A study on conceptual metaphors in economic reports in the New York Times from the perspective of cognitive liguistics.pdf

1. VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES
***
TRIỆU KHÁNH TOÀN
A STUDY ON CONCEPTUAL METAPHORS
IN ECONOMIC REPORTS IN THE NEW YORK TIMES
FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF COGNITIVE LINGUISTICS
NGHIÊN CỨU ẨN DỤ Ý NIỆM TRONG CÁC BÀI BÁO
VỀ KINH TẾ TRÊN TẠP CHÍ NEW YORK TIMES
DƯỚI GÓC NHÌN CỦA NGÔN NGỮ HỌC TRI NHẬN
M.A. MAJOR PROGRAMME THESIS
Field : English Linguistics
Code : 60.220.201
Supervisor : Dr. Phạm Thị Thanh Thùy
HANOI - 2016

2. i
CERTIFICATION OF ORIGINALITY
I hereby certify that the thesis entitled ―A Study on Conceptual
Metaphor in Economic Reports in the New York Times from the
Perspective of Cognitive Linguistics‖ is my own study in the fulfillment of
the requirement for the Degree of Master of Arts at Faculty of Post-
Graduate Studies, University of Languages and International Studies,
Vietnam National University, Hanoi.
Hanoi, 2016
Triệu Khánh Toàn

3. ii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
For the completion of this thesis, I have been fortunate to receive
invaluable support from many people. First and foremost, I would like to
express my sincere thanks to my supervisor, Dr. Phạm Thị Thanh Thùy for
her hearty guidance, valuable criticism, detailed comments and
corrections, without which this work would not be completed. My thanks
also go to all my instructors in my M.A. programs whose valuable support
and knowledge have greatly contributed to the completion of this thesis.
Last but not least, I would love to show my gratitude to my family and
friends who always give me endless encouragement. Without all of them,
this thesis can hardly be fulfilled.

4. iii
ABSTRACT
This paper critically analyses conceptual metaphors used in
economic reports in the New York Times (2013-2014) from the
perspective of cognitive linguistics. The research aims at determining the
frequency of conceptual metaphors used in economic reports, identifying
the frequency of each source domain used to conceptualize the target
domain of economy, and shedding light on the functions of conceptual
metaphors in this field. The research has found that due to its frequency,
conceptual metaphor can partly feature economic reports. Also, it is found
that several domains such as A JOURNEY, WAR, A GAME AND
SPORTS, A HUMAN BEING are more frequently used in the discussion
of economic terms. Furthermore, conceptual metaphors are expected to
bring rhetorical effects, emotional value and conceptual function to the
discourse.

5. iv
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CERTIFICATION OF ORIGINALITY ............................................................................................. i
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ................................................................................................................. ii
ABSTRACT......................................................................................................................................iii
TABLE OF CONTENTS.................................................................................................................. iv
LIST OF TABLES............................................................................................................................ vi
PART A: INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................. 1
1. Rationale ................................................................................................................................ 1
2. Objectives and scope of the study.......................................................................................... 4
2.1. Objectives of the study................................................................................................... 4
2.2. Scope of the study.......................................................................................................... 5
3. Significance of the study........................................................................................................ 5
4. Research methodology........................................................................................................... 6
4.1. Research questions......................................................................................................... 6
4.2. Research approach ......................................................................................................... 7
4.3. Data collection and analysis........................................................................................... 7
5. Design of the study................................................................................................................. 8
PART B: DEVELOPMENT ............................................................................................................ 10
CHAPTER 1: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND...................................................................... 10
1.1. Cognitive linguistics..................................................................................................... 10
1.2. Metaphors..................................................................................................................... 11
CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW .................................................................................... 20
2.1. Study on conceptual metaphors ........................................................................................ 20
2.2. Study on conceptual metaphor in economic discourse ..................................................... 23
CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ......................................................................... 26
3.1. Research questions............................................................................................................ 26
3.2. Research methodology...................................................................................................... 27
3.2.1. Data and data collection................................................................................................. 27
3.3. Research procedures ......................................................................................................... 30
CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND ANALYSIS ............................................................................. 32

6. v
4.1. Frequency of conceptual metaphors denoting ECONOMY in economic reports on New
York Times .............................................................................................................................. 32
4.2. Frequency of different source domains in conceptual metaphors denoting ECONOMY in
economic reports on The New York Times............................................................................. 37
4.3. Discussion on the value added by conceptual metaphors in business reports on New York
Times 60
PART C: CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATIONS ......................................................................... 66
1. Research findings................................................................................................................. 66
2. Implications.......................................................................................................................... 68
2.1. Implications for translation and teaching translation ................................................... 68
2.2. Implications for teachers and students ......................................................................... 70
3. Limitations and suggestions for further study...................................................................... 71
3.1. Limitations ................................................................................................................... 71
3.2. Suggestions for further study ....................................................................................... 72
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................. 74
APPENDIX 1................................................................................................................................... 78
List of economic reports from the New York Times ......................................................................... 78
APPENDIX 3................................................................................................................................... 80
QUESTIONNAIRE ......................................................................................................................... 80

7. vi
LIST OF TABLES
Table 1
The mappings of conceptual metaphor LOVE IS A
JOURNEY
2
Table 2 The number of titles with conceptual metaphors 31
Table 2
The frequency of conceptual metaphors denoting
ECONOMY in the main part of economic reports on The
New York Times
34
Table 4 The number and percentage of conceptual metaphors
denoting ECONOMY with different source domains
36
Table 5
reasons for preference of the sentences with
metaphorical expression
58

8. 1
PART A: INTRODUCTION
1. Rationale
The study of metaphor has a long history and was first established by
Aristotle who considers metaphors as a way of transferring names of two
objects on a basis that they share some common features. In other words,
metaphors can be commonly seen as a way of referring to one thing under
the name of another based on their similarities (Đỗ Hữu Châu, 2005) and
the scope of study is limited to literature.
Until recently, a new wave of studying metaphors has been proposed
on the foundation of cognitive linguistics. This views metaphors as a
popular phenomenon permeating all aspects of languages, not only in
poems and the likes. The concept of conceptual metaphor has been
introduced then. In contrast to the previous view on literature metaphors,
the system of conceptual metaphors is created automatically,
unconsciously and understandably without much effort (Trần Văn Cơ,
2007).
Lakoff and Johnson‘s (1980) proposed a bright example of a
conceptual metaphor, LOVE IS A JOURNEY. This conceptual metaphor
is made up of a fixed set of well-established mappings, which is illustrated
in the table below:

9. 2
Source domain: JOURNEY mappings Target domain: LOVE
TRAVELLERS  LOVERS
VEHICLE  LOVE RELATIONSHIP
JOURNEY  EVENTS IN THE RELATIONSHIP
OBSTACLES ENCOUNTERED  DIFFICULTIES EXPERIENCED
DECISIONS ABOUT
DIRECTION
 CHOICES ABOUT WHAT TO DO
DESTINATION OF THE
JOURNEY
 GOALS OF THE RELATIONSHIP
Table 1: The mappings of conceptual metaphor LOVE IS A JOURNEY
Obviously, the more concrete domain of JOURNEY helps structure
ideas belonging to the target domain of LOVE. Furthermore, Lakoff and
Johnson (1980) also argue that knowledge of the sort specified by the
conceptual metaphor is necessary for the creation and comprehension of
conceptual metaphors. That is to say, without such knowledge and
previous experience, one would not be able to understand some concepts
of the more abstract domain LOVE (Lakoff &Johnson, 1980).
Similarly to the example proposed by Lakoff, many other cases of
metaphors have been studied, contributing to the comparisons of
metaphorical mechanism between two languages. In Vietnam, Nguyễn Thị
Kim Anh (2014) takes a deep look at the conceptual metaphor
MARRIAGE IS A JOURNEY, which aims at facilitating the teaching of
cultural aspects in foreign language teaching.

10. 3
With the same purpose, an investigation into conceptual metaphors
for life, death, and time in Vietnamese and English has been conducted by
Nguyễn Thị Tú Trinh (2010).
One of the most favored target domains to be described through
source domains is economy. It is admitted that, the world economy has
never failed to win people‘s attention though it has undergone numerous
ups and downs in the last few decades. Hence, the economic reports in
newspapers, journals and magazines have proved themselves to be an
essential part of the daily life. For this reason, certain linguistic features
are taken into great consideration in the production of reports and articles
so that ideas can be effortlessly perceived in such an abstract and abstruse
field. Metaphor, one of the linguistics features, commonly occurs in
economic reports for the reason that metaphors facilitate readers‘
understanding of the abstract domains by means of the concrete domains
(Köveces, 2002).
Within the business domain, conceptual metaphors are supposed to
be of great popularity since the more abstract domain of economy should
be conceptualized by a number of more concrete domains. For example,
we usually see such a metaphoric expression as seeing just one way for
Greece to go: up (The New York Times, 2014). The example illustrates
the use of the concrete domain of JOURNEY to structure ideas belonging
to the domain of ECONOMY. Studies on such use of metaphoric
expressions have been of certain extensiveness. Silva Bratož (2004)
conducts a comparative study of metaphor in English and Slovene used in
popular economic discourse. The study aims to figure out the domains
used business reports in both languages to conceptualize the domain of
economy. Similarly, Black and Ennis (2001) carry out another study of

11. 4
conceptual metaphors between English and Spanish in financial reporting
mainly about stock market crash. According to the findings, there are not
only many similarities but also differences in frequently used metaphors
between two languages. Bai Jinhong (2010) also carries out a study on
conceptual metaphor exploited in the journal Business Week and the
newspaper The New York Times although the study is confined to the
headlines only.
The review of previous studies has encouraged the writer to conduct
further research on conceptual metaphors used in English articles so that
the source domains can be found, and the most frequently used domain can
be identified. In short, it is worth analyzing metaphors in economic reports
to figure out how they work in this field and to categorize other concrete
source domains that are normally used to conceptualize the target domain
of economy.
2. Objectives and scope of the study
2.1. Objectives of the study
This study primarily concentrates on the metaphors used in economic
reports. Its aim is to have an insight into how metaphors are correlated to
human physical experience and constructed in economic reports. In
addition, the analysis of this correlation will set foundation for later
categorization of the source domains which are exploited in the metaphors
in these economic reports.

12. 5
2.2. Scope of the study
The research on metaphoric expressions has a long history with
different standpoints. In the traditional view, metaphors should be
regarded as a figure of speech and those metaphoric expressions are
expected to appear in poetry and literary works for rhetorical aims and are
far from use in communication. The second view on metaphor emerged in
1980 and was marked by the publication of Metaphors, We Live By,
written by Lakoff and Johnson. The approach they suggested, known as
the cognitive linguistics view of metaphors, posed a real challenge to the
traditional view since they propose that metaphor exists not only in
language but also in action and thought (2003). Among two views briefly
discussed above, this study takes the latter since economic reports, the
subject of this study, should not be treated as literary works but part of
human communication.
Since its introduction, many cognitive studies of metaphor have been
conducted in politics, sports, economy and many other aspects. This paper
does not expect to cover all those aspects of life, and only conceptual
metaphors found in economic reports are analyzed. Despite the abundance
of economic magazines and journals, this paper focuses only on the
articles from the New York Times posted in 2013.
3. Significance of the study
With this study, the writer strives to make a little theoretical and
practical contribution. Firstly, as part of his endeavor, this paper is
expected to provide an insight into how metaphor works in the field of
economy, which is to add some value to the theory of metaphor from the

13. 6
perspective of cognitive linguistics. The findings and analysis of
metaphors in economic reports also prove the statement made by Lakoff
and Johnson (1980, 1999) that metaphors are conceptual as many of the
ways in which we think and act are basically metaphorical and that
metaphors are not confined to literal works only.
Secondly, for writers of journals, newspapers and magazines, this
study is to provide a practical analysis on how metaphors work and how
they are constructed in economic reports. They are, hence, encouraged to
exploit this linguistic feature so that ideas can be presented in a
comprehensible manner. That is to say, the writer looks forward to
bringing something beneficial to economic reporters in their attempts to
win readers‘ interest.
Finally, this research is also expected to prove the significance of
conceptual metaphors in business reports and to come up with a system of
common domains used to describe the abstract domain of economy.
Hence, translators, teachers, and students of English will be provided with
one of the guideline aiming at native-like use of language in a specific
discourse
4. Research methodology
4.1. Research questions
An investigation into metaphors in business reports aims at shedding
light on these three questions:
Question 1: How frequently is conceptual metaphor exploited in business
reports in The New York Times?

14. 7
Question 2: What are the most frequently used source domains used to
conceptualize the target domain of economy?
Question 3: What is the value that metaphors used in business reports in
The New York Times adding to the reports?
4.2. Research approach
This research approaches metaphor from the perspective of cognitive
linguistics. In this view, metaphors are conceptual and many of the ways
in which we perceive and act are basically metaphorical (Evans and Green,
2006), and the source domain serves as the background for structuring and
understanding the target domain (Langacker, 1987).
The study is of both qualitative and quantitative approaches. Firstly,
the study involves the collecting, categorizing and counting metaphorical
expressions quantitatively in the articles. Secondly, the additional value of
metaphoric expressions will be analyzed qualitatively. Furthermore, the
method of direct interview is also applied among economists to decide the
value added by conceptual metaphors.
4.3. Data collection and analysis
This research is conducted mainly based on the primary data
collected from economic reports of The New York Times and can be
divided into three stages.
The first stage involves the collection of reports, which is to provide
some data for the next stage. To ensure the up-to-date-requirements, the
chosen reports should be released in 2013 and 2014 including such fields
as banking and finance, marketing, investment, human resources, financial

15. 8
public management and so on. The reports should be varied in terms of
topics and authors so that a complete investigation can be achieved.
The second stage develops on the data from the first step and is to
answer the first two research questions. In this stage, metaphors are
identified from those reports. Afterwards, those metaphors will be
categorized and the frequency of metaphors will be determined. First, the
frequency of metaphors in English articles will be the average frequency
of metaphors in each article. The frequency of metaphors in each article is
determined by dividing the number of metaphors by the number of words
per article. Secondly, the frequency of different domains will be
determined by dividing the number of metaphorical expressions of each
domain by the total number of metaphorical expressions identified from
the articles.
The third stage involves the qualitative analysis of additional value
of using metaphorical expressions. The analysis should base on
comparisons between the texts with and without metaphorical expressions.
This analysis should be based on specific cases of metaphorical
expressions taken from the articles.
5. Design of the study
The study will be constructed as follow:
PART 1: INTRODUCTION
In this part, rationale, aims and objectives of the study, scope of the
study are expected to be presented.

16. 9
PART 2: DEVELOPMENT
Chapter 1: Theoretical background and literature review
In this chapter, the writer is supposed to deeply discuss such basic
concepts of metaphors in cognitive linguistics as types of metaphors,
mappings and image schemas. Moreover, previous studies on the same
issue should be presented at length so that the readers and the writer can
reach an agreement on what has been achieved in this field.
Chapter 2: Research methodology
This chapter includes the methods which are exploited in this study
as well as a discussion on the reason for choosing the methods
Chapter 3: Data collection and analysis
In addition, the writer also discusses sources of data, how the data
should be selected and the analytical framework to analyze them.
Chapter 4: Findings
This chapter deals with presenting the findings from the work of data
analysis above, including the presentation of frequency of metaphors in
economic reports and main categories of source domains in those
metaphoric expressions.
PART 3: CONCLUSION
In this part, the writer attempts to summarize the main points in this
study. Also, some limitations should be identified and implications for
application of the results and for further studies are pointed out.

17. 10
PART B: DEVELOPMENT
CHAPTER 1: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND
1.1. Cognitive linguistics
Cognitive Linguistics discussed in this paper refers to the approach
to the study of language that started its emergence in the 1970s and has
gain most of its increasing popularity since the 1980s. More than a quarter
century later, a massive amount of study has been generated under the
light of cognitive linguistics, most of which has a strong focus on
semantics. However, a considerable proportion is also devoted to syntax
and morphology, and other areas of linguistics are also researched into
under the view of cognitive linguistics, such as language acquisition,
phonology, and historical linguistics.
One of the important assumptions shared by all of these scholars is
that meaning is so central to language that it must be a primary focus of
study. Three major hypotheses as guiding the cognitive linguistic approach
to language are pointed out (Croft, W. & Cruise, D. A., 2004):
 Language is not an autonomous cognitive faculty
 Grammar is conceptualization
 Knowledge of language emerges from language use
The first hypothesis is that language is not an autonomous cognitive
faculty. Consequently, the representation of linguistic knowledge is
essentially the same as the presentation of other conceptual structures, and
that the processes in which that knowledge is used are not fundamentally

18. 11
different from cognitive abilities that human beings use outside the domain
of language.
The second major hypothesis of the cognitive linguistic approach is
embodied in Langacker‘s slogan (1987) ‗grammar is conceptualization.‘ A
major aspect of human cognitive ability is the conceptualization of the
experience to be communicated.
The third major hypothesis of the cognitive linguistic approach is
that knowledge of language emerges from language use. That is to say,
categories and structures in semantics, syntax, morphology and phonology
are built up from our cognition of specific utterances on specific occasions
of use.
1.2. Metaphors
1.2.1. Traditional views on metaphors
There have been a number of linguistic scholars making a real
attempt to provide a definition of metaphors. This part is to review several
noticeable definitions of linguistic metaphors according to traditional
views.
Firstly, Aristotle (1954) should be first mentioned since he provides
us with the first extant definition of metaphors, which states that
‗metaphor is the application of a word that belongs to another thing.‘ In
other words, metaphor is an instance in which the name customarily used
to signify one thing is used in reference to a thing that is customarily
signified by another name. As Aristotle (1954) goes on to indicate, this
transference of the name of one thing to another can take place in four

19. 12
principle ways: ‗either from genus to species, species to genus, species to
species, or by analogy.‘
Similarly, Murray Knowles (2005) considers metaphors as ‗the use
of language to refer to something other than what it was originally applied
to, or what it literally means, in order to suggest some resemblance or
make a connection between the two things.‘ Furthermore, Murray also
associates metaphors with ‗creative, poetic expression and idea‘ which are
typical of literature in a way that they are non-literal and figurative uses of
languages.
The idea that metaphors are only used and considered ‗as a mere
ornament or embellishment‘ is also shared by a number of previous
language researchers (Cassirer, 1946).
Likewise, from his study in both Vietnamese and English discourse,
Đỗ Hữu Châu (1966) mentions the traditional view on metaphor that
‗Metaphor is the transference of meaning (name) from one object to
another, based on similarity between two objects.‘ Accordingly, the
resemblance of two objects makes a great contribution to the
comprehension of metaphorical meaning. Metaphor may never be feasible
to function without the similarity among objects under human observation.
Lakoff (1980), who is among influential cognitive linguists, admit
that traditionally and ‗for most people‘, metaphor is ‗a device of poetic
imagination and the rhetorical flourish.‘ That is to say, metaphor is
conventionally considered to be a matter of ‗extraordinary language rather
than ordinary language.‘
All in all, it can be seen that most tradition views on metaphors
center around the following points. Firstly, metaphor is a figurative usage
of speech which can be frequently found in literature although quite

20. 13
limited in everyday communication. Second, metaphor functions properly
thanks to the similarity among objects under the figuration of writers. That
is to say, metaphors have been isolated from daily use of language, and the
cognitive mechanism for the receivers of the massage to understand the
underlining meaning of metaphor has been ignored.
1.2.2. Conceptual metaphors under the light of cognitive linguistics
1.2.2.1. Definition of conceptual metaphors
Since it was first introduced in the 1970s, cognitive linguistics has
provided a new approach to the study of metaphors with valuable findings.
Lakoff. (1987, 2003) has found that, on the contrary to the view held by
most people, ‗metaphor is pervasive in everyday life, not just in language
but in thought and action.‘ Accordingly, metaphor is actually metaphoric
concept; our conceptual system, in terms of what we think or act, is
basically metaphorical in nature. To be more specific, conceptual
metaphor (or cognitive metaphor) in cognitive linguistics refers to the
understanding of one conceptual domain (target) in terms of another
domain (source domain). On other words, the abstract domain is
interpreted or conceptualized by a more concrete source domain.
Lakoff and his colleagues (1987, 1980, 1999) make a number of
specific claims about conceptual metaphors. One important among which
is that conceptual metaphors usually build a linkage between a concrete
domain and an abstract domain in such a way that the former normally
gives metaphorical structure to the latter. A similar perspective is shared
by Barceloiia (2000:3) who believes 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

21. 14
domain is partially understood in terms of another experiential domain‖.
Similarly, Radden (2007) use difference words to the so-called
―experiential domain‖. He defines conceptual metaphor as "a means of
understanding abstract domains by relating them to better-known
domains and experiences in the physical world".
In Vietnam, Trần Văn Cơ (2009,86-87) explains that
conceptual metaphor is viewed as when we think one object in terms of
another one. Thereby, in the process of normal perception, complex and
abstract notions, through metaphor, establish a correlation with more
concrete or observable notions.
By studying various definitions of conceptual metaphors under the
light of cognitive linguistics, some of the following points should be
agreed upon: firstly, conceptual metaphor is a matter of ordinary use of
language that can be noticed in every case of communication; Second,
conceptual metaphor functions properly thanks to the association of target
domain (which is supposed to be abstract) with source domain (which is
supposed to be concrete); Thirdly, conceptual metaphor plays a vital role
in the human‘s process of understanding phenomenon in the world,
without which the human being‘s exploration of the world will be
considerably limited.
1.2.2.2. Analysis conceptual metaphors
Source domain and Target domain
Croft (2004) studying Lakoff and Johnson‘s theory of metaphor
suggests that the metaphor should not be treated as an attribute of
individual linguistic expressions and their meanings, but of whole
conceptual domains. He defines source domain as ‗the domain supporting
the literal meaning of the expression‘, and target domain as ‗the domain

22. 15
which the sentence is actually about‘. In principle, any concept from the
source domain can be used to describe a concept in the target domain.
Similarly, according to Knowles and Moon (2005), it must be noted
that conceptual metaphors equate two concept areas. The term source
domain is used for the concept area from which the metaphor is drawn.
Target domain is used for the concept area to which the metaphor is
applied.
As in the following statements:
Your claims are indefensible
He attacked every weak point in my argument
His criticism were right on the target
I demolished his argument
I‘ve never won an argument with him
You disagree? Ok! Shoot!
He shot down all of my argument.
WAR is the source domain, and ARGUMENT is the target domain
in the metaphor ARGUMENT IS WAR.
Mappings
Lakoff and Johnson use a formula A (target domain) IS B (source
domain) to describe the metaphorical link between the two domains.
Conceptual metaphor theory sees the connection between concept areas in
terms of correspondences or mappings between elements within source
and target domain (Knowles, M. and Moon, R., 2005). A typical feature in
the concept area or source domain responds to or maps onto one typical
feature in the target domain. A metaphor is therefore a conceptual
mapping between two domains. However, it should be noted that not all

23. 16
aspects of a source necessarily map onto the target since some mappings
are much more extensive than others.
The mapping between source and target domains involves two sorts
of correspondences, epistemic and ontological.
Ontological correspondences: relations between elements of one
domain and elements of the other domain
Source: HEAT OF FLUID Target: ANGER
Container body
Heat of fluid anger
Heat scale Anger scale
Pressure in container Experienced pressure
Agitation of boiling fluid Experienced agitation
Limit of container‘s resistance
Limit of person‘s ability to
suppress anger
Explosion Loss of control

24. 17
Epistemic correspondences demonstrate relations holding between
elements in one domain and relations between elements in the other
domain.
When fluid in a container is
heated beyond a certain limit,
pressure increases to point at
which container explodes.
When anger increases beyond
a certain
An explosion is damaging to
container and dangerous to
bystanders
Loss of control is damaging to
person and dangerous to
others
Explosion can be prevented by
applying sufficient force and
counter-pressure
Anger can be suppressed by
force of will
Controlled release of pressure
may occur, which reduces
danger of explosion
Anger can be released in a
controlled way, or vented
harmlessness, thus reducing
level.
It should also be noted that correspondences, or mapping, between
two domains are presented in conceptual system, and therefore are fully
conventionalized among members of a speech community. That is also a
requirement for a conceptual metaphor to function properly.
1.2.2.3. Classification of conceptual metaphors
In the 1980 edition of Metaphor We Like By, Lakoff. G. and Johnson
G. identify three categories of conceptual metaphors, including structural,
orientational, ontological.
Firstly, structural metaphors are ―cases where one concept is
metaphorically structured in terms of another.‖ Therefore, framework for

25. 18
target domains is provided by source domain. These frameworks
determine the way we talk about entities and activities which the target
domains refer to (Knowles, M. and Moon, R., 2005)
The conceptual metaphor ARGUMENT is WAR is an example of
structural metaphor. It builds a framework in which one aspect in the
domain of ARGUMENT can be conceptualized by one in the domain of
WAR.
Secondly, orientational metaphor, according to Lakoff and Johnson
(1980/2003:14), ‗organizes a whole system of concepts with respect to one
another.‘ It is typically involves ‗an orientional or spatial concept of some
kinds, such as up/down and in/ out’ (Knowles, M. and Moon, R., 2005),
for example:
HAPPY IS UP/ SAD IS DOWN
HEALTH IS UP/ WEAKNESS IS DOWN
MORE IS UP/ LESS IS DOWN
Lakoff and Johnson give these examples for MORE IS UP/ LESS IS
DOWN
The number of books printed each year keeps going up.
My income rose last night.
The number of errors he made is incredibly low.
If you‘re too hot, turn the heat down.
Study of orientational metaphors suggests that many of these
metaphors are universal rather than culture-specific. (Knowles, M. &
Moon, R., 2005). That is to say, this linguistic phenomenon can be
observed in a variety of languages.
Finally, ontological metaphors allow us to conceptualize and talk
about things, experiences, and processes (Lakoff 1980, 2003; Knowles, M.
& Moon, R., 2005). Ontological metaphors arise from our experiences

26. 19
with physical objects (especially our own bodies), and it provides ways of
viewing events, activities, emotions, ideas, etc., as entities and substances.
Ontological metaphor can be illustrated in the INFLATION IS AN
ENTITY metaphor (Lakof, 1980), in which inflation is treated as a human
with actions and feelings:
Inflation is lowering our standard of living.
Inflation is eating up our profit.
Inflation makes me sick
Knowles, M. and Moon, R. (2005) admit that there are overlaps
between these three categories. Structural metaphors and orientatioal
metaphors may have ontological functions, while ontological metaphor
relies on having structured source domain.

27. 20
CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1. Study on conceptual metaphors
From the foundation laid by cognitive linguists mentioned in the
previous part, a huge amount of research has been conducted with
encouraging achievement. This part of the paper is to provide a critical
review on previous research of conceptual metaphors in several different
contexts, together with achievements in the study of conceptual metaphor
in economic newspapers.
Phan Thế Hưng (2012) has been successful in identify 13 common
source domains and 11 common target domains with specific illustrations.
Common sources domains include:
o Human body
o Health and disease
o Animals
o Plants
o Houses and construction
o Machines and tools
o Games and sports
o Money and trade transactions
o Cooking and food
o Hot and cold (temperature)
o Light and darkness
o Force and strength
o Move and direction

28. 21
Common target domains include:
o Emotion
o Desire
o Ethics
o Thoughts
o Society and country
o Politics
o Economy
o Human relationship
o Communication
o Death and life
o Events and actions
As for him, the identification of such common source and target
domains has a big implication for students and other researchers in the
field of conceptual metaphors. Firstly, with specific examples and a
detailed list, the writer definitely facilitates others‘ understanding of
conceptual metaphors and its distinction from linguistic metaphors.
Secondly, it functions as a guideline for other researchers to a potential
field for their cultivation. In fact, many researchers may find some ideas
for their work when studying this list of common domains.
However, the research also poses some questions to other linguistics
researchers. Firstly, when it comes to a specific context, is the list still the
same? It is assumable that the common domains used in the context of
economy may be different from ones applied in literature, for example.
Furthermore, there is also a doubt that whether the list completely covers
all domains used in a specific context. That is to say, it is highly possible

29. 22
that the list of common domains in various contexts can, to some extent,
vary. Thirdly, it is likely that less common domains should also be studied
since they may somehow affect the comprehension of the message. Those
questions definitely lead to further study on the topic of conceptual
metaphor.
Nguyễn Thị Bích Hạnh (2014) also conducts research on Trịnh Công
Sơn‘s songs. In particular, the researcher investigates the use of two kinds
of conceptual metaphor: structural and orientational metaphors
(UP/DOWN). What is encouraging from the research is that the writer
looks into a rather new research objective. Conceptual metaphors in music
and song lyrics have not been often studied previously, and this greatly
consolidates the prevailing of conceptual metaphors in various fields.
Another success of the writer is to contribute to the analysis of conceptual
metaphors in Vietnamese.
Issac Machakanja (2006) also makes a comparison between English
and Shona in terms of conceptual metaphors. The value of the research lies
in the collaborate description of container metaphors, in which activities,
states, and events have been recognized as the most common source
domains.
A number of other researchers studying conceptual metaphors should
be credited. Nguyễn Thị Thanh Bình (2012) explores conceptual
metaphors in the Declaration of Independence of the US presidents. Trần
Thị Minh Yến (2014) particularly looks at conceptual metaphors denoting
―anger‖ in the daily star.co.uk.. In comparison between Vietnamese and
English, Lưu Thị Hải Vân (2012) conducts a contrastive analysis of the
metaphor ―ANGER IS HEAT.‖

30. 23
All the research reviewed above is to prove the nature of conceptual
metaphor, which is a matter of ordinary language that can be found in
every language with its value in conceptualizing and facilitating the
process people perceive the world.
In fact, there have been a great number of linguistics researchers
trying to answer the questions mentioned above.
Similarly, during the last few decades, study on conceptual
metaphors in different languages and in different fields has been
prosperous.
2.2. Study on conceptual metaphor in economic discourse
In the field of economy and economic reports, study of conceptual
metaphor is not a new trend. Their research has been carried out in
different languages and in various contexts. Fahad (2007) conducts a
comparative study of metaphor in Arabic and English. Analyzing mostly
students‘ writing and conversation meetings, the author has identified two
most popular conceptual metaphors: LIFE IS A JOURNEY and TIME IS
COMMODITY. Admittedly, the research has made some contributions to
proving the power of conceptual metaphors in the use of language and in
the context of business writing. In addition, his research has an essential
implication when it comes to business writing teaching.
With regards to the topic discussed in this paper, conceptual
metaphors in economical reports, a number of researches on the same
topic have been collected and studied. Internationally, Silva Bratoz (2004)
conducts a comparative study of conceptual metaphor in English and
Slovene popular economic discourse. The research identifies that the two
languages share the same conceptualizations of the economy as an

31. 24
organism and downward market movements as natural disasters. However,
the study of common domains and the value of conceptual metaphors in
communication tend to be ignored.
With a view to shedding light on the use of conceptual metaphors in
popular economic discourse, Eva Kovacz (2000) has been successful in
identifying five major conceptual metaphors:
o BUSINESS/ECONOMY IS A HUMAN BEING
o BUSINESS IS WAR
o BUSINESS IS A GAME AND A SPORT
o BUSINESS IS MARRIAGE
o BUSINESS IS ACTING IN A THEATER/ CONCERT
The writer provides a careful analysis of each conceptual metaphor,
which is definitely to lay a foundation for further study on the same field.
However, the frequency of each conceptual metaphors is not mentioned in
the study.
Vương Thị Kim Thanh (2011) does a survey on conceptual metaphor
in economic report titles in Vietnamese, which analyses two conceptual
metaphors MARKET IS WAR and MARKET IS WEATHER. The
research has made some contributions in that it proves the existence of
conceptual metaphors in economic discourse. However, the number of
conceptual metaphors noted in the research is still limited.
Likewise, Hồ Thị Hải Yến (2014) also examines conceptual
metaphors denoting ―ECONOMY‘ as ―HUMAN BODY‖ in New York
Times. This paper particularly looks at a specific conceptual metaphor.
That is to say, it is likely that a number of other conceptual metaphors
have been ignored in the research.

32. 25
Phạm Thị Hằng (2012) also analyses the use of conceptual
metaphors in advertising slogans of several cell phone brands. Mostly, the
research aims at providing a classification of conceptual metaphors in
advertising slogans. Hence, a comprehensive look into the use of source
domains is still questioned after the research.
It can be inferred from the study of conceptual metaphors mentioned
above that conceptual metaphor research in economy and newspaper
discourse is not a new trend in linguistics. However, most previous study
has a tendency to focus on several specific domains. That is to say, it is
still an open question that what domains are commonly used when it
comes to economic articles. Furthermore, the value added to the discourse
has not been investigated in this context. To answer these questions is
necessary since they have a big implication for not only translators but
only teachers and students of English.

33. 26
CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
3.1. Research questions
From the analysis of previous research, it can be suggested that
conceptual metaphors play an indispensible roles in language. The
theoretical background also poses several questions for other research to
be done.
In this paper, the writer has a particular look at the discourse of
economic reports in New York Times in his attempt to answer the
following questions:
Question 1: How frequently is conceptual metaphor exploited in economic
reports in The New York Times?
Question 2: What are the most frequently used source domains used to
conceptualize the target domain of economy?
Question 3: What is the value that metaphors used in economic reports in
The New York Times adding to the reports?
Firstly, the writer attempts to find out the frequency of conceptual
metaphors in economic reports. This is an effort to prove the
overwhelming of conceptual metaphors in a specific context, economic
reports in New York Times. Secondly, the writer attempts to identify the
most commonly used source domains among the conceptual metaphors
specified in the first research question. Finally, the writer continues to
discuss the value that conceptual metaphors bring to the language and the
process of communication.

34. 27
3.2. Research methodology
To find out the answer to three questions suggested in the previous
part, a process involving data collection and data analysis has been
conducted, which is collaborated as follows.
3.2.1. Data and data collection
3.2.1.1. The New York Times
The New York Times (sometimes abbreviated to NYT) is an
American daily newspaper, founded and continuously published in New
York City since September 18, 1851, by The New York Times
Company. The New York Times has won 117 Pulitzer Prizes, more than
any other news organization.
In 2015, With more than 1 million digital-only subscribers and 1.1
million print-and-digital subscribers, the Times says it has more
subscribers than ever before in its 164-year history. With a huge number of
subscribers, the New York Times proves itself one of the noticeable
representatives of language used in media. That is also the reason for the
writer to choose economic reports on this newspaper as objective of the
research.
The newspaper is organized in three sections, including:
 News: Includes International, National, Washington, Business
and Economy, Technology, Science, Health, Sports,
The Metro Section, Education, Weather, and Obituaries.
 Opinion: Includes Editorials, Op-Eds and Letters to the Editor.

35. 28
 Features: Includes Arts, Movies, Theater, Travel, NYC Guide,
Food, Home & Garden, Fashion & Style, Crossword, The New
York Times Book Review, T: The New York Times Style
Magazine, The New York Times Magazine, and Sunday Review.
3.2.2. Data collection
Considered to be good representatives of language used in media
discourse, 40 economic reports are chosen from www.nytimes.com dated
from 2013 to 2014. Firstly, the choice of these 40 reports is totally random
among the reports of 300 to 2000 words. Therefore, totally 38.658 words
will be analyzed in this research. The number is believed to be adequate
for most conceptual metaphors to be covered. Secondly, all the reports are
from online-sources because of its accessibility and the fact that there is
little difference between digital and print reports in terms of language.
3.2.3. Data analysis
The process of collected data is fundamentally based on some of the
following methods:
 Critical metaphor analysis (CMA)
This method analyses the language including an extensive variety of
discourses in its natural use. It excludes any linguistic phenomenon created
for a specific model, and the data collected must be representative. The
process of CMA undergoes three stages: identification, comprehension,
and explanation (Phan Thế Hưng, 2012)

36. 29
Firstly, the first stage of identification of conceptual metaphors
undergoes two main steps: (1) reading the text carefully and notice
potential metaphors under given characteristics, (2) studying the context to
decide whether the metaphors have a ordinary of a metaphoric
conceptualization.
Secondly, the comprehension of metaphors involves the
establishment of the relationship between the metaphors and other
cognitive elements in the metaphors.
Thirdly, the explanation of metaphors involves the realization of
elements of society, culture, emotion, and even the embodiment of
creating and using conceptual metaphors.
 Quantitative research
In the research, the writer will determine the total number of
metaphors used in the collected materials. After that, calculation will be
carried out to determine how many conceptual metaphors are used in an
average article, and the density of conceptual metaphors in consideration
with the length of collected articles can be figured out. This attempt is to
evaluate the frequency of conceptual metaphors in economic discourses.
In the next step, the specified metaphors will be grouped together
based on the same domains they belong to. This is to decide the frequency
of source domains and to find out the most popular domains applied in this
kind of discourse. The less common domains can also be noted.

37. 30
 Qualitative research
Qualitative research is conducted in this research when the writer
strives to analyze the contribution of conceptual metaphors in the text. To
decide the value that metaphor brings to the communication process, the
writer tries substituting the metaphorical expression with a different non-
metaphorical one with the same meaning. Then the difference will be
noted to determine the functions of conceptual metaphors.
 Direct interview
With a view to clarifying the values added by the use of conceptual
metaphors, the writer conducts a survey which includes pairs of sentences,
one with metaphorical expressions and the other without those
expressions. After that, the interviewees are asked to explain their choice,
which is to identify the difference between sentences.
3.3. Research procedures
The research is conducted through the four distinct stages.
 Stage 1: collecting data
40 reports and articles are randomly collected from the website
www.nytimes.com as long as it meets three requirements: (1) the
text is from 300 to 2000 words long; (2) it is from the sections of
business news; (3) it was published between 2013 and 2014.

38. 31
 Stage 2: identifying metaphors
The writer will study the text carefully and notice all metaphors in
the collected texts.
 Stage 3: figuring out the frequency of metaphors and of each
domain
From the specified metaphors, the writer bases on the number of
metaphors and continues to figure out the frequency of metaphors
per article/ report and the frequency of each domain in the texts by
calculations.
 Stage 4: figuring out the value added by conceptual metaphors
In this stage, the write conducts qualitative research to find out the
significance of conceptual metaphors in the process of delivering
and receiving a message in this kind of discourse.

39. 32
CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND ANALYSIS
4.1. Frequency of conceptual metaphors denoting ECONOMY in
economic reports on New York Times
This is the finding of quantitative research aimed at answering the
first research questions ―How frequently is conceptual metaphor exploited
in economic reports in The New York Times?” This part of the paper will
present the figures relating to the frequency of conceptual metaphors
denoting the target domain of ECONOMY in the titles and the main
contents of 40 collected corpus.
4.1.1. Frequency of conceptual metaphors denoting ECONOMY in titles
of economic reports on New York Times
After the investigation of the titles of totally 40 corpus, the
researcher finds out that conceptual metaphors are inevitable even only
when it comes to the title of a single report.
The table below is an illustration of the number of titles with
metaphors denoting the target domain ECONOMY in comparison with the
number of titles without the application of conceptual metaphors.
Number of titles Percentage
Titles with conceptual metaphors 26 65%
Title without conceptual metaphors 14 35%
Total 40 100%
Table 2: The number of titles with conceptual metaphors

40. 33
As can be seen from the table above, the titles with linguistic
metaphors identified in the collected economic reports accounts for
65%.Therefore, it can be concluded that conceptual metaphors denoting
ECONOMY is preferentially used among titles of economic reports in The
New York Times.
The conceptual metaphors used in the titles cover a variety of source
domains. Below are several examples of conceptual metaphors:
- ECONOMY IS A WAR/
After Years of Battling, Bank of America and MBIA Settle
Mortgage Dispute. [3]
- ECONOMY IS A GAME/ SPORT
Yahoo Rolls the Dice on TV. [34]
- ECONOMY IS A HUMAN
European Banks Show Signs of Health Despite the Broader
Malaise. [12]
- ECONOMY IS A JOURNEY
Kodak Spinoffs Clear Path For Exit From Bankruptcy. [16]
- ECONOMY IS A PLANT
More Thoughts on Growing Your Business — and Helping
Employees. [21]
- ECONOMY IS A RIVER/ LAKE/ STREAM
Hasty Arrangements in Depths of Crisis Return to Haunt Chrysler.
[2]
Looking Beyond Crisis, Deutsche Bank Issues Shares to Shore Up
Its Books. [12]
- ECONOMY IS A BUBBLE
Amazon‘s Boom In the Cloud. [4]

41. 34
Shell Makes a Heavy Bet On a Boom in Natural Gas. [11]
- ECONOMY IS FOOD/ DIGESTION
Yahoo Sweetens Leave Benefits For New Parents. [5]
- ECONMY IS WEATHER
JPMorgan‘s Directors Feel Heat In a Vote [7]
- ECONOMY IS AN ANIMAL
A New Fed Thought for ‗Too Big to Fail‘ Banks: Shrink Them [8]
- ECONOMY IS A MACHINE/ TOOL
A Box of Tools For Start-Ups [10]
This exploitation of conceptual metaphors denoting ECONOMY in
article titles is understandable for some of the following reasons. First, the
domain ECONOMY/ BUSINESS itself is generally considered as an
abstract concept. Hence, the use of conceptual metaphors, which is
supposed to greatly facilitate readers‘ understanding, is necessary. Second,
the use of conceptual metaphors is observed to be able to bring some
discourse value, and consequently they function as a hook to catch
readers‘ attention. Finally, the source domain ECONOMY is undeniably
the most common when all the articles in research share the same theme of
BUSINESS/ ECONOMY. That is not to say, for economic reports, only
the domain of BUSINESS/ECONOMY is applied as the source domain.
Answers to the question can only be found when a complete study of
economic report titles is carried out.
On the other hand, it should also be noted that 35% titles do not
contain a conceptual metaphor. Compared to the number of titles with
metaphor, the figure is unpronounceable. However, this small group
should not be neglected. That is to say, besides conceptual metaphors,

42. 35
other linguistic tools can also be applied to construct a standard title to
catch readers‘ eye, although it is not discussed in the scope of this paper.
In brief, the use of conceptual metaphors denoting ECONOMY is a
feature of the titles of economic reports. This finding is in line with
previous research on the use of conceptual metaphors in titles of economic
reports. Deeper analysis on the frequency of each domain with be
discussed later in this paper.
4.1.2. Frequency of conceptual metaphors denoting ECONOMY in main
contents of economic reports on New York Times
A glance at how conceptual metaphors are made great used of in the
previous part has revealed their significance. Similarly, the investigation of
the main contents of the articles emphasizes the roles as well as the
proliferation of conceptual metaphors in economic reports.
In terms of the frequency of conceptual metaphors, several findings
should be noted. Firstly, conceptual metaphors are used in all forty articles
used as samples of the research. Accordingly, it can be concluded that
although conceptual metaphors are not applied to every title, they are
applied to every articles. This proves that conceptual metaphors are an
inevitable feature of economic discourse.
Secondly, excluding the conceptual metaphors identified in the titles
(26 titles with 27 conceptual metaphors identified), there are up to 616
conceptual metaphors in the main part of the articles. In comparison with
the number of articles, one observation can be made that for each corpus
of 966 words used for the analysis nearly 15 conceptual metaphors can be
spotted. Furthermore, when it is compared with the total number of words,
another point that can be made is for every 63 words, there emerges one

43. 36
conceptual metaphor. Those impressive figures are evidence of the wide
use of conceptual metaphors in English.
The number of identified metaphors denoting
ECONOMY in the main contents of reports
615
The rate of identified metaphors denoting ECONOMY in
the main contents of reports per word
1/ 62,8
The number of indentified metaphors denoting
ECONOMY in the main contents of reports per article
15.4/1
Table 3: The frequency of conceptual metaphors denoting ECONOMY
in the main part of economic reports on The New York Times
This finding is in line with the view suggested in the literature
review that conceptual metaphors, under the light of cognitive linguistics,
have always been of an ordinary language matter, which differs to the
traditional view of metaphors as a figure of speech in literature. With such
a high frequency, conceptual metaphors definitely play a significant role in
the text, which will be discussed later in this paper.
4.1.3. Discussion of frequency of conceptual metaphors in comparison
with previous studies
As presented in the part of literature review, the popularity of
conceptual metaphors in economic discourse has been widely agreed and
they, hence, be subjected to study of different purposes (Eva Kovacz,
2000; Farah, 2007; Silva Bratoz, 2004). The finding of this research is
another evidence to prove the significance of conceptual metaphors,
especially in economic discourse.
It should also be noted that in several researches suggested above,
the popularity of conceptual metaphors is presupposed and the research

44. 37
focuses on identification of common source and target domains. However,
this study assumes only the existence of conceptual metaphors, and its
frequency is the main aim of the study. That is why the writer of this paper
has made real efforts to find out the frequency of conceptual metaphors in
titles and in main contents, and all the figures support the fact that
conceptual metaphors are of great use in economic discourses.
Compared to previous study, this paper provides a deep look at the
frequency of conceptual metaphors though it is limited to the New Work
Times only. Hence, it is still early to prove the frequency of conceptual
metaphors in different discourses. The writer suggests that research should
be carried out to determine the frequency of conceptual metaphors in
various discourses.
4.2. Frequency of different source domains in conceptual metaphors
denoting ECONOMY in economic reports on The New York Times
After identifying conceptual metaphors in each text, those with the
same source domain are grouped together. This attempt is to decide the
frequency of each source domain and to identify any new domains that
have been neglected in previous study.
This quantitative research has led to some of the following
conclusions. First of all, it should be highlighted that up to 642 conceptual
metaphors are recognized in totally 40 articles, including their titles as
well as their main parts, and all of which fall into 17 categories of source
domains, which will be elaborated further in the next part.
Secondly, the distribution of different source domains varies greatly.
That is to say, there are a small number of frequently used source domains
to construct the conceptual metaphors, while others will be far less
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45. 38
preferred. The aim of this part is to point out which source domains are
more prioritized.
Among the 17 source domains identified, ECONOMY IS A
JOURNEY and ECONOMY IS WAR metaphors prove to be the dominant
ones with the proportion of 17%. Similarly, ECONOMY IS A GAME
AND SPORT (13%), and ECONOMY IS A HUMAN BODY (11%), are
of high frequency. These four conceptual metaphors constitute up to just
under 60% of the conceptual metaphors in investigated economic reports.
This figure is impressive, especially when compared with the aggregated
share of the other 13 with only 40%.
Conceptual metaphors No. Percentage
ECONOMY IS A JOURNEY 111 17%
ECONOMY IS WAR 106 17%
ECONOMY IS A GAME AND SPORT 84 13%
ECONOMY IS A HUMAN BODY 73 11%
ECONOMY IS A MACHINE/ TOOL 57 9%
ECONOMY IS A PLANT 41 6%
ECONOMY IS ACTING IN A THEATRE/ CINEMA/ CONCERT 24 4%
ECONOMY IS A BUILDING 24 4%
ECONOMY IS WEATHER/ NATURAL PHENOMENON 23 4%
ECONOMY IS MARRIAGE 20 3%
ECONOMY IS A LEGAL COURT 20 3%
ECONOMY IS HUNTING 13 2%
ECONOMY IS A BUBBLE 12 2%
ECONOMY IS A PARTY/ MEAL 8 1%
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46. 39
ECONOMY IS A RIVER/ LAKE/ STREAM 9 1%
ECONOMY IS FOOD/ DIGESTION 9 1%
ECONOMY IS ART 8 1%
TOTAL 642 100%
Table: The number and percentage of conceptual metaphors denoting
ECONOMY with different source domains
It is clear that in a striking contrast, four conceptual metaphors:
ECONOMY IS A PARTY/ MEAL, ECONOMY IS A RIVER/ LAKE/
STREAM, ECONOMY IS FOOD/DIGESTION, ECONOMY IS ART are
of noticeable scarcity and rarely noted in the corpus. Each of them takes
up only marginal 1% of the total conceptual metaphors.
The noticeable popularity of several domains in comparison with
others can partly reflect the nature of business and economy. This domain
has always been featured by three main characteristics: schedule,
competition, and lifespan. Hence, it is understandable why writers of these
articles have a tendency to associate ECONOMY with A JOURNEY,
WAR, A GAME, SPORT, and A HUMAN BODY.
In brief, the previous part has shed light on the second research
question with a view to figuring out the source domains applied in
conceptual metaphors in English economic reports and identifying the
most frequently used among them.
In the following part of this chapter, the writer attempts to
collaborate on different source domains, to provide several illustrations
and to discuss on their features realized in the texts.
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