Luận văn the use of conceptual metaphors in advertising slogans of nokia samsung apple blackberry and sony ericsson cell phones

To go further, it targets at five cell phone brands to find out the frequency of conceptual metaphors used in their advertising slogans and the subtypes of conceptual metaphors employed

TOE USE OF CONCEPTUAL METAPIIORS

TN ADVERTISING SLOGANS OF NOKIA, SAMSUNG, APPLE, BLACKBERRY AND SONY ERICSSON CELL PHONES

Vike sit dung da dup niém rong các khu hiệu quảng cáo cho điện thoại dĩ động

Nokia, Samsung, Apple, Blackberry va Sony Ericsson)

THESIS SUMMARY

M.A THESIS (Minot Programme)

Field: nglish Linguistics Code: 60 22 15

Hanøl - 2012

THE USE OF CONCEPTUAL METAPHORS

IN ADVERTISING SLOGANS OF NOKIA, SAMSUNG, APPLE,

BLACKBERRY AND SONY ERICSSON CELL PHONES

Hanoi - 2012

TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION

2 Objectives of the study and the research questions

3 Scope of the study

4 Method of the study Hee

5 Design of the study ¬—

6 Previous studics

CHAPTER Lb ‘THEORETICAL BACKGROUND

1 Definition of metaphors

2 Conceptual melaphors/ Cognitive metaphors

2.1 Conceptual metaphors in relation with cognitive linguistics

4.1, Definition of an advertising slogan

4.2 Qualities of an effective slogan "

1 Conceptual metaphors in advertising slogans

1.1 The effects of conceptual metaphors on audience

1.2 Conceptual metaphors in advertising slogans

CHAPTER IV: CONCLUSION:

1 Recapitulation of main ideas ¬—

2 Limitations of the study

3 Suggestions for further research,

CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION

1 Rationale

Tn the epoch of information explosion, it is inevitable for any of us to bump into

advertising words and images Advertising is all around us, though we like it or not, we hear it, see it and feel it albeit on purpose or just by some chance In order for a brand name lo go global, a goad advertisement of their product is a key matter, no wonder why billions of bugs have been spent on copywriting knelish, an international language, is used in every single advertisement with an aim of the company going

places world wide The utmost aim of the advertisement is to capture our attention

‘he whole aim of the copywriters is to get us register their communication either for

purposes af immediate action or fo make us more favourably disposed in general terms

to the advertised product or service [ ] so copywriters have to find ways to shout at

us from the page.” (Goddard, A., 1998: 11) A question may arise that how advertising

can impinge on people’s life so much and il is given a shor answer by Fairclough

Advertising has made many people into consumers, ie has brought about a

change in the way people are, in the sense that it has provided the most coherent and

persistent madel for consumer needs, values, tasies and behaviour It has done this by addressing people as if they were commonsensically already fully fledged consumers The general point is that if people are obliged day-in day-out to accupy the subject position of consumer, there is a good chance that they will become consumers [ } Advertising can show people lifestyles (and patterns of spending) which they might not

otherwise meet, but also invite them to “join” (1989: 207)

‘The researcher is captive in advertisements especially those of mobile phones That is the reason why I took a hook to go ahead with mobile phone advertising

slogans.

In order to achieve the aim of getumg customers notived, copywriters have contributed a non-stop effort in creating an attractive, memorable, distinct advertising slogan for cach brand The methods used in writing advertising slogans range from employing phonological aspect, lexical and morphological aspect, syntactic aspect to

semantic aspect More concretely, in phonological aspect, rhyme, homophone,

alliteration are oflen pul into consideration while in exical and morphological aspect, verh phrase, noun phrase, collocation, idiomatic construction, formation af new words

and phrases are of greal approval What’s more, when synlactic aspect can be found in

sentence types, sentence structure like ellipsis, somantic aspect is often realized

through rhetorical devices such 2s simile, hyperbole, metonymy, polysemy and

ielaphors The researcher is absolulely engaged in metaphors which have long been a part of my interest ‘Ihis explains the my reason to choose metaphors in advertising

Metaphors are a part and parcel of everyday life in that they appear in nearly all our everyday concepts without our realization of it Lakoff and Johnson give the notion

of conceptual metaphors which have explained this all in an easy-understanding way

This attributes to the cause for choosing Lakoff and Johnson's theory as a foundation

in analyzing the data obtained in the study

2 Objectives of the study and the research questions

‘The study aims to describe a language phenomenon happening in advertising

slogans, specifically conceptual metaphors To go further, it targets at five cell phone

brands to find out the frequency of conceptual metaphors used in their advertising slogans and the subtypes of conceptual metaphors employed based on the theory of

Lakoll and Johnson In other words, the study Ines to seck oul the answers to two

research questions

Research question I: Tow are conceptual metaphors frequently used in five

brands’ cell phone advertising slogans?

Research question 2: What are subtypes of conceptual metaphors employed in five brands’ cell phone advertising slogans?

3 Scope of the study

Due to the time constraint, the thesis only focuses on five cell phone brands’

slogans winch are world famous ones

The selected slogans of five brands are randomly taken from newspapers, TV

and the Internet al the researcher's ease

A corpus of 65 chosen slogans is not a big onc, so to some extents, the results

provided are just selective, not comprehensive

In this study, the analysis is based on the theory and classification of metaphors

given by Lakoff and Johnson

4, Method of the study

This research is a mixture of qualitative and statistical research Firstly,

qualitative research is employed in analyzing the canceptual metaphors as well as the

subtypes of conceptual metaphors in each slogan ‘The researcher uses statistical research method in order to give a description of a language phenomenon occurring in advertising slogans of five mobile phone brands in quantitative dala Tn addition, the exploratory research method is employed with an aim to examining the correlations

among three subtypes of conceptual metaphors namely structural, ontological and

orientational metaphors

5 Design of the study

‘The thesis consists of four chapters) CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION CIIAPTER I: TIHBORETICAL BACKGROUND, CIIAPTER IIE TE USE OF

METAPHORS IN CELL PHONE AND ADVERTISING SLOGANS and CHAPTER IV: CONCLUSION

In INTRODUCTION, the researcher provides the reason for conducting the

research Moreover, readers can find out the objectives of the study as well as the

research questions for the thesis The scope, method, design of the study and an

overview of previous studies are also stated in this chapter

The second chapter named TIIEORETICAL BACKGROUND will deal with

definition of metaphors, conceptual metaphors, the classification of conceptual

metaphors Morcover, a definition of advertising slogans, qualitios of an cffective

slogan are also given through which readers can be aware of the role of a slogan to a

comparry

‘The third chapter entitled THE USH OF METAPHORS IN CELL PHONE ADVERTISING SLOGANS provides the information about the effects of metaphors

on audience, conceptual metaphors in advertising slogans and the research procedures

in which data collection and data analysis methods are represented Further more, the

“results and discussion” section is a statistical description of metaphors used in

advertising slogans of five cell phone brands

The last chapter entitled CONCLUSION represents a recapitulation of the main ideas of the study, the linvitations of the siudy, some suggestions for further research

and the implications of the studies

6 Previous studies

Since advertising is crucial in evoking customers’ actions, copywriters have spent abundant lime researching for the linguistic devices to employ in their advertisements Among the linguistic devices, metaphors can really work wonders

To begin with Lapsanska’s (2006) “The language of advertising with the

concertralion on the lmguistic means and the analysis of advertising slogans”,

Lapsanska provides the analysis of language of advertising from linguistic point of view and specifies linguistic means used in advertising texts Iler work brings Knowledge about the usc of linguistic devices im print advertising The result of her research reveals that, among three groups of meaning transference including metaphor,

personification and polysemy/homonymy, metaphor is most frequently used in

adverlisements with 75/270 ads while the figures for the oller two are 24/270 and

9/270 respectively (2006:76) Czerpa has the same opinion when she notes that

melaphors in advertisements are powerful and compelling lool because they not only

enrich an add but also extend the meaning of toxtual/ visual message, orcating multi-

leveled layers of interpretation (Czerpa, 2006:3), Their point is made even stronger by

Kovesces’s statement, “an appropriate selected metuphor may work wonders in

promoting the sale of an item” (2002:59)

Leiss, Kline, and Jhally have used metaphors to study social communication in advertising They suggest that metaphors in advertisements have become a powerful and commonly used strategy “Metaphor is the very heart of the basic communication

form used in advertising” (Leiss et al 214)

‘The study of metaphors in advertising bas been used to gain insight about

consumers’ hehavior (Zaltman and Coulter, 1995) Zaltman'’s Metaphor Elicitation

Technique (ZMET) is 4 research tool developed to define and describe the metaphors

which drive consumers’ behaviour with implications for copy-writing Metaphors are

relevant to the study of advertising since they are “laden with symbols and imagery

that might be used creatively in implementing decisions that will animate or bring appropriate reasoning processes and mental models to life.” (as cited in Lapsanska,

Similarly, Fazio, Zanna and Cooper have found that direct experience may affect attitude formation by altering the way in which the available information is processed (Fazio ct al., 51) Since metaphors in consumer advertising require the consumers to become more actively involved and experienced on things in terms of another, advertising using metaphors may affect attitude formation towards a product

or brid, Al the very least, the active involvement stimulated by metaphors will alter the way in which the information is processed (Tazio et al., 51

However, all the above mentioned research mainly studied the visual metaphors

in advertising in particular and non-verbal metaphors in general

There have been some researches in Vietnam conceming the matter of adverlising Trang, B T (2010) reveals the typical (eckmiques employed i advertising slogans in terms of graphology, phonology, lexicology, syntax and semantics, however, she does not point out the use of metaphors in the advertising slogans Trang,

B T P (2011) gives an insight into metaphors used in English slogans by some banks

in the world In her research, Trang argues that the approachability of conceptual metaphorical expressions in banking context is very high and the use of ontological metaphors is of great approval,

To the researcher’s knowledge, there has been no study about metaphors in cell phone advertising slogans bul in cosmetics, foodstull, banking, ole Therefore, by conducting this research, 1 hope to contribute into the metaphor world in advertising, another field.

CHAPTER IE THEORETICAL BACKGROUND

1 Definition of metaphors

An enormous effort has been made in the course of finding a way to define what

metaphor is by many scholars and researchers all around the world Gibbs (1999:29)

even introduces an ironical statement by Wayne Hooth that by the year 2039 “there would be more students of metaphor than people” (quoted in Michael White, Estudios

Tugleses de la Universidad Complutense, Vol.10 (2002) 309-315)

Aristotle who is the first to provide a scholarly treatment of metaphors give a

somehow detailed definition A metaphor “consists of giving the thing a name that

belongs to something else; the transference being cither from gertius to species, or fram

species to genius, or from species to species, or on the ground of analogy” (quoted in

Reck, D 2002:3) 1 A Richards goes further when he defines metaphors through twa

terms fopic and vehicle in which the latter term is used metaphorically and the relationship between two terms is call ground Koveoses, one of the most significant

Hungarian researchers of metaphors gives out his definition as follows

In the cognitive linguistic view, metaphor is defined as understanding one conceptual domain in terms of anather conceptual domain [ ] The conceptual

domain from which we draw melaphorical expressions ix lo smderstand another

conceptual domain called source domain, while the conceptual domain that is

understood this way is the target domain [ ] Understanding one domain in terms of

another involves a set of fixed correspondences (technically called mappings) between

a source and a target domain (2002: 4) (quoted in Agnes (2009-20)}

All defimbons have in common that they speak of two tenms related to cach

other thanks to the similaities they have, But they also limit the fimetion of metaphors

to embellish or decorate the language

In their work, Lakoff and Johnson (1980:3) said:

Metaphor is for most people a device of the poetic imagination and the rhetorical flourish — a matter of extraordinary rather than ordinary language Moreover, metaphor is t:pically viewed as characteristic of language alone, a matter

of words rather than thought ar action Mor this reason, most people think they can get

along perfecily well without metaphor We have found, on the contrary, that metaphor

is pervasive i everyday life, nol just in language but in thought and action Our ordinary conceptual system, in terms of which we bath think and act, is fundamentally

metaphorical in nature

By what they haye found, Lakoff and Johnson indicate that metaphors not only

influence our “linguistic behavior but also our thought processes and our system of value.” (ciled in Agnes, 2009: 21)

2 Conceptual metaphors/cognitive metaphors

2.1 Conceptual metaphors in relation with cognitive linguistics

In order to understand conceptual’ cognitive metaphors, there’s a need to have

an understanding of eoguitive Hnguistios As we all know, language is nat only a tool

of thought and communication but a spiritual “product” of human beings which has in

it the specific cultural distinctions of each nation

Cognitive scicnce began to develop in America in the 60s of 20" century, along

with the new tendency of linguistics namely transformational grammar and later

generative grammar advocated by Noam Chomsky Along with the flourishing of

cognilive psychology, cognitive Hinguistics was formed on the foundation of famous

researches by Noam Chomsky, Ronald W Langacker, Charles J Fillmore, R

Jackendof?, Gilles Faucormier Langacker developed the concepl profile theory which

latter became the center of cognitive linguistics In 1989, international conference on

cognitive linguistics was held in Duisburg, Germany In this conference, the

International Coguuitive Linguistics Association was established and the cognitive

linguistics journal (led by Dirk Geeraerts as chief editor in 1990) was also bom

The way of exploring language of transformational — generative linguistic theory and cognitive linguistic theory is different ‘hose supported transformational

generative linguistic theory paid great attention to language Imowledge while the

represcnlatives of cognitive linguistic theory had their concern in our knowledge about

the world and studied how natural language contributed to that knowledge The former

studied the linguistic structure depth on the basis of the language directly observed and

tried to mode] them as mathematics formula; however, the latter tended to study the

everyday language of human beings on the basis of the language directly observed and

the language which cannot be observed like concepls, psychology, senses, cultural ethnic distinctions However, they both had one way in common, that is, both were concemed about spiritual structure which constitnted knowledge and their utmost goal was to reach the awareness of human language nature

According to Ly Toan Thang (2005), if there is a need to say briefly what

cognitive linguistics is about, it can be defined as follows: “it is a new school of

modern linguistics which studies language on the basis of experience and buman’s perception of the objective world as well as the way people perceive and conceptualize things and situations of thal objective world”

Lakoff and Jolnson (2003: 4) say that:

“The concept that govern our thought are not just a matter of the intellect They

also govern our everyday functioning, down to the most mundane details Our concepts structure what we perceive, how we get around in the world, and how we relate to other people Our convepiual system thus play a central role in defining our everyday realities If we are right in suggesting that our conceptual system is largely metaphorical, then the way we think, what we experience, and what we da everyday is

very much a matter of metaphor”.

From their point of view, we can see that metaphors are pervasive in every day life without our realizing about it The only way for us to realize our using of metaphors is to look at language “Since communication is based on the same

conceptual system that we use in thinking and acting, language is an important source

of evidence for what that system is like.”" (Lakoff and Johnson, 2003: 4)

Bovause of Lakoll’s aim lo uncover deeply embedded convuptual relations im the mind, for him the ideal metaphorical expressions to analyze are not the widely discussed type of examples in (1), but rather those in (2)

(1) a Julict is the sun (Shakespeare)

b my wife whose waist is an hourglass (Lakoff and Tuer, 1989: 90)

(2) a I'll sce you at 2 0’ clock

b He is in danger

¢ Ter anger boiled over

d She’s had to contend with many obstacles in her life, but she has come a long, way since her days in the orphanage

The metaphors in (1) are novel creations while the metaphors in (2) are conventionalized linguistic expressions, another aspect of their common everyday character

The literal meaning of “at” in (2a) is locative in nature, bul it has been metaphorically extended to apply also to time Likewise, “in” in (2b) has a basic locative meaning, and the use in (2) is a metaphorical extension of this: here, a stage (danger) is conceived as a container that one can be inside of or outside of

Vor the above relation of metaphors in cognitive linguistics, the researcher decided to choose conceplual! cognitive metaphors

2.2 Conceptual metaphors

Lakoff and Johnson introduce the notion of conceptual metaphors in Metaphor

we live by (1980) with some famous metaphors like LOVE 18 A JOURNEY,

10

ARGUMENT 18 WAR, HAPPY 1S UP Black also gives the metaphor MAN IS

WOLF (Black, 1955:286) which, as our first glance, resembles the structure of

conceptualization given by Lakoff and Johnson However, in his work, Black does not give out two terms farget and source domain, instead he calls MAN and WOLI two

subjects: the principle subject (MAN) and the subsidiary subject (WOLT), then he tries

lo suggest a set of standard belicves about wolves that are the common possession of the members of some speech community from which we note that wolves refer “to

something fierce, cartivorous, treacherous”, herice man “preys upon other animals”

and is “ficrce, hungry, cngaged in constant struggle, a scavenger” (Black, 1995:287)

Black calls the similarities between MAN and WOLF “the commonplaces” and the

“corresponding system” (1995-288) From Black’s analysis of his metaphor, we can see that the notion of conceptual metaphor had been conceived long ago, before the

introduction of Lakoff and Johnsan

To give some ideas of what it could mean for a concept to be metaphorical and for such a concept to structure an everyday activity, Lakoff and Johnson started with the concept ARGUMENT and the conceptual metaphor ARGUMENT IS WAR which

is reflected in our daily language by a wide variety of expressions

ARGUMENT IS WAR Your claims arc indefensible

He attacked every weak point in my argument

His criticisms were right on the target

I demolished his argument

I've never won an argument with him

You disagrec? Okay, shoot!

Lf you use that strategy, he’ll wipe you out

Ile shot down all of my arguments

(akeff and Johnson, 2003-5)

11

With our knowledge of the physical world, we know how a -war is We can fight

in the war and at last, we can either win or dese In order to win the battle, we need a

good strategy and every shoot should be right on the target Thore is no physical battle

in here but the verbal battle, thus ARGUMUN'T 1S WAR structures the actions we

perform in arguing

Croff, W and Crs, D A (2004) also give a definition of conceplual metaphor

“a conceptual mapping between two domains The mapping is asymmetrical, however:

the metaphorical expression profiles a conceptual structure in the target domain, not

the source demain.” The mapping between source and target domains involves two

sorts of correspondences, epistemic and ontological The ontological correspondences

hold between elements of one domain and clemerts of the other dormam, epistemic

correspondences are correspondences between relations holding between elements in

one domain and relations between elements in the other domain (this includes, for

instance, encyclopedic Imowledge about the domain) The phenomenon of correspondence can be illustrated using the example of ANGER IS IIEAT OF A FLUID (Lakoff 1987: 387)

Ontological correspondences

Limit of container’s resistance Limit of person’s ability to suppress anger

beyond a corlain limit, pressure increases

to point at which container explodes

An explosion is damaging to container

and dangerous to bystanders

Lxplosion can be prevented by applying

sufficient force and counterpressure

Controlled release of pressure may occur,

which reduces danger of explosion

limii, “pressure” increases to poinl ai

which person losses control

Loss of control is damaging to person and

dangerous to others

Anger can be suppressed by force of will

Anger can be released in a controlled way,

or vented harmlessly, thus reducing level

{Croff, W and Cruse, D A (2004: 197)

Tn general, metaphors are conceptual structures, amd arc not morely Linguistic in

nature, although they are normally realized linguistically, of course

It’s undoubtedly true that conceptual metaphors are pervasive in communication

and in any single text Take the lyric of the following song as an example

“I'm on the tap af the world lookin’ down on creation And the only explanation T can find

Is the love that {'ve found ever since you've been around Your love’s put me at the top of the world ”

(“Top of the world” by The Carpenters)

In the above lyric, LOVI has been conceptualized as a conerete thing that “1”

can “find” LOVE is also personified as a person who can “put me at the top of the

world” ‘he conceptual metaphors LOVE IS A THING and LOVH 18 A PERSON is

drawn therefrom Moreover the conceptual metaphor IIAPPY IS UP allows us to

comprehend thal the person in the song is ina happy state since “al the top of the

world” means UP

3 Classificatiun of conceptual metaphors

Lakoff and Johnson (2003) classify conceptual metaphors into three different kinds, namely structural metaphors, orientational metaphors and ontological metaphors Kovceses (2010), despite having three other criteria for categorizing conceptual metaphors, has the same classification as Lakoff and Johnson, regarding cognitive function of metaphors

3.1 Structural metaphors

In this kind of melaphors, “the source domain provides a relatively rich

knowledge structure for the target concept” (Koveeses, 2010.37) In other words, the

cognitive fimetion of these metaphors is to enable speakers to understand target A by

means of Ihe structure of source B This underslanding occurs by means of conceptual mappings between elements of A and elements of B

For example, in the metaphor: LOVE TS A JOURNEY, the target domain LOVE is understood via the source domain JOURNEY through a range of mappings

‘The mappings include:

LOVE IS A JOURNEY

Look how far we ve come

We are at the crossroads

We'll just have to go our separate ways We can’ barn back now

I don’t think this relationship is going anywhere

Where ave we?

We're stuck

It’s been a long, bumpy road

This relationship is a dead-end street We're jusl spianing our wheels

Our marriage is on the rocks

We've forgotten off the track

14

‘This relation is foundering

{in the above poem, our knowledge about the elements of A JOURNEY are

very clear from which readers can draw an understanding of LOVE.)

- Lavers corresponds to Travelers

- The relationship between Lovers correspands to the means of transportation (the

velnele}

- The means for achieving purposes correspond ta routes

- The lovers’ common goals correspond to their common destination on the journey

- Progress in the relationship corresponds to the forward motion (the relationship is

going anywhere)

- The dilTicullies in the relationship corresponds Lo the impediments to travel

Lf love is conceptualized as a joumey and vehicle as the relationship, then our understanding about the vehicle can help understand the relationship as Koveoses

(2005:7) exemplifies:

If the vehicle breaks down, we have three choices: (1) we get out and try to

reach our destination by some other means; (2) we try to fix the vehicle; or (3) we stay

in the vehicle and do nothing Correspondingly, if a love relationship does nor work,

we can (1) leave the relationship; (2) try to make it work; ar (3) stay in it (and suffer)

Carol Herrow’s model of language learning and toaching (1982) focuses on the factory metaphor as a way to flag her deep unhappiness with the memorization and

mindless repetition involved in audiolingual teaching She indicates five characteristics

which match the aspects of factory production from which people can grasp the idca

that LEARNING 1S (BUING) ON A FACTORY PRODUCTION LINE,

shuderit, error?

3 “Rewarding students in the “a factory worker receives a bonus”

classroom”

4 “Inducing students to behave” “guarantee the product remained

flawless and predictable”

5 Planned structural drills without “a good factory worker acts on the faith much meaning” that the supervisor knows why (X happens)”

Table 1:Herron’s Audiolingual Correspondences (Herron, 1982)

From the lwo above example and analysis, we can sce clearly thal structural

metaphors involve “the structuring of one kind of experience or activity in terms of another kind of experience or activity” (Lakoff and Johnson, 1980:197) The set of mappings structures our notion of LOVE and LEARNING in a clear-cut way Without the metaphor, it would be difficult to imagine what our concept of LOVE and LEARNING could be allscit countless definition of LOVE and LEARNING given

‘This kind of metaphors also appears in Vietnamese poetry and everyday life

“Giá đành trong nguyệt trần may

Hoa sao hoa khéo doa dây bấy hoa ” (Nguyễn Du)

"Løa” is a metaphor used to infer a beautiful woman based on our experience of the objective world that “hoa” (flower) is beautiful and weak

Surprisingly, “hoa” in “truyện Kiểu” by Nguyén Du is also used to denote a

“Nang rằng khoảng vang êm trường

Vì hoa nên phải đánh đường từn hoa” (Nguyễn Du)

In the above sentence, “hoa” is used to denote Kim Trong, an elegant man in Kicu Story Thus, trom the perspective of Nguyén Du, “hos” (lower) is riot only ant attribute of women but of men, too

16

3.2 Ontological metaphors

It is necessary to make the concept of ontology well-defined in assistance to understanding ontological metaphors Ontology is traditionally listed as a part of the major branch of philosophy known as metaphysics, which “deals with questions

conceming what entities exist or can be said to exist, and how such entities can be

grouped, related within a hierarchy, and subdivided according lo similarilics and differences” (www.wikipedia org/wiki/ontalogy) Koveoses (2010: 38) also reads

“ontology is a branch of philosophy thal bas (o do with the nature of existence”

Ontological metaphors base on our experiences with physical objects, that is

“ways of viewing events, activities emotions, ideas, etc as entities and substances.”

(LakoiT and Jotmson, 2003: 26) By this way, when the largeL domain is nol diserete or

bounded, we can still categorize and identify them ‘There are many kinds of ontological metaphors with different purposes one of which being the concept

ABSTRACTS ARE THINGS:

An accumulation of problems

The solution was within rich

‘The joy was seen in his face

In these examples, by setting an artificial boundary, we oan bound the

“problems”, “solution”, and “joy” ina way that we oan sce il, can Lough il

Panasonic’

slogan is “Ideas for life”, which employs an ontological metaphor

of IFAS ARF PRODUCTS/COMMODITTES in that Panasonic's products are just the solution for your better life

Another concept is CON'IAINLR metaphor According to Lakoff and Johnson (2003), human beings are containers with boundaries and an orientation of inside and outside Let take the lyric of “Goodbye”, the song played by Aur Supply as an example

*T can see the pain living in your eyes

AndTknow liow hard you lry

17

From the above citation, it’s obvious that “your eyes” are the CONTAINER from which “T’ can see the tangible thing namely PAIN

Besides, states and emotions also play the rele of a CONTAINER

“Well | hope that 1 don’t fall # love with you,

“Cause falling i love just makes me blue ”

(“Hope I don’ fall in love with you” by Tom Waits) Personification can be conceived as another type of ontological metaphors In

personification, human qualities are given Lo uonkuman entities Personification is nol

only common in Literature but also omnipresent in everyday discourse We can find a numerous examples of ontological metaphors of this kind:

Lile Betrayed me

Love speaks through her words

Actions speak louder than words

The word betray and speak are merely human-attributed, however, through ontological metaphors, those abstracts like love, life or action are addressed with the human capacities

Like the expression of love through “joumey” in English, Vietnamese also have their own way of expressing abstract idea, love, through concrete things

“Thuyền về có nhứ bên chăng Bén thi mét dạ khăng khăng dợi thuyên”

“Thuyén”, a moving cbject is used to talk about a man who travels many places

has

and 1s capable of forgetting the places he has been to By personification, “thuyd

been given the capability of “missing” and “bén” (the metaphor denoting a woman) the

capability of “waiting”

18

Being HAPPY IS HIGH/UP

Being SAD IS LOW/DOWN

Lakoff and Johnson saw the physical stale in the fact thal someone sad has a

bow posture and a happy person is upright Hone the lyrie

She’s up in the good times

She’s dew im the bad.”

(“Hew can I tell her’ by Lobo)

Another possibility could be seen in the fact that heaven standing for happiness

is lugh above us but hell standing for misery is below us, therefore we have:

I’mina high mood,

I'm in low spirits

Another example can bee seen in the song “You raise me up” by Josh Groban:

You raise me up, so Ï can stand on mountains,

You raise me up, lo walk on stormy seas:

Lam strong, when Lam on your shoulders,

You raise me up To more than T can be ”

‘A metaphor can sorve as a vehicle for understanding a concept only by “virtue

of its experiential basis.” (Lakoff & Johnson, 1980: 204), MORE: IS UP has a very different kind of experiential basis from HAPPY TS UP or CONTROL TS UP presented

as follows:

MORE IS UP: seeing the level rise when we add more of a substance

19

CONTROL 18 UP: physical dominance, where the winner in fight typically winds up above the loser, and where parents who are zauch larger, control infants

Thus, instcad of writing MORE IS UP, CONTROL IS UP, we might have the

Though the conceptual metaphor MORE 18 UP meaning MORE 1$ BETTER and BIGGER IS BETTER is often true universally, it is not always coherent in context-

specific situation or culture For example Nissan car slogan says “It’s time to expect

more from a car” from which we can note that MORE IS BETTER We expect that the Nissan car can provides consumers with better features and functions Nevertheless, the

UK BT Telecom’s slogan “The cost of calling keaps on falling” denotes that LESS 1S

BETTER

In English, the notion of TIME is incoherent as follows:

a, “In the week ahead of us ” (future) and “That’s all bchund us now ” (past)

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— FUTURE IS IN THE FRONT and PASI 1S BEHIND

b, “In the following weeks ” (future) and “In the preceding weeks ” (past)

> FUTURE IS BEHIND and PAST IS IN THE FRONT Albeit this contradiction, the two slogans below denote UTURI IS IN THẺ FRONT:

Toshiba: “Feading imovation”

Tlonda Lead: “Lead to the future”

We can see from the above slogans that LIFE 18 A JOURNEY and Toshiba always leads your way to the front in terms of creating new things while Honda Lead will be your companion to the beautiful fature awaiting for you ahead

In Vietnamese overyday life, the orientational metaphors are also abundant The HAPPY 18 LP can be found in

(1) Tải căm thay phần chân han lên

() Bài thơ đó dã nổng tâm hỗn tôi lên

(3) Những ý nghĩ về nảng luôn luôn làm tôi phẩn khói lên

(Tran Văn Cơ, 1997)

The BAD 18 DOWN metaphor is realized in the following examples:

(1) Giá cả giảm xuống

(5) Tinh than say sup

(Uiần Van Co, 1997)

HEALTH IS UP conceptual metaphors can he found in:

(6) Tôi thấy khóc lên

(7) Lúc nảo đố fên thì ra viện

To conclude, Lakoff and Johnson slaled that “The division of metaphors mo three types orientational, ontological and structural was artificial All metaphors are structural (in that they map structures to structures); all are ontological (in that they

creale target-domain entities}, and many are onerlational (in that they imap

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