Analysis of Conceptual Metaphors in Deutschewelle Newspaper based on the Perspective of Linguistic Relativity

Generally, metaphor is a language style that is often used as a form of creativity in communicating. However, the wider scope of the use of metaphors has led to interference from other aspects, one of which is the cultural aspect. Cultural aspect is considered to play an important role in shaping the way each individual perceives something. To prove this perspective, this study aims to identify whether the use of metaphors can be influenced by culture, when compared to the perspective of linguistic relativity. The object of this research was discourse text in Deutchewelle newspapers in Indonesian and German. The 5-Step Metaphor Analysis Method was used in this research. From the results of the meaning analysis that has been done, it shows that there is a conceptual metaphor use which is influenced by cultural aspect. This means that the use of metaphors based on the perspective of linguistic realativity is acceptable.

The use of metaphor power indices for the analysis of speech impact in political public speeches

The article examines the metaphor power related to the impact of public political speeches on the audience. The purpose of the study is to identify the potentially hidden speech impact of public discourse in order to understand the intentions of the speech messages authors. To that end, the aspects of metaphors under analysis include their density in the text, their intensity, functions and positions in the compositional structure of the text. The study tests the method of comprehensive analysis of metaphor power, which is based on the calculation of the corresponding indices MDI (Metaphor density index), MII (Metaphor intensity index), MfTI (Metaphor functional typology index) and MStI (Metaphor structural index). Each index is based on a mathematical formula: MDI reflects the average number of metaphors per a hundred words of the text; MII demonstrates the medium intensity of metaphors (new or conventional metaphors dominating the text); MfTI shows which functions are mainly performed by metaphors in the text; MStI represents the compositional parts of the text where the metaphors are concentrated. The hypothesis about the possibility of using such quantitative methods is tested on the material of three texts of public speeches by the political leaders of Russia, USA and China. The analysis shows that the greatest speech impact is achieved by the speech of the President of China distinguished by the highest metaphor density (4.07), and, the values of MfTI (2.23) MStI (2.51) indicate the intention to restructure the socio-political concepts, as well as to introduce a new content into his countrys domestic and foreign policy. This method for identifying the metaphor power can be used to investigate the potential impact of political speeches and can become an important tool for analyzing various aspects of the metaphor use in discourse.

The master’s tools: Media repurposing of exclusionary metaphors to challenge racist constructions of migrants

Metaphors are powerful mechanisms by which to rally exclusionary nationalist sentiment without necessarily appearing racist. However, sometimes those metaphors are challenged, inverting exclusionary functions. In this paper, we track how metaphors in the Australian press over the last 165 years which have generally constructed migration as a threat to the integrity of the nation, are repurposed to counter the claims embedded within them. For example, while invasion, swamping and flooding are generally recruited to negative ends, the same tropes are used to argue that fears of invasion are unjustified, that numbers of migrants are too small to swamp the nation and that the so-called floods of foreigners are overstated. However, this does not necessarily result in a decrease in metaphor use, nor challenge the fundamental implications of the metaphors. We explore how the repurposing occurs, and why it may not be an effective tool for anti-racist action.

The pragmatic use of metaphor in empirical psychology

Metaphors of mind and their elaboration into models serve a crucial explanatory role in psychology. In this article, an attempt is made to describe how biology and engineering provide the predominant metaphors for contemporary psychology. A contrast between the discursive and descriptive functions of metaphor use in theory construction serves as a platform for deliberation upon the pragmatic consequences of models derived therefrom. The conclusion contains reflections upon the possibility of an integrative interdisciplinary psychology.

The effect of gender and language proficiency on the metaphor use in the writing of TEFL students

The ubiquitous nature of metaphor in everyday life and its significance in second language learning has triggered plethoric research on the relationship between metaphor and language learning. To contribute to the still growing literature, the current study explore the effect of learner variables, namely gender and proficiency, on metaphor use in TEFL students’ writing. To achieve that objective, 27 intermediate and 23 upper-intermediate Iranian TEFL students were asked to write on an IELTS Writing Task 2 topic. Fifty essays were analyzed for metaphor use through Metaphor Identification Procedure (Pragglejaz Group in Metaphor Symb 22(1):1–39, 2007) and Vehicle Identification Procedure (Cameron in Metaphor in educational discourse, Continuum, London, 2003). The data analyzed through t-test and multiple regression analysis revealed the advantage of upper-intermediate students over intermediate students concerning metaphor use in their writing. Gender, on the other hand, did not play an influential role in the students’ metaphor use. The findings of this research and the implications they might have for the field of English language teaching will be discussed.

The Cross-Cultural Understanding of Metaphors in the Information Technology Sphere

The Cross-Cultural Understanding of Metaphors in the Information Technology SphereThis paper analyses recent changes in cross-cultural communication concerning metaphor use and its functioning on the Internet, specifically in the information technology sphere.The paper outlines the academic literature and proposes a study that aims to evaluate users’ perception of IT metaphors. The study analyses reports and articles for IT users. The articles were profiled according to country and language, with a detailed analysis of English and Ukrainian examples. The paper reviews the relation between IT metaphors and their cognition, introducing a new conceptualization “A Computer as a Human Being”. The research seeks to provide evidence for the claim that understanding metaphors facilitates cross-cultural communication, whether universal or culturally-bounded.The results show the growing scale of the creation of new metaphors due to cross-cultural communication, especially in the IT sphere, and the importance of the cognitive functions of metaphors in a culturally and linguistically diverse environment. Międzykulturowe rozumienie metafor w sferze technologii informacyjnejAutorki analizują najnowsze zmiany w komunikacji międzykulturowej w zakresie użycia metafor oraz ich funkcjonowania w Internecie w zawężeniu do sfery technologii informacyjnych.Po przedstawieniu stanu badań zaproponowały analizy, których celem jest ocena postrzegania metafor informatycznych przez użytkowników. W badaniu przeanalizowano raporty i artykuły przeznaczone dla użytkowników IT. Autorki sprofilowały artykuły według kraju i języka. Następnie przeprowadziły szczegółową analizę przykładów angielskich i ukraińskich. Dokonały przeglądu relacji pomiędzy metaforami IT a ich poznaniem, wprowadzając nową konceptualizację: "Komputer jako istota ludzka". Przeprowadzone badania mają na celu dostarczenie dowodów na tezę, że rozumienie metafor ułatwia komunikację międzykulturową, zarówno uniwersalną, jak i ograniczoną kulturowo.Wyniki wskazują na rosnącą skalę tworzenia nowych metafor w wyniku komunikacji międzykulturowej, zwłaszcza w sferze IT, oraz na znaczenie funkcji poznawczych metafor w środowisku zróżnicowanym kulturowo i językowo.

Metaphor, Religion, and Gender: A Case Study of Metaphor Analysis in Islamic Motivational Speech Corpus

Metaphor plays a vital role in human communication and its presence is evident in various discourses across genres. Nevertheless, there is a scarcity in the study of metaphors used among different genders especially in religious discourse. Thus, the current study aims to examine metaphor use in religious motivational speeches between two (male and female) speakers. A corpus-based approach, that involved analysis of keywords, collocation, and concordance, was selected in identifying linguistic metaphors while conceptual mapping (Lakoff & Johnson, 1980) was chosen to identify conceptual metaphors in both corpora. The main data consist of four speeches of Yasmin Mogahed (YM Corpus) and four speeches of Nouman Ali Khan’s speeches (NAK Corpus) retrieved from their YouTube Channels. #LancsBox 5.0 was chosen as the tool in analysing the language patterns. From the findings, it can be concluded Yasmin used a higher frequency of metaphors compared to Nouman. This is evident from the results in the collocation analysis in YM corpus that showed seven collocates (‘SWT’, ‘heart’, ‘foundation’, ‘healthy’, ‘fear’, ‘solid’, and ‘fill’) were predetermined to have signals of metaphorical expressions as compared to NAK corpus that only has four collocates (‘evil’, ‘syirik’, ‘religion’, and ‘faith’) with signals of metaphorical expressions. It is also apparent that the variety of metaphors used by Yasmin is more diverse (BUILDING, HUMAN/LIVING ORGANISM, TREE, and CONTAINER metaphors) as compared to Nouman that only uses COMPUTER FILE and CONTAINER metaphors. Yasmin’s choice of metaphors seems to be heavily influenced with the common metaphors used in the Qur’an, while Nouman’s lack choice of metaphors indicate his preference in explaining religious concepts through literal explanation instead of metaphorical one. Future studies are recommended to have a bigger sample to better differentiate the metaphor usage between genders. It is also imperative for future research to further examine the implications of different choice of metaphors on the construction of meaning in the Islamic motivational religious corpus between different genders.

When Abstract Concepts Rely on Multiple Metaphors: Metaphor Selection in the Case of Power

The study examines metaphor selection for the same abstract concept when multiple concrete dimensions are available for use. Drawing on the power concept, four studies investigated the roles of attention and visual features of concrete dimensions in metaphoric mapping. In Studies 1 and 2, two concrete dimensions (vertical space and size) were visually connected to power-related target words simultaneously, and one was salient. Attention driven by stimulus saliency allowed the attended concrete dimension to have a higher activation level and to be used. In Studies 3 and 4, the attended and the non-attended concrete dimensions were presented separately, and the latter was visually associated with power-related target words. This time, the attended dimension did not have an activation advantage, allowing the non-attended dimension to be used for metaphoric mapping simultaneously. The findings suggest that attention is important, but not necessary, and that features of concrete dimensions can guide metaphor use.