tenets of cognitive semantics 7 Metaphor 8 1.2.2.1. Traditional views on metaphor 8 1.2.2.2. Metaphor in the light of cognitive linguistics 9 1.2.3. Conceptual metaphors 9 1.2.4. Classification of conceptual metaphors 10 1.2.4.1. Structural metaphor 10 1.2.4.2. Orientational metaphor 10 1.2.4.3. Ontological metaphor 10 Metaphorical mappings 11 1.2.1. 1.2.2. 1.2.5. iv 1.2.5.1. Mapping principles 11 1.2.5.2. Metaphorical entailment 11 Chapter 2 Research Methodology 11 2.1. Research questions 12 2.2. Research methods 12 2.3. Research procedures 13 2.4. Data collection and data analysis 13 2.4.1. Data collection 13 2.4.2. Data analysis 14 2.4.2.1. Analytical framework 14 2.4.2.2. Analytical units 14 Chapter 3 Data Analysis 14 3.1. Structural metaphors 15 3.1.1. Anger is fire 15 3.1.2. Anger is a hot fluid in a container 16 3.1.3. Anger is madness/ insanity 20 3.1.4. Anger is a burden 21 3.1.5. Anger is a natural force 22 3.1.6. Anger is a dangerous animal 23 3.1.7. Anger is a container / a bounded space 24 3.1.8. Anger is an object 25 3.1.9. Anger is an opponent (in a struggle) 25 Ontological metaphors 28 3.2.1. The eye is a container 28 3.2.2. Internal organs (the heart, the liver) are containers 28 3.2.3. The mind is a container 29 3.2.4. The voice is a container 29 Orientational metaphor 31 Anger is up, cooling anger is down 30 Findings and Discussion 31 3.2. 3.3. 3.3.1. Chapter 4 v 4.1. Structural metaphors 32 4.2. Ontological metaphors 34 4.3. Orientational metaphors 34 Part C CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATIONS 35 Recapitulation 37 Implications 38 Limitation and suggestion for further research 38 REFERENCES 39 APPENDICES I APPENDIX I I APPENDIX II IV vi PART A: INTRODUCTION 1. Rationale Over the last decades, newspapers have made much progress in the world of means of communication to benefit humankind. Journalists always take into account language use to catch readers‟ curiosity and excitement; however, sometimes this has created challenges for readers in understanding the metaphors used in their writings. Metaphor is an interesting linguistic subject which has attracted the attention of many linguists. In traditional linguistics, only metaphor in literature was considered as the main object of study. However, in the light of modern cognitive linguistics, not only metaphor in literature but also metaphor in daily life language is investigated. More importantly, metaphor does not only serve as a means of expressing thought, it is also a vehicle of cognition, a means which helps realize how human beings‟ cognitive processes take place. Metaphor is a tool through which we comprehend an abstract concept in terms of a more concrete concept, which is thus called conceptual metaphor. Emotion, as an important aspect of human experience, conceptualized and expressed in metaphorical terms. In other words, such an abstract concept is conceptualized and expressed in terms of a more concrete concept by means of metaphor. There have been several studies on the function of metaphors in the conceptualization of emotions including both positive and negative ones in English and Vietnamese. However, we have scant knowledge about the importance of the basic experiences in emotion conceptualization such as the association of human emotion with internal organs and the cultural views resulting from it. For the reasons above, “An investigation into conceptual metaphors denoting „anger‟ in English and Vietnamese newspapers from cognitive semantics perspective” will be a contribution to profound linguistic knowledge of conceptual metaphor which might help Vietnamese teachers, learners, and translators of English understand cultural elements that have a great influence on using metaphorical expressions and use the English language more effectively. 1 2. Significance of the study 2.1. In terms of theory This study is expected to provide useful contributions to studies of linguistic units from cognitive semantic approach, which has subsequently been elaborated in researches in other fields such as psychology, psycholinguist. 2.2. In terms of practice This research is expected to be a useful contribution to teaching, learning, and translating emotion metaphors used in English and Vietnamese newspapers. The research is also carried out in the hope that its findings will help Vietnamese learners of English enrich their knowledge of conceptual metaphor, understand cultural elements that have a great influence on using metaphorical expressions, and enhance learners‟ evaluable skills in interpreting and translating newspapers as well. 3. Aims of the study The study aims at investigating conceptual metaphors denoting “anger” in English and Vietnamese newspapers from 2012 to 2013 in the light of cognitive semantics. Specifically, it aims at the following: - Investigating how the concept of “anger” is metaphorically expressed in English and Vietnamese newspapers - Investigating the similarities and differences in expressions of conceptual metaphors denoting “anger” in English and Vietnamese newspapers - Suggesting the implications for the teaching, learning, and translating of conceptual metaphors denoting “anger” in newspapers. 4. Scope of the study Due to the limited time, this research investigates only the similarities and differences in expressions of conceptual metaphors denoting “anger” in English and Vietnamese newspapers in the background knowledge of cognitive semantics. 5. Methodology 5.1. Research Questions In order to achieve the aims of the study, the following research questions are to be answered: 1. How are concepts for anger metaphorically expressed in English and Vietnamese newspapers? 2 2. What are the similarities and differences in expressions of conceptual metaphors denoting anger in English and Vietnamese newspapers? 5.2. Research Method The study will be carried out through contrastive analysis in order to investigate the similarities and differences in expressions of conceptual metaphors denoting anger in English and Vietnamese newspapers from 2012 to 2013 from cognitive semantics perspective. 5.3. Data collection To conduct this research, 77 metaphorical expressions of anger are collected from the dailystar.co.uk and cand.com.vn (2012-2013). The most interesting and concrete ones are selected to illustrate important points under our investigation. 5.4. Data analysis Basing on Lakoff and Johnson‟s conceptual metaphor theory which was introduced in their influential book of Metaphor We Live By (1980) as the model of linguistic expressions of metaphor, data will be both quantitatively qualitatively analyzed. In this model, conceptual metaphors are classified into three different kinds, namely structural metaphors, orientational metaphors and ontological metaphor. Quantitatively, the data will be analyzed in terms of the frequencies of structural, orientational, and ontological metaphors. Qualitatively, the data will be analyzed, examined and evaluated in order to find out the similarities and differences in expressions denoting anger in English and Vietnamese newspapers. 6. Organization of the study This study will cover the three main parts: Part A: Introduction will present the rationale, the significance, the aims, the scope, the methodology, and the organization of the study. Part B: Development will consist of four chapters: Chapter 1: Theoretical background and Literature review provide an extensive background of cognitive linguistics, conceptual metaphor, and newspaper language. Theoretical matters related to the study such as definition of cognitive semantics, main tenets of cognitive semantics, theories of metaphor, conceptual metaphors, metaphoric mappings, and features of newspaper language are discussed. Related studies are 3 reviewed in order to provide the context for the research that is significant to the work that the author is carrying out. Chapter 2: Research Methodology will discuss the methods and the procedures of the research. This chapter will also deal with the description of samples and how the data are collected, described and analyzed. Chapter 3: Data Analysis will firstly focus on analyzing and discussing conceptual metaphor of expressions of anger in English and Vietnamese newspapers. Chapter 4: Findings and Discussion will discuss the similarities and differences in metaphorical expressions denoting anger in the two languages. Part C: Conclusion will summarize the study‟s results and presents the suggested implications for learning, teaching and translating conceptual metaphors in English and Vietnamese. It will also present some limitations and suggestions for further research. 4 PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: Literature Review and Theoretical Background 1.1. Literature review 1.1.1. In the world Cognitive linguistics originally emerged in the 1970s with studies of linguists who were concerned with investigating the relationship between human language, the mind, and the socio – physical experience and in the meanwhile denied formal approaches of studying linguistic structures using only the components within language. During the 1980s, the works of Lakoff and Johnson on cognitive linguistics began to attract much attention. Typically, the publication of their first influential book “Metaphors We Live By” in 1980 marked a turning point in metaphor studies from the cognitive perspectives. In this book, they explain that metaphor provides us with understanding other subjects through using what we know about our physical and social experience. Such metaphors structure our most basic understandings of our experiences; shape our perceptions and actions without our ever noticing them. This work is the main theoretical source providing the model as well as the instrument of the analysis for the present study. We can say that it was their work that has partly defined cognitive linguistics itself as we know it today. They have established that intangible concepts are comprehended metaphorically in terms of more basic concepts. Emotion has an extremely complex structure and as such, it is systematically conceptualized via more tangible things. Over the last decades, a great number of conceptual emotion metaphors have been identified and described by many linguists. Typically Lakoff and Kovecses in “The Cognitive Model of Anger Inherent in American English” (1983) gave the conceptual structure and metaphorical expressions of anger in English which provide me with a research material for a contrast with Vietnamese equivalents. 1.1.2. In Vietnam Cognitive linguistics in Vietnamese has made contribution to the development of cognitive linguistics. In “Ngôn ngữ học tri nhận – từ lý thuyết đại cương đến thực tiễn tiếng Việt” (Cognitive Linguistics: From Theory to Vietnamese Application), Lý Toàn Thắng (2005) draws out the historical background and typical works of cognitive 5 linguistics. The author also applies cognitive semantics theory into Vietnamese language and focused on such issues such cognitive models, Figure/Ground relationships, prototypes, and categorization. The great contribution of his book lies under the result of detailed examination about the model of spatial cognition used in Vietnam. In “Ngôn ngữ học tri nhận (Ghi chép và suy nghĩ)” (Cognitive Linguistics) (Notes and Thoughts), Trần Văn Cơ (2007) gives an overview of metaphor and conceptual metaphor, the development of conceptual metaphor in the world and in Vietnam. Subsequently, there have been several articles, books on cognitive metaphor such as Nguyễn Đức Tồn in his article “Đặc trưng tư duy của người Việt qua ẩn dụ tri nhận trong thành ngữ” (Characteristics of the Vietnamese thinking through cognitive metaphor in idioms) (2008); Nguyễn Lai in “Suy nghĩ về ẩn dụ khái niệm trong thế giới thi ca từ góc nhìn của ngôn ngữ học tri nhận” (Thinking about conceptual metaphor in poetry from cognitive linguistics perspectives) (2009), etc. Besides, the subfield emotion metaphor has been explored with some minor researches by Trần Bá Tiến (2009), Bùi Khánh Ly (2012), etc. In those studies, the authors make a brief account of metaphorical expressions of anger, sadness, fear or happiness in short stories, novels, or poems. Of all previous studies I have read, there has hardly been any one conducting on emotion anger with a contrast between English and Vietnamese under the analyzed source of data as newspapers. That inspired me to pay a particular attention to metaphorical expressions of anger in English and Vietnamese newspapers. 1.2. Theoretical background 1.2.1. Cognitive Semantics 1.2.1.1. Definition Cognitive semantics is part of cognitive linguistics. The area of study in cognitive semantics investigates the relationship between experience, cognitive processing, and the semantic structure encoded by language. To put it simply, scholars studying in cognitive semantics investigate knowledge representation (conceptual structure), and meaning construction (conceptualization). 6 1.2.1.2. Main tenets of cognitive semantics As summarized by Evans and Green (2006: 157), the four major principles of cognitive semantics are as follow: a. Conceptual structure is embodied According to Evans and Green (2006), we perceive the world from our independent perspectives. Each person has his or her own ways of looking at the world, which is fundamentally based on his or her own bodily experience. The perception then becomes our conceptions of the perceived world, which remains in our mind as concepts. b. Semantic structure is conceptual structure. The second principle confirms semantic structure is conceptual structure but does not mean that the two are identical. Instead, cognitive semanticists claim that the semantic structure (meanings associated with linguistic units) such as words, for example, form only a subset of possible concepts in the mind of the speaker. (Evan and Green, 2006) c. Meaning representation is encyclopedic. The third major principle holds that semantic structure is encyclopedic in nature. Lexical concepts do not represent a bundle of meaning, but access to repositories of knowledge relating to a particular concept (Evan and Green, 2006: 160). d. Meaning construction is conceptualization “Meaning construction is equated with conceptualization, a process whereby linguistic units serve as prompts for an array of conceptual operations and the recruitment of background knowledge” (Evan and Green, 2006: 162). 1.2.2. Metaphor 1.2.2.1 Traditional views on metaphor There are various definitions of metaphor proposed by different linguists and scholars in different perspectives. Đỗ Hữu Châu (1966: 54) states that ẩn dụ “là cách gọi tên một sự vật này bằng tên một sự vật khác, giữa chúng có mối quan hệ tương đồng”. (Metaphor is a way of naming an object in terms of the name of another, based on the similar relationship between them). For Đinh Trọng Lạc (1995: 194), “phép ẩn dụ là phương thức chuyển nghĩa của một đối tượng này thay cho đối tượng khác khi hai đối tượng có một nét nghĩa tương đồng 7 nào đó”. (Metaphor is the transference of meaning from one object to another based on similarity between these two objects). Nguyễn Hòa (2001: 106) shares similar view that “metaphor is the transference of meaning (name) from one object to another based on similar relationship between these two objects, i.e. we call one object by the name of another because we compare these objects and find some common features between them.” In short, for traditional views, metaphor implies a certain kind of comparison and the transference of names of one thing to another basing on similar relationship between them. 1.2.2.2. Metaphor in the light of cognitive linguistics The publication of the masterpiece Metaphor We Live By contributed by the American linguists George Lakoff and Mark Johnson in 1980 opened a new horizon for researchers on metaphor studies from the cognitive perspective. They point out that metaphor is „pervasive‟ in everyday life, not only as a view of rhetorical device but as a cognitive way of thinking and perceiving the real world. This viewpoint is shared by Barcelona (2000: 3) who states that “metaphor is the cognitive mechanism whereby one experiential domain is partially „mapped‟, i.e. projected onto a different experiential domain so that the second domain is partially understood in terms of another experiential domain”. Generally speaking, metaphor in the light of cognitive linguistics is not merely a means of communication but also a means of cognition, a means in which people understand and explain about the real world. 1.2.3. Conceptual metaphor According to Lakoff and Johnson (1980), conceptual metaphor is when we understand one conceptual domain in terms of another conceptual domain. Johansen (2007: 11) states that a conceptual metaphor is “a metaphor that exists in the mind of a speaker, and may thus be unconscious”. For Radden and Divren (2007: 16), conceptual metaphor is viewed as “a means of understanding abstract domains by relating them to better-known domains and experiences in the physical world”. In “Khảo luận ẩn dụ tri nhận (A Treatise of Cognitive Linguistics), Trần Văn Cơ (2009: 86-87) explains carefully that conceptual metaphor is viewed as when we think 8 one object in terms of another one. Metaphors are often related to the complex and abstract objects, but not the discrete ones. Thereby, in the process of perception, these complex and abstract things, through metaphor, establish the correlation with more concrete or observable ones (for instance, human emotions can be compared with fire, the fields of economics and politics can be compared with games, sport contests, etc.) 1.2.4. Classification of conceptual metaphor In Lakoff and Johnson‟s point of view, there are three kinds of conceptual metaphors such as structural, orientational, and ontological metaphor. 1.2.4.1. Structural metaphor Lakoff and Johnson (1980: 15) defined structural metaphor as “cases where one concept is metaphorically structured in terms of another”. Let‟s consider typical examples of the conceptual metaphor Love is a journey taken from Lakoff (1993: 4): Our love has hit a dead – end street. We may have to go our separate ways. The marriage is on the rocks. Our relationship is off the track. These are some every English expressions describing LOVE. It can easily be seen that love, with all its ups and downs, difficulties and impediments, is likened to a journey through structural metaphor. By virtue of the structure of a more familiar and concrete image, we understand the less concrete one. 1.2.4.2. Orientational metaphor Orientational metaphors deal with spatial orientations which derived from our constant interaction with our environment and experiences in the physical world. These spatial orientations include up-down, in-out, front-back, deep-shallow, and central-peripheral. We can observe in the examples of this kind of metaphor Happy is up, Sad is down taken from Lakoff and and Johnson (1980: 15): My spirits rose. My spirit sank. 1.2.4.3. Ontological metaphor Ontological metaphor is used to comprehend activities and states. Here are some examples of the container metaphor taken from Lakoff and Johnson (1980: 31-32): 9 - Emotional states are container He‟s in love. He‟s coming out of trouble now. The prepositions in, out relating to the emotions are containers metaphor. All these cases conjure up the image of a three – dimensional bounded region (an emotion, abstract entity). 1.2.5. Metaphorical mapping 1.2.5.1. Mapping principles According to Radden and Divren (2007), conceptual metaphor is “a conceptual shift” leading to meaning extension. This cognitive process that relates to literal meanings and extended meanings is called mapping. A mapping is the systematic set of correspondences that exist between constituent elements of the source and the target domain. In other words, a conceptual metaphor is created by mapping a concept from source domain onto a concept from target domain. Certain aspects of the source and those of the target are brought into correspondence with each other in such a way that constituent elements of the source correspond to constituent elements of the target (Kovecses, 1987: 93). 1.2.5.2. Metaphorical entailment According to Kovecses (1987: 94), “when rich additional knowledge about a source is mapped onto a target, we call it metaphorical entailment”. For example, metaphor an argument is the journey has the constituent element that the journey takes place along a path. The path corresponds to the progress of an argument. However, in the source domain „journey‟, we can get lost; can „stray from the path‟. This manifests itself in the metaphorical entailment that we can also „digress from‟ the line of argument. In this case, we use an additional piece of knowledge about journey to make sense of a feature of argument. 10 CHAPTER 2 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY This chapter presents the research methods, research procedures, data collection and data analysis that were decided to be most suitable for addressing the research questions. 2.1. Research Questions In order to achieve the aims of the study, the following research questions are to be answered: 1. How are concepts for anger metaphorically expressed in English and Vietnamese newspapers? 2. What are the similarities and differences in expressions of conceptual metaphors denoting anger in English and Vietnamese newspapers? 2.2. Research Methods This research utilizes contrastive analysis on level of lexical and phrase units. Contrastive Analysis (C.A) is defined to be “a linguistic enterprise aimed at producing inverted (i.e. contrastive, not comparative) two-valued typologies (a C.A. is always concerned with a pair of languages), and founded on the assumption that languages can be compared” (James, 1980: 2). Because the aim of this research is to find out the similarities and the differences of conceptual metaphor denoting “anger” in English and Vietnamese, contrastive analysis should be used. Conceptual metaphors denoting anger in English will be mentioned and analyzed first and then they will be contrasted with Vietnamese conceptual metaphors. 2.3. Research procedures Step 1: Determine the research topic Step 2: Determine and define the research questions Step 3: Present the theoretical background and literature review for the study Step 4: Collect the data Step 5: Analyze the data Step 6: Suggest some implications for language learner, teachers as well as translators and give some conclusions. 11 2.4. Data collection and data analysis 2.4.1. Data collection To conduct this research, 77 metaphorical expressions of anger are collected from the dailystar.co.uk and cand.com.vn (2012-2013). The model and the instrument of the analysis and comparison of the two sets of data collected in the two languages was adopted from Lakoff and Johnson (1980) in their book of Metaphor We Live By. 2.4.2. Data analysis 2.4.2.1. Data analytical framework  Method of the research: The study will be carried out through contrastive analysis which tries to describe and analyze the similarities and differences in expressions of conceptual metaphors denoting anger in English and Vietnamese newspapers from 2012 to 2013 from cognitive semantics perspectives.  Model of the research: The categorization of the data is carried out on the basis of Lakoff and Johnson‟s (1980) Conceptual Metaphor Theory. In this model, conceptual metaphors are classified into three different kinds, namely structural metaphors, ontological metaphor and orientational metaphors.  Method of data analysis: data will be both qualitatively and quantitatively analyzed. Firstly, the data is qualitatively analyzed as follows:  The representations of the metaphor in English and Vietnamese  The explanation of the anger metaphorically understood and talked about in such ways  Making use of experiences of source domains in the cognitive process of creating meaning extensions  Considering cultural elements of the two nations that affect the speakers‟ cognition of the abstract notion „anger‟ and result in different representations of the metaphor Secondly, the data is quantitatively analyzed in terms of the occurrence frequency of every kinds of metaphor to show which kinds of metaphor are used more universally or less frequently. 12
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