Conceptual metaphors using plants as source domain in english and vietnamese internet newspapers

STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP I, the undersigned, hereby certify my authority of the study project report entitled CONCEPTUAL METARPHORS USING PLANTS AS SOURCE DOMAIN IN ENGLISH AND VIETNAMESE

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING

HANOI OPEN UNIVERSITY

Hanoi, 2018

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING

HANOI OPEN UNIVERSITY

BÙI THỊ PHƯỢNG

CONCEPTUAL METARPHORS USING PLANTS AS SOURCE DOMAIN IN ENGLISH AND VIETNAMESE

STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP

I, the undersigned, hereby certify my authority of the study project report entitled CONCEPTUAL METARPHORS USING PLANTS AS SOURCE

DOMAIN IN ENGLISH AND VIETNAMESE INTERNET NEWSPAPERS

submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master in English Language Except where the reference is indicated, no other person‟s

work has been used without due acknowledgement in the text of the thesis

Hanoi, 2018

Bùi Thị Phượng

Approved by SUPERVISOR

Dr Huỳnh Anh Tuấn

Date: ………

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

First of all, I would like to express my endless thanks and hearty gratitude to

my supervisor Dr Huỳnh Anh Tuấn His kindly support and continuous advices

went through the process of completion of my thesis His encouragement and comments had significantly enriched and improved my work Without his motivation and instructions, the thesis would have been impossible to be done

effectively

I am also indebted to all my lecturers at Hanoi Open University for their precious knowledge, useful lectures in linguistics, which laid the foundation for this study

Next, my thanks also go to my friends, who gave me documents and encouraged me much while the work was in process

Especially, I would like to express how thankful I am to my beloved families, who always stand by me and help me overcome all the difficulties in studying and completing this thesis

Last but not least, I personally wish to thank all my readers for their attention, and I would highly appreciate any comments to my study

source domain in English and Vietnamese internet newspapers and locate whether

there are any similarities and differences between English and Vietnamese in terms

of conceptual metaphor usage It aims to help the reader have a deeper sight into theoretical knowledge on metaphors and enhance the effectiveness of teaching, learning and understanding conceptual metaphors in English and Vietnamese Within the limitation of this study, the researcher expects that the two languages which express the conceptual metaphors involved will reveal some different features of the two cultures

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Statement of authorship i

Acknowledgements ii

Abstract iii

Table of contents iv

Chapter 1: INTRODUCTION 1

1.1 Rationale for the study 1 1.2 Aims and objectives of the study 2 1.3 Research questions 2 1.4 Methods of the study 3

1.5 Scope of the study 3 1.6 Significance of the study 4 1.7 Organization of the study 4 Chapter 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 6

2.1 Previous studies 6 2.2 Theoretical background 7 2.2.1 Cognitive linguistics 7 2.2.2 Cognitive semantics 8 2.1.2.2.1 Definition of cognitive semantics 8

2.1.2.2.2 Main tenets of cognitive semantics 8

2.2.3 Conceptual metaphor Theory 9

2.2.3.1 Metaphor 9

2.2.3.1.1 Traditional view on metaphor 10

2.2.3.1.2 Metaphor in the light of cognitive linguistics 10

2.2.3.2 Conceptual metaphor 11

2.2.3.3 Classification of conceptual metaphor 12

2.2.3.3.1 Structural metaphor 12

2.2.3.3.2 Ontological Metaphor 13

2.2.3.3.3 Orientational Conceptual Metaphor 14

2.2.3.4 Metaphorical mapping 15

2.2.3.4.1 Mapping principles 15

2.2.3.4.2 Image schema 16

2.2.3.5 Source domain and target domain 16

Chapter 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 19

3.1 Data 19

3.2 Instruments 19

3.3 Procedures 19

3.4 Statistical analysis 20

3.5 Analytical framework 20

Chapter 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 24

4.1 Conceptual metaphors using plants as source domain in English 24

internet newspapers 4.1.1 Economy is a plant 24

4.1.1.1 Stages of economy are stages of plant growth 24

4.1.1.2 The abstract development of the economy is the growth of 27

the plant 4.1.2 Emotion is a plant 29

4.1.2.1 Love is a plant 29

4.1.2.2 Happiness is a plant 30

4.1.2.3 Sadness is a plant 31

4.1.2.4 Anger is a plant 32

4.1.2.5 Fear is a plant 33

4.1.3 Human being is a plant 34

4.1.3.1 Human being is a part of the plant 34

4.1.3.2 Human beings‟ development is the plant‟s growth 35

4.1.3.3 Disposing of unwanted human beings is weeding 36

4.1.3.4 Losing physical strength is freshness of a plant 36

4.1.3.5 Human beings‟ activities are common activities in agriculture 36

4.1.3.6 Human being is a specific plant 37

4.1.4 Social organization is a plant 37

4.1.4.1 The entire organization is the whole plant 38

4.1.4.2 A part of the organization is a part of the plant 38

4.1.4.3 The development of the organization is the growth of the plant 39

4.1.4.4 Reducing the organization is removing a part of the plant 39

4.1.4.5 The origin of the organization is the root of the plant 40

4.1.4.6 The best stage, the most successful stage is the flowering 40

4.1.4.7 The beneficial consequences is the fruit of crops 40

4.1.5 Idea is a plant 40

4.1.5.1 The origin of an idea is the parts of plants 40

4.1.5.2 A new idea is a bud 41

4.1.5.3 Different ideas of a topic are branches 42

4.1.5.4 The success of an idea is the fruit 42

4.1.5.5 Getting rid of problems is destroying plants 42

4.1.5.6 Conveying ideas is sowing /planting 43

4.1.5.7 The failure of ideas is the death of plants 43

4.2 Conceptual metaphors using plants as source domain in Vietnamese 44

internet newspapers 4.2.1 Economy is a plant 44

4.2.1.1 Stages of economy are stages of plant growth 44

4.2.1.2 The abstract development of the economy is the growth of 46

the plant 4.2.2 Emotion is plant 48

4.2.2.1 Love is a plant 48

4.2.2.2 Happiness is a plant 49

4.2.2.3 Sadness is a plant 50

4.2.2.4 Anger is a plant 50

4.2.2.5 Fear is a plant 50

4.2.3 Human being is a plant 51

4.2.3.1 Human being is a part of the plant 51

4.2.3.2 Human beings‟ development is the plant‟s growth 53

4.2.3.3 Disposing of unwanted human beings is weeding 53

4.2.3.4 Losing physical strength is freshness of a plant 53

4.2.3.5 Human beings‟ activities are common activities in agriculture 54

4.2.3.6 Human being is a specific plant 54

4.2.4 Social organization is a plant 55

4.2.4.1 The entire organization is the whole plant 55

4.2.4.2 A part of the organization is a part of the plant 55

4.2.4.3 The development of the organization is the growth of the plant 56

4.2.4.4 Reducing the organization is removing a part of the plant 56

4.2.4.5 The origin of the organization is the root of the plant 56

4.2.4.6 The best stage, the most successful stage is the flowering 56

4.2.5 Idea is a plant 57

4.2.5.1 The origin of an idea is the parts of plants 57

4.2.5.2 A new idea is a bud 57

4.2.5.3 Different ideas of a topic are branches 57

4.2.5.4 The success of an idea is the fruit 58

4.2.5.6 Getting rid of problems is destroying plants 58

4.2.5.7 Conveying ideas is sowing /planting 58

4.3 Similarities and differences between conceptual metaphors using plants as 58 source .domain in English and Vietnamese internet newspapers 4.3.1 Similarities 58

4.3.2 Differences 60

Chapter 5: CONCLUSION 63

5.1 Concluding remarks 63

5.2 Implications 64

5.2.1 Implications for teachers 64

5.2.2 Implications for learners 65

5.2.3 Implications for translators 66

5.3 Recommendations for further study 66

REFERENCES 67

APPENDICES I APPENDIX I I APPENDIX II XX

Chapter 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale of the study

Although newspapers have the longest history, they are still the most popular and convenient means of communication Newspapers have been improved and developed in both quality and quantity to satisfy the requirements of the readers now Journalists often take the skills of language use into consideration Metaphor

is one of the most popular devices causing difficulties Using metaphor in newspapers satisfies readers‟ curiosity and excitement but sometimes causes many difficulties for us to understand Study of metaphor has been traditionally associated with the study of literature; the use of metaphor is not restricted to this kind of language Metaphor exists as a common fact in most of the languages in the world

In the field of cognitive linguistics, it has been widely accepted that our thought processes are highly metaphorical In other words, metaphor constitutes and constructs human thoughts In this field of study, cognitive linguists argue that meaning construction is derived from embodied experience which is organized in terms of image schemas, or experiential gestalts It is believed that the work conducted by Lakoff and Johnson (1980, 2003) is a pioneer work in this field In their work, Conceptual Metaphor Theory, they argue that metaphor is the cross domain mapping between the source domains and the target domains Moreover, there is a systematic network of metaphors that human beings utilize to construct their thoughts With this definition, metaphor is seen as a key to discover the foundation of thinking and the perception of spiritual symbols about the world The grounding of metaphors is our basic experiences and one of the most fundamental human experiences is that of agriculture, especially about plants Although this is an interesting topic, it has not been paid much attention For a long time, plants have become a cultural symbol of human beings with many meanings When used in languages, plants are reformed and reorganized in the relation with many factors of a special communication process as a creative activity which creates a unique metaphor In English and Vietnamese newspaper texts, a variety of metaphors are motivated by this experience For this reason, I decide to make some

exploration into this profound and fascinating topic entitled “Conceptual metaphors

using plants as source domain in English and Vietnamese internet newspapers”

The aim of the thesis is to apply the theory in cognitive linguistics to discover the

top target domains from the source domain “plants” in the English internet newspaper in comparison with Vietnamese internet newspaper, mapping system among the conceptual domains Considering the limited size of the material, the results of the research may probably not be generalized, but it is hoped that this investigation will lead to a brief perception in conceptual metaphors about “plants” Moreover, the author also desires that the study will make a meaningful contribution to profound linguistic knowledge of conceptual metaphor which might help Vietnamese teachers, learners, and translators of English understand and use

the English language more effectively

1.2 Aims and objectives of the study

1.2.1 Aims

The thesis is carried out to achieve the following aims:

- To investigate how conceptual metaphors using plants as source domain are used in English and Vietnamese internet newspapers in the light of cognitive perspective

- To discover the typical target domains from the source domain “plants” in English internet newspaper in comparison with Vietnamese internet newspaper

- To help Vietnamese teachers, learners, and translators of English understand and use English language more effectively.

1.2.2 Objectives

The study is intended to fulfill the following objectives:

- To analyze the plants as source domain metaphorically expressed in the eminent English and Vietnamese internet newspapers

- To discover and explain the similarities and differences between conceptual metaphors using plants as source domain in the famous English and Vietnamese internet newspapers

- To make some suggestions for teaching, learning and translating conceptual metaphors using plants as source domain

2 What are the similarities and differences between conceptual metaphors using plants as source domain in the eminent English and Vietnamese internet newspapers?

3 What are the recommendations for teaching, learning and translating conceptual metaphors using plants as source domain to Vietnamese learners of English effectively?

1.4 Methods of the study

First, the examples of metaphorical expressions of plant terms will be identified Second, the selected examples with war metaphors will be classified into categories or subcategories according to different target domain and then underlying major themes and mappings will be discussed

The research is mainly carried out through the documentary analysis and descriptive study with the support and qualitative and quantitative approach The data is quantitatively analyzed in terms of the percentage of the occurrence of the metaphorical images in all the articles in both English and Vietnamese internet newspapers from cognitive linguistic perspective to see the preference for which sets of expressions Through qualitative approach, the metaphor, after being divided into categories according to the procedure of transferring meaning from the vehicles

to the tenors guided by a theoretical lens, will be analyzed in details, synthesized and evaluated, then find out the similarities and differences in expressions of metaphor using plants as source domain

1.5 Scope of the study

Due to time constraints and within the framework of an M.A thesis, it is impossible for a study to deal with all the features of language theory and practice in depth This study, therefore, only focuses on some typical target domains which used plants as source domain found in the internet newspapers of English and Vietnamese to see how they are different

The thesis is limited to 259 expressions of conceptual metaphors using plants as source domain which are selected from available articles from 2010 to 2018 in two selected internet newspapers, namely the telegraph.co.uk for the English one and

the vnexpress.net for the Vietnamese one These two newspapers are considered one

of the most famous and remarkable ones in English and Vietnamese The telegraph,

founded in 1855, is a national British daily newspaper and distributed across the

United Kingdom and internationally The Vnexpress is a Vietnamese internet

newspaper which is the first and has the highest ranking among other ones in Vietnam The number of English and Vietnamese expressions arrived at a total of

142 and 117 from the two sources respectively The expressions were taken for analysis belong to various fields such as economics, culture, politics, science, technology, health, travel, sports, and other fields which are written in the two newspapers

1.6 Significance of the study

Theoretically, this research is to find out typical metaphorical expressions of plants

in the famous English and Vietnamese newspapers with a view to make a positive contribution to the studies of linguistics from cognitive semantic approach That how these metaphorical images are manifested in cognition and linguistic value of these images in English and Vietnamese newspapers are analyzed specifically can provide a new look into English and Vietnamese literature

Practically, this study is carried out with the purpose of helping Vietnamese learners, teachers of English and translators better understand conceptual metaphor

in English and Vietnamese newspapers and then create the suitable tips to apply language flexibly As a result, they will be able to learn and teach English productively The research is also performed in the hope that its findings will help Vietnamese learners of English enrich their knowledge of conceptual metaphor, understand cultural elements that have a great influence on using metaphorical expressions, and enhance learners valuable skills in interpreting and translating newspapers as well

1.7 Organization of the study

This study includes 5 chapters:

Chapter 1 – Introduction introduces the rationale, the aims and objectives, the

research questions, the methods of the study, the scope, the significance and the organization of the study

Chapter 2 – Literature review focuses on introducing important theoretical

matters relevant to the topic of the study such as definition of cognitive linguistics, definition of cognitive semantics, the theories of metaphor, the conceptual metaphors, the classification of conceptual metaphor, the metaphoric mappings, the source domain and target domain Besides, it presents some related studies reviewed

in order to provide the context for the research that is significant to the work that the author is carrying out

Chapter 3 – Research methodology discusses the methods and the procedures of

the research It also deals with the description of samples and how the data are collected, described and analyzed

Chapter 4 – Findings and discussion involves describing and analyzing

conceptual metaphors using plants as source domain in the two prestigious agencies

in English including the nytimes.com and the telegraph.co.uk and two oriented websites in Vietnamese namely, the vnexpress.net and the vietnamnet.vn Besides,

it deals with metaphorical expressions which are compared and contrasted so as to find out the similarities and differences in metaphorical expressions using plants as source domain in both languages

Chapter 5 – Conclusion will summarize the study‟s results and presents the

suggested implications for learning, teaching and translating conceptual metaphors

in English and Vietnamese It will also present some limitations and suggestions for further study

Chapter 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Previous studies

Up to now, there have been various research on the metaphor based on theories of linguistic scholars

In the world, research on conceptual metaphor associated with establishment of conceptual linguistics in the 1970s of the 20th century The first work which marks the transformation of the metaphor research trend and is the most helpful for the researcher to take as a major theoretical background for their thesis is “Metaphor

We Live By” of Lakoff and Johnson, published in 1980 The book has a significant influence on our understanding of metaphor and its role in language and the mind The authors asserted "The common conceptual system of us, basing on it, we both thinking and acting, mainly have metaphoric in nature" Lakoff and Johnson provide an afterword surveying how their opinion of metaphor has flourished within the cognitive sciences to become central to the contemporary understanding of how

we think and how we show our thoughts in language The authors pioneer a stimulating deconstruction of what they term “conceptual metaphors”, and the complicated way in which they interact to structure our experience of reality Metaphors of plants were also mentioned in Metaphor: A Practical Introduction by Kovecses (2010) The author analyzed some simple metaphors such as social organizations are plants In this case, constituent elements of plants correspond systematically to constituent elements of social organizations, such as companies, and the words that are used about plants employed systematically in connection with organizations Authors like Lakoff, & Johnson (1980, 2003), Kovecses (2010), Talmy (2000), Taylor (2003) and the others studied some theories, new concepts like embodiment, cognitive frames, conceptual metaphor, mapping, conceptual domain, metal space, conceptual blending

The practical application of the conceptual metaphor in term of the cognitive objects like emotion, the relationship between space and time, thought, etc obtained the results on the different fields such as the poetry, education, economy, articles, cinema, politics and especially in everyday language In addition, the researchers have found a closed relationship between conceptual metaphor and culture, in the binds among human - language – social The conceptual metaphor is regarded a door

to understand the mind, human thinking and social characteristics

In Vietnam, Cognitive linguistics was officially named in Vietnam in “Ngôn ngữ

học tri nhận nhìn từ lý thuyết đại cương đến thực tiễn tiếng Việt” (cognitive linguistics from general theories to Vietnamese practices) of Lý Toàn Thắng (2005) The author not only draws out the historical background and typical works of cognitive linguistics but also applies cognitive semantics theory into Vietnamese language and focused on such issues such cognitive models, figure/ground relationships, prototypes, and categorization The great contribution of his book lies under the result of detailed examination about the model of spatial cognition used

in Vietnam determined by many scholars Trần Văn Cơ (2007), Nguyễn Đức Tồn (2008), Nguyễn Lai (2009), etc

Besides, the subfield plant metaphor has been explored with some journals of science by Phạm Thị Hương Quỳnh (2014), Sylwia Filipczuk-Rosińska (2016), etc

In those studies, the authors make a brief account of metaphorical expressions using plants as human being Of all previous studies I have read, there has hardly been any one conducting on plants as a source domain with a contrast between English and Vietnamese under the analyzed source of data as newspapers That inspired me to pay a particular attention to metaphorical expressions of plants in English and Vietnamese newspapers with the hope to give the reader the fascinating experience through the metaphoric images in newspapers and make a significant contribution to studying English in reading and writing skills for learners, teachers and translators

2.2 Theoretical background

2.2.1 Cognitive linguistics

Cognitive linguistics is a scientific discipline which has formed as a branch of cognitive psychology It is sharply related with not only psychology and philosophy but also new approach towards metaphor The main interest studied by cognitive linguists is conceptual systems combining the study of mind, brain, behaviour and language Human thoughts and actions are fundamentally shaped by a small set of cognitive categories, such as possession, space or time

Over the past twenty years, it is the cognitive linguistic movement which gave a rich and satisfying point of view of language Cognitive linguistics also provides linguists, language acquisition and pedagogy with a powerful theoretical material According to Lakoff and Johnson (1980:270), cognitive linguistics seeks to provide explanatory foundations for conceptual systems and language in the general research of the brain and the mind With reference to this idea, it could be

discovered that cognitive linguistics treats language as a reflection of not only human thought but also helps to reveal it The other task of cognitive linguistics is

to determine the most important principles of conceptual system and what role it plays in people‟s minds

In “Cognitive Linguistics: An introduction”, Evans and Green (2006:50) define that

“Cognitive linguistics is the study of language in a way that is compatible with what

is known about the human mind, treating language as reflecting and revealing the mind” Cognitive linguistics can be divided into two main areas of research: cognitive semantics and cognitive approaches to grammar The first one is ascertained as the study of the relationship between experience, embodied cognition and language whereas the latter is explained as the study of the symbolic linguistic

units that comprise language (Ibid.) As cognitive linguistics is a very wide

academic discipline that also relates to conceptual system and as it was stated before

it is divided into two main areas, it is essentially to discuss it in greater detail

2.2.2 Cognitive semantics

2.2.2.1 Definition of cognitive semantics

Cognitive semantics which is part of cognitive linguistics stated to develop in the 1980s For Evans (2006), cognitive semantics is concerned with the investigating the relationship between human experience, the conceptual system in human mind, and the semantic structure encoded by language To put it simply, scholars studying

in cognitive semantics investigate knowledge representation (conceptual structure), and meaning construction (conceptualization) Besides, meaning conventionally associated with words and other linguistic units as semantic structure

2.2.2.2 Main tenets of cognitive semantics

According to Evans and Green (2006: 157), there are four following main principles of cognitive semantics

a Conceptual structure is embodied

In the view of Evans and Green (2006), we are aware of the world from our independent perspectives Every human being has his or her own ways of looking

at the world, which is elementally based on his or her own bodily experience In this respect, conceptual is a result of the nature of our embodiment and any theory

of conceptual structure should be accordant with the ways which we experience the external world

b Semantic structure is conceptual structure

The second principle affirms that language refers to concepts in the mind of the speaker about the real world rather than entities which inhere in an external world

In the other words, semantic structure (the meaning conventionally associated with words and other linguistic units) can be equated with conceptual structure (Rosch,

1973) However, the claim that semantic structure is conceptual structure does not mean that the two above are identical Instead, cognitive semanticists claim that the semantic structure (meanings associated with linguistic units) such as words, for example, form only a subset of possible concepts in the mind of speakers and hearers

c Meaning representation is encyclopedic

The third major principle shows that semantic structure is comprehensive in nature

Lexical concepts do not embody a bundle of meaning, but access to repositories of

knowledge relating to a particular concept (Ibid.: 160)

d Meaning construction is conceptualization

Last but not least, the fourth principle confirms that “Meaning construction is equated with conceptualization, a process whereby linguistic units serve as prompts for an array of conceptual operations and the recruitment of background knowledge” (Evan and Green, 2006:162) In this respect, the meaning of linguistic expressions does not relate directly or objectively to the real world, but rather it is based on our ways of experiencing or conceptualizing the real world

2.2.3 Conceptual metaphor Theory

2.2.3.1 Metaphor

Metaphor is a fascinating linguistic phenomenon which has drawn the attention of many researchers It has been subject to a great deal of investigation The different linguists proposed various definitions about metaphor as it has been viewed differently from various perspectives In this chapter, the author attempts to have a brief view of metaphor from traditional views as compared to that in the light of cognitive linguistics

Ever since Aristotle (and earlier), metaphors have been used (Gibbs, 1994: 122) And as a historical analysis shows, long before 300 years ago, American authors began to use a significant number of metaphors to express different ideas, such as emotions, life, rationality, death and so on (ibid.: 123) Generally, in order to study metaphors, there are two main approaches On one hand, the traditional approach includes many different theories but shares some fundamental presumptions, and on

the other hand metaphor on the light of cognitive linguistics, despite being very recent, has become the most influential theory of metaphor

2.2.3.1.1 Traditional view on metaphor

In traditional metaphor theory, metaphors are just „adorning‟ of language because it has been seen as a stylistic tool used only in literature

For Aristotle (1992:49) who was first to provide a scholarly treatment of metaphors, metaphor is giving something a name that belongs to another thing This substitution theory describes metaphor as an expression, which can be paraphrased

by a literal expression

Lakoff has a brief discussion of the traditional view towards metaphor, in which metaphors had been regarded as decorations in language, and people had conceived

of such a viewpoint as the truth over the centuries (Lakoff, 1993: 202)

As it is stated by Đỗ Hữu Châu (1966:54), metaphor is a way of naming an object in terms of the name of another, based on the similar relationship between them This point of view is shared by Nguyễn Hòa (2001: 106) who confirmed that

“metaphor is the transference of meaning (name) from one object to another based

on similar relationship between these two objects, i.e we call one object by the name of another because we compare these objects and find some common features between them.”

To sum up, from classical theory, metaphor indicates a certain kind of comparison and the transference of names of one thing to another basing on similar relationship between them In addition, it is understood as the matter of language but not thought and used for artistic or rhetorical purposes and not accidentally

2.2.3.1.2 Metaphor in the light of cognitive linguistics

Cognitive linguistics which stems from cognitive science and is regarded to start in 1980s indicated a whole new approach towards metaphor, its understanding and meaning in daily language On the contrary to traditional metaphor theory, metaphor in the light of cognitive linguistics is not only used in literature but also shows in everyday life language

George Lakoff and Mark Johnson, two American linguists, are the most outstanding researchers within this field The innovative work Metaphor We Live By contributed by Lakoff and Johnson (1980) open a new horizon for researchers on metaphor from the cognitive perspective They both present that metaphor is popular in our everyday language, not merely as a view of rhetorical

device but as a matter of human thought processes and it have existence in our conceptual system In daily speech, there can be found abundant metaphors whose existence we are even unaware of

To be more specific, we talk about things metaphorically because we conceive them that way and we act by the way we conceive of things (Lakoff and Johnson, 1980:7) Having the same idea, Barcelona (2000:3) affirms that “metaphor is the cognitive mechanism whereby one experiential domain is partially “mapped‟, i.e projected onto a different experiential domain so that the second domain is partially understood in terms of another experiential domain”

In general, metaphor in the light of cognitive linguistics is not simply a means of

communication but also a means of perception, a means in which people comprehend and describe about the real world

2.2.3.2 Conceptual metaphor

Over the past decades, the interest in metaphors has increasingly gained attention It

is considered not only as an issue of language or just a meaningful means but also a method to discover the world that surrounds people in the most recent scientific inquiries Consequently, various researchers are interested in metaphor, its origin, usage and relation with other studies New terms such as conceptual metaphor theory and conceptual metaphor emerged

In the cognitive linguistic view, metaphor is a conceptual phenomenon which basically relates to what happens in the mind The theory of conceptual metaphors was flourished by Lakoff and Johnson in the1980's, and their collaboration resulted

in the book Metaphors We Live By where they defined and made a list of various linguistic examples that their theory was based on They argue that “The essence of metaphor is understanding and experiencing one kind of thing in terms of another.” (Lakoff & Johnson, 1980:5), and that conceptual metaphors are mostly utilized to describe rather abstract conceptual domains with conceptual domains that are somewhat uncomplicated to comprehend

The concept of metaphor is further explained by Kövecses Conceptual metaphor means that conceptual domain (A) is conceptual domain (B) (Kövecses, 2002: 4) The two domains involve in conceptual metaphor are called source domain and target domain respectively Source domain refers to the conceptual domain used to help understand another conceptual domain Target domain refers to the conceptual domain which we try to grasp it via source domain (Kövecses 2002: 12) Generally

speaking, an abstract concept is used as target, while a more concrete concept is employed as its source

People refer target domains like life, argument, love, ideas, social organization by means of using journey, war, building, food and plants as their source domain For instance, the conceptual domain ARGUMENT can be described in terms of WAR;

as in “I won that argument” (Lakoff & Johnson, 1980: 4), or TIME can be described in terms of MONEY; in for example “You're wasting my time” (Lakoff & Johnson, 1980: 5) Another conceptual domain which is commonly depicted by another is LOVE, and like the other conceptual domains mentioned the domain of LOVE is not too difficult for people to understand when described in the terms of for instance an JOURNEY; “We went our separate ways” (Lakoff & Johnson, 1980: 45)

For Radden and Divren (2007:16), conceptual metaphor is viewed as "a means of understanding abstract domains by relating them to better-known domains and experiences in the physical world"

This viewpoint is shared by Trần Văn Cơ (2009: 86-87) who confirmed that metaphor is meaning transference It is viewed as when we think one object in terms of another one Metaphors are often related to the complicated and abstract objects, but not the discrete ones Therefore, in the process of perception, these complex and abstract things, through metaphor, set up the correlation with more concrete or perceptible ones

To sum up, it should be noted that in the conceptual metaphor theory, the metaphor

on the contrary to traditional and contemporary theories of metaphor, is perceived

as a means of cognition As a result, concepts that operate in human‟s mind

collaborate with one another In addition, the conceptual metaphor theory treats

metaphor as a mapping between two concepts

2.2.3.3 Classification of conceptual metaphor

Lakoff and Johnson (2003) classify conceptual metaphors into three different kinds,

namely structural metaphors, orientational metaphors and ontological metaphors

Kovecses (2010), despite having three other criteria for categorizing conceptual metaphors, has the same classification as Lakoff and Johnson, regarding cognitive function of metaphors

2.2.3.3.1 Structural metaphor

Structural conceptual metaphors are considered by Lakoff and Johnson (1980) as

the group with the highest number In this kind of conceptual metaphor, complicated and abstract experiences are conceptualized based on the experience of simple and specific experiences Following Kovecses (2010:37), in this type of metaphor, “the source domain provides a relatively rich knowledge structure for the target concept” In other words, the cognitive function of these metaphors is to enable speakers to understand target A by means of the structure of source B This understanding occurs by means of conceptual mappings between elements of A and elements of B

An example often used to demonstrate this kind is the conceptual metaphor

“ARGUMENT IS WAR” which is expressed through a series of the following expressions in English:

 Your claims are indefensible

 He attacked every weak point in my argument

 I‟ve never won an argument with him

 He shot down all of my arguments (Lakoff & Johnson, 1980:4)

The above examples state that many actions that we perform when debating are structured from the concept of war We can win or lose in a debate During the dispute, we consider the one we argue with as the opponent As a result, we “attack” the opponent‟s point of view and “protect” our viewpoint We can win or lose and

also use strategy to win When we see the unfavorable situation making it difficult

to protect our opinions, we often “retreat” and “open the new attack route” In this case, even without a fight, causing casualties, obviously we have a war of words through the words of war that we use

Through these examples, Lakoff and Johnson explained that an abstract conceptual domain “debate” is understood through a specific conceptual domain of “war” Therefore, the concepts used in the sample expressions above come conceptual

domain of “war” This is the basic characteristics of the structural conceptual

metaphor

2.2.3.3.2 Ontological Metaphor

Ontological metaphor is a type of metaphor in which something abstract, such as activity, emotion or idea, is represented in something concrete Ontological metaphor is considered as a non-physical phenomenon It is a human experience that is treated as a concrete objects e.g containers When we handle them in such a way we can “ refer to them, categorize them, group them, and quantify them - and,

by these means, reason about them.” (Lakoff & Johnson, 1980:25) According to Tran Van Co (2007), the semanticization of experience by terms allow us to extract

a part of experience and interpret them Once we can conceptualize the experience into a specific object or material, we can classify, group, quantify, etc As a result

of this we can reason about the experience For example, in English, human thinking is seen as a particular object, can be a machine or a fragile character shown by the following examples:

THE MIND IS A MACHINE

 My mind just isn‟t operating today

 Boy, the wheels are turning now!

 I‟m a little rusty today

 We‟ve been working on this problem all day and now we‟re running out

2.2.3.3.3 Orientational Conceptual Metaphor

As the name suggests, in orientational conceptual metaphor, a system of ideas is organized in the relation and interaction in space like up-down, inside- out, front-behind, shallow-deep, center- periphery, etc Lakoff and Johnson (1980) described this group the orientational metaphor because they relate to the orientation in space The origin of this metaphor group is explained as follows by researcher Trần Văn

Cơ (2007):

“We are the physical entity limited in a certain space and separated from the rest

of the world by our skin; we perceive the rest of the world as the world outside us Each of us is contained in a limited space by the surface of the body, which is a potentially orientation type of “inside-out” This orientation makes us imagine other physical objects also limited by the surface At the same time we also see them as containers with inner space and separated from the world outside.”

An example often cited to illustrate the orientational conceptual metaphor group is

“HAPPY IS UP, SAD IS DOWN” (Lakoff & Johnson 1980) illustrated in these

examples:

 I‟m feeling up

 That boosted my spirits

 My spirits rose

 You„re in high spirits

 I‟m feeling down

 My spirits sank

Conceptual metaphor “HAPPY IS UP, SAD IS DOWN” is derived from the human body posture while they are happy or sad Normally, when people are depressed or sad they often bow down and when they are happy they raise up their head and straight up their back Thus, we see that the orientational conceptual metaphors are not arbitrary but based on culture and experiences

2.2.3.4 Metaphorical mapping

2.2.3.4.1 Mapping principles

The most important notion of Cognitive Metaphor Theory is the mapping, in which

a metaphor can be understood as a mapping from a source domain to a target domain For instance, in the metaphor LOVE IS A JOURNEY, the source domain JOURNEY is mapped onto the target domain LOVE According to Lakoff (1993: 206-207), there are ontological correspondences in mapping, which the aspects in LOVE (e.g lovers, lovers‟ common goals, their difficulties, the love relationship, etc.) correspond to the aspects in JOURNEY (e.g travelers, vehicles, destinations, etc.) As mechanism of conceptual metaphor, mappings help people understand how conceptual metaphor works Lakoff (1993:208) states that the mapping is a fixed part of conceptual system

This author illustrates that mapping is one of our conventional ways to conceptualize things Mappings are not arbitrary, but grounded in everyday experience and knowledge These mappings provide us with much meaning of the metaphorical linguistic expressions, so they make a particular conceptual metaphor understood easily To know a conceptual metaphor is to know the set of mappings that applies to a given source-target pairing, so mappings will be concentrated on when metaphors are to be analyzed

The definition of mapping is further improved by Kövecses As he puts it, mappings are a set of fixed conceptual correspondences that exist between constituent elements of the source and the target domain (Kövecses, 2002: 12)

In short, it is mappings between a source and a target domain that help people understand one domain in terms of another

2.2.3.4.2 Image schema

Cross-domain mapping would not be able to be performed either, if there were not

for another cognitive tool which helps its realization – it is called image schema

According to Gibbs (2005: 90-91), image schema stands for “dynamic analog representations of spatial relations and movements in space Although image schemas are derived from perceptual and motor processes, they are not themselves sensorimotor processes” In fact, as Johnson (1987: 30) put it, image schemas are

“primary means by which we construct or constitute order and are not mere passive receptacles into which experience is poured”

Some of the most prominent and universal examples of image schemas, as proposed

by Johnson (1987:126), are: container, blockage, balance, counterforce, restraint, removal, enablement, path, center-periphery, cycle, near-far, part-whole, merging, splitting, full-empty

2.2.3.5 Source domain and target domain

To intensify the apprehension of the role of conceptual metaphor in cognitive linguistics, it is of primary importance to get acquainted with cognitive models, that

is, source and target domains which conceptual mapping is the key in understanding conceptual metaphor

Lakoff and Johnson (1980:265) put stress on the structure of each conceptual domain and explained that the target domain is constituted by the immediate subject matter, and the source domain, in which significant metaphorical reasoning takes place and that provides the source concepts used in that reasoning Peter Stockwell (2002:107) shows that “Cognitive linguistics models the process of metaphor as a mapping of properties between the two spaces or domains” These two conceptual domains are the essence of conceptual metaphor In cognitive linguistics, target domains are also explained as having an abstract meaning that is, something not concrete or related to particular human experience Source domains on the contrary, are related with sensory experience and reality For example, in conceptual metaphors AN ARGUMENT IS WAR and LOVE IS A JOURNEY, argument and

love are the target domains while war and journey represent source domains

Kövecses (2010:4) gives such a definition for source and target domains, “The conceptual domain from which we draw metaphorical expressions to understand

another conceptual domain is called source domain, while the conceptual domain that is understood this way is the target domain” The author also states common source and target domain that is shown in the following table:

1 The Human Body

The head of the department

1 Emotion

He was bursting with joy

2 Health and illness

I see your point

5 Buildings and construction

He‟s in ruins financially

5 Society / nation

What do we owe society

6 Machines and Tools

She produces a book every year

6 Politics

The president plays hardball

7 Games and Sport

To toy with the idea

7 Economy

They pruned the budget

Transactions

I tried to save some energy

8 Human Relationships

They built a strong marriage

9 Cooking and food

What‟s your recipe for success?

9 Communication

She gave me a lot of information

10 Heat and Cold

A cold reception

10 Time

Time goes by fast

11 Light and Darkness

She brightened up

11 Life and death

His father passed away

12 Forces

Don‟t push me

12 Religion

Should we refer to God as it or he or she?

13 Movement and Direction

Inflation is soaring

13 Event and Actions

She has reached her goals in life

Table 2.1: Common Source and Target Domains according to Kövecses 2010

As described in the table source and target domains are of great variety Source domain serves as a background for structuring and understanding the target domain

As explained by Evans and Green (2006:296), conceptual metaphors are unidirectional which means that metaphors map structure from a source domain to a target domain but not vice versa It should be noted that one domain might be related to one or many other concepts but their mapping never changes The transferencefrom the one domain to another is based on features which are familiar

to a person from his personal experience

When studying about the role of metaphor in cognitive linguistics, two final remarks should be taken into consideration The first has to do with the cognitive linguists‟ immense interest in metaphor as it is used in everyday language and their approach to the language as a reflection of the human mind The second important remark is related to the conceptual system which is metaphorical in nature Owing

to the fact that conceptual system defines our everyday realities which are inseparable from using metaphors, cognitive linguists pay much attention to

metaphor and how it is used every day

Chapter 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 3.1 Data

The data was purposively selected The two English and Vietnamese newspapers, namely the telegraph.co.uk and the vnexpress.net are two authoritative daily newspapers covering vivid daily world news on news, economy and politics, cultures, and other fields, offering analyses and opinions on them Through applying the theoretical framework of Conceptual Metaphor Theory as initiated by Lakoff and Johnson in their influential book Metaphor We Live By (1980, 2003), the study particularly deals with the perception of plants utilized as source domain

In the light of this, 259 metaphorical expressions using plants as source domain were selected from available articles in telegraph.co.uk and vnexpress.net from

2010 to 2018 These samples, including 142 metaphorical expressions in English and 117 ones in Vietnamese, have been collected, gathered and classified to the set of conceptual metaphor features

3.2 Instruments

Reading, reviewing, and selecting documentary are considered as the principal instrument for collecting data that is assembled in textual form on the foundation of

observation of previous works, article and references related The writer reads any

and all kinds of materials related to metaphors used to provide useful information

To collect the various and valuable data, the author had to read any articles in the telegraph.co.uk and the vnexpress.net by chance, write down all the sentences related metaphor, then classify them according to the criteria such as types and choose the ones suitable for the topic After the process of researching and collecting data, the information continues to be categorized into different types depending on the requirements of the study so that the author can find and analyze the data easily

3.3 Procedures

After choosing the topic, the author will orient the thesis by the appropriate steps to support the content

Step 1: Determine and define the research questions

Step 2: Read, search and present the theoretical background and literature

review for the study

Step 3: Collect metaphorical expressions using plants as source domain in

the telegraph.co.uk and the vnexpress.net from 2010 to 2018 under the

theoretical basis of Conceptual Metaphor Theory (Lakoff & Johnson, 1980)

Step 4: Classify the plant metaphorical expressions into subtypes considering

the particular mapping between source domain “plants” and its target domain

Step 5: Compare and find out the similarities and differences between

conceptual metaphors using plants as source domain in the telegraph.co.uk and the vnexpress.net from 2010 to 2018

Step 6: Suggest some implications for language learners, teachers as well as

translators, give some conclusions and suggestions for further study

3.4 Statistical analysis

The main methods which are utilized for this study are documentary analysis, descriptive research methods, and contrastive analysis on the level of lexical and phrase units First of all, official documents about plant metaphors are collected, then the author must realize where the metaphorical images are used in articles, what terms they belong to, how they were constructed and interpreted After analyzing and interpreting data created from the examination of documents, the author will classify and synthesize them Descriptive research provides a precise portrayal of the characteristics of metaphors and typical metaphorical images of plants in English and Vietnamese online newspapers basing on theoretical framework In this thesis, Contrastive Analysis is also essential because the aim of this study is to discover the similarities and the differences of conceptual metaphor using plants as source domains in English and Vietnamese online newspapers Conceptual metaphors using plants as source domain in English are referred and analyzed first and then they are contrasted with Vietnamese conceptual metaphors

3.5 Analytical framework

- Model of the research

The categorization of the data is carried out on the basis of Lakoff Johnson‟s Conceptual Metaphor Theory (1980/2003) In this model, the elemental principle is that our conceptual system is “fundamentally metaphorical in nature” (Lakoff and Johnson, 2003:3) Metaphorical expressions are not only used in literature but also shows in everyday life language and in every field of the society In this respect, the thesis conducts some investigation into the use of metaphor using plants as source domains in English and Vietnamese internet newspapers in order to discover

conceptual domains

- Method of data analysis

Data are both qualitatively and quantitatively analyzed

Firstly, qualitative research focuses on gathering of mainly lexical data rather than

measurements Gathered information is then analyzed in an interpretative manner, subjective, impressionistic or even diagnostic The basic aim of a qualitative research is to provide a complete, detailed description of the research topic

In this study, qualitative method gives the author permission to conduct a deeper and more detailed conceptual analysis of the data, contributing to reveal possible similarities and differences in the use of the metaphorical expressions using plants

as source domains in English and Vietnamese internet newspapers, then interprets their pragmatic meaning in both languages, English and Vietnamese To be more specific, the data is qualitatively analyzed as follows:

- Describing the representations of the conceptual metaphor using plants as source domain in English and Vietnamese For example: when referring plants, we often think immediately about parts of plant with the lexical items such as seed, sprout, bud, flower, root, etc ; and the growth of the

plant with the lexical items such as growth, flourish, mushroom, etc

- Analyzing what target domains can use these expressions basing on metaphorical mapping and why these target domains are metaphorically understood and described in such way According to the author‟s research, there are many target domains using plants as source domain, but the top target domains are economy, emotion, human being, social organization

Secondly, the data is quantitatively analyzed in terms of the occurrence frequency

of every kinds of metaphor to show which kinds of metaphor are used more universally or less frequently

Source domain Target domain

Plant

parts of plants‟ activities in states of

plant growth agriculture plant

seed grow reap faded

root flourish plow withered mapping

sprout shoot up cultivate ripe

bud mushroom harvest crude

flower germinate sow rotten

blossom sprout crop green

fruit fade prune sour

branch wilt trim bumper

stem wither seed deep-rooted

core branch out plant budding

thorn blossom stem barren

sap bloom weed fruitful

offshoot sap uproot bitter

bark cut exuberant

Plant

parts of plants‟ activities in states of

plant growth agriculture plant

hạt giống tăng trưởng gặt khô héo

rễ phát triển hái tàn lụi mapping

mầm/ chồi đâm chồi canh tác chín

lộc mọc như nấm thu hoạch chưa chín

nụ nảy mầm gieo thối

hoa mọc lên trồng xanh

quả tàn đi tỉa chua

cành/ chi làm khô héo xén cành bội thu

cuống bén rễ rắc hạt nẫu

lõi phân nhánh trồng cằn cỗi

gai nở hoa nhổ cỏ sai quả

nhựa ra quả nhổ rễ thui chột

Chapter 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 4.1 Conceptual metaphors using plants as source domain in English internet newspapers

4.1.1 Economy is a plant

4.1.1.1 Stages of economy are stages of plant growth

In this section, six different stages of plant growth: seed, sprouting, budding,

flowering, fruition and withering mapped onto different economic phenomena and

actions are examined

4.1.1.1.1 Seed

It is common knowledge that the life cycle of a plant starts from a seed There is a group of metaphorical expressions in which the seed represents the initial stage or source of an economic phenomena and actions For instance:

- However, this seed capital helped us to grow by several hundred per cent and

to get the venture capital fund managers, MMC Ventures, to invest a more sizeable amount [17]

- A computer vision start-up that uses drones to simulate reality for construction

projects has raised £3.3m in seed funding to expand to the US [18]

- A banking reboot would sow the seeds of growth [10]

- I‟m financially very healthy That‟s a good base from which to seed it.” [19] When applied to economic discourse, the expressions “seed capital” and “seed

funding” in example (17) and (18) refers to the money provided to help a business

develop an idea, create the first product, and market the product for the first time, just the same as a seed of a plant In the example (10) and (19), the origin of the problems is to sow a seed

4.1.1.1.2 Sprouting

The seeds do not begin to grow immediately after they have been sown, but they experience a dormant period This period continues until there are appropriate environmental conditions for plant growth We use this knowledge about seeds when we talk about economic actions

- The letter informed me that, if I did not contact it by March 2014, my

account would be considered dormant [20]

- Struggle to get 'dormant' funds from Barclays [26]

The source domain is of plant, with growth suspended, is mapped onto different target domains, as in example (20) and (26) the target domain is a savings account

showing no activity (other than posting interest) for some specified period

When the seed is sown and the dormancy period is over, it starts sprouting In the below expressions, sprouting correlates with the awakening of some economic actions

- Tech hubs would sprout up in every city, humming with buzzy young app

designers [3]

- Shanghai may have sprouted dozens of skyscrapers and Beijing may boast

half a dozen ring roads, but China‟s big cities are still surprisingly small [22] The sprouting of a plant refers to a new growth developing from a bud into a branch, stalk, sucker, and so on This kind of common knowledge is applied when talking about the development of tech hubs in example (3) and Shanghai‟s city programming in (22) We know from our experience of plants that their roots give them anchorage and absorb minerals from the soil Moreover, in order for a plant, such as a tree, to get access to minerals and water, its roots must run deep Shallow-rooted plants may wither or be blown away by wind This knowledge of plants is carried over to the domain of economy For example:

- The Chancellor called the deeper-than-expected contraction disappointing

and confirmed the country's deep-rooted economic problems [23]

- As Governor of the bank of Greece during the country‟s most turbulent

period in modern times, I was provided with unique insight into the root

causes of the Greek economic crisis [7]

- As a bare minimum, they need to ensure incentives are rooted in a firm

understanding of the business model and are aligned to long-term business success [24]

In the above examples, deeply rooted plants correlate with firmly implanted problems which are hard to resolve in example (23), (7), and (24)

4.1.1.1.3 Budding

Budding is the following stage in plant growth This stage relates to some economic performances that start developing Buds undergo a parallel process: first they swell, then they split open and a leaf, flower or shoot emerges This parallel in experience allows us to map this stage in the source domain onto the initial stage of economic actions in the target Here is the example:

- The number of budding entrepreneurs in Britain wanting to launch their

own businesses has plummeted, research reveals [25]

Budding from the source domain of a plant are extended to describe the successful development of the economy in example (25)

4.1.1.1.4 Flowering

The flowering of a plant is considered as the best stage of economic development Below are some metaphorical expressions in which the best stage of economic actions correlates with the flowering of a plant

- But one thing is undeniably going well: the blossoming of

entrepreneurship [8]

- Despite feeling the pinch from high inflation, business volumes have

bloomed, profits have grown for the first time in over two years and hiring is

on the up,” said CBI chief economist Rain Newton-Smith [2]

- However, a great intellectual flowering of political economy was under

way and a handful of free traders led by David Ricardo [9]

- The cash economy has flourished since 2008, when the collapse of a

building boom hurled Spain into a double recession, a report by Treasury experts and academics said [29]

The expressions “blossoming” or “flowering” in examples illustrate the best stage

of economic development, this stage is regarded as the attainment of an optimum

stage of development The word “flourish” is used as a verb to describe the process

of the commerce‟s attaining its full development, which is correlated to the source domain of a plant throwing out leaves and shoots and growing vigorously and luxuriantly

4.1.1.5 Fruition

Metaphorically, the phrase “economic fruits” means the profitable results of

economic activities There are different examples found in English data as follows:

- Speedy Hire cost-cutting plan begins to bear fruit [13]

- China, with its long traditions of isolationism, may like to think it can exist

separately from the world beyond its borders, but the truth is that the

economic fruits of three decades of 'opening up' are born of a deep

commercial and technological re-engagement with that world [14]

- It is not hard to see why lots of people think that high street banking is an

industry ripe for disruption [27]

- Matalan defies high street gloom with bumper sales rise [11]

In example (13), (14), the word “fruits” signifies the beneficial consequences of

economic activities In example (27), “ripe for” implies the good development of

the economy and business, it means the condition or the businesses are ready for a

surge or a takeover In example (11), “bumper” denotes the revenue that

exceptionally successful

4.1.1.1.6 Withering

For agriculture, the last stage in a plant‟s life cycle is withering In some economic expressions a withering plant represents a declining business

- Manufacturing has withered, with 91pc of London‟s GDP accounted for by

the services sector in 2011 [12]

-Tories must conquer their fear of free market solutions, or wither on the

vine of vested interest [28]

- However, although total retail sales rose, parts of the retail industry wilted

in the July heat [36]

Economy is a plant metaphor is widely spread in economic newspaper texts

All these abstract developments and its various properties of the economy are derived metaphorically from the notion of physical growth of plant and its characteristics When the withering of a plant is mapped onto the economic domain,

it usually refers to economic depression or business decay In example (12) and

(36), the words “wither” and “wilted” expresses the reduction in the rate of the manufacturing sector in comparison with the service sector “Wither” in example

(28) describes an economic situation that can decline, fail or collapse at an early stage of development

Sap that is the liquid in a plant or tree that carries food to all its parts plays a principal role in maintaining the life in a plant like a human being needs blood to exist Therefore, it also maps onto the decline in economy

- Stamp duty is bad for jobs and growth and saps the economy's dynamism

[108]

4.1.1.2.The growth of the plant is the abstract development of the economy

4.1.1.2.1 An economy becoming larger is a plant branching

According to agricultural experience, when a plant grows, it becomes bigger in size Here are some of metaphorical expressions:

- In the pre-cash machine age, branches would not even open every day of

the week, let alone at weekends [60]

- After more communication and form filling you were asked to take two

pieces of identification, one photographic, to a local branch [16]

- Banking has branched out from the Mainwaring era [26]

Examples (60), (16) and (21) show how economic growth can be seen to branch in accordance with the prevailing circumstances in the world of the economy Experience shows that branch is a portion of a tree growing out of the stem, in a more specific sense, it is understood to be a natural offshoot, smaller than a bough and larger than a shoot When is comes to the world of the economy, a branch is one

of the portions into which a company is divided according to the differing lines

4.1.1.2.2 Reducing economy is making a plant prune

In order to help the plants grow better, we sometimes cut or prune them, which results in a smaller size Speakers can make use of this additional information in understanding certain features of the economic system

- The cuts have been delayed for several years because the Government

does not want to prune spending while the economy is still depressed [31]

- According to Gold Money, bulls also returned to the market after Janet

Yellen signaled that the US Federal Reserve will continue to prune back its

stimulus measures [32]

- According to the New York Times, the Pentagon has proposed a $60 billion

cut in spending over the next six years [30]

- California Gov Jerry Brown trimmed the state's proposed budget for fiscal

2017 after projecting a decrease in tax revenue for the coming year, but awarded more money for value-based payment initiatives and behavioral health programs [33]

- We need new laws but also much tougher enforcement, to weed out those

businesses seeking to exploit complex labour laws, and workers, for their competitive advantage [102]

Biologically, pruning a tree is cut off or removing dead or living parts or branches

of it to improve shape or growth While in order to boost economic development, the management of companies, or countries may adopt various kinds of measures or policies, including cutting cost, reducing management and pruning spending, which are designed to deal with economic issues

4.1.1.2.3 Growth in the source corresponding to some abstract development

in the economy

According to Whitle (2003), the use of growth and its frequency is a mark of how

the word has become lexicalized in economic discourse as a popular term for economic activities In practice, it can be said that the principal feature of a plant is

its tendency to grow and this growth may vary widely under different

circumstances

- Today the OBR revised down the outlook for productivity growth, business investment and GDP growth [113]

- Booming consumer spending, export growth, investment and government

spending all pushed US economic growth to a four-year high [6]

- The economy has grown by 55pc over the same period, and receipts of both

personal income tax and small companies' income tax are higher [35]

- Capitalism must be inclusive for businesses to flourish [1]

- Universities are increasingly important to our economic prosperity [4]

- It's a little more complicated than that, of course, but here are five

encouraging signs from the last week that show how Britain's economy is

thriving [5]

- Overall the worth of the UK economy has mushroomed from £377bn to

£1,561bn through Her Majesty's reign [34]

- Income and inheritance taxes would shoot up, and NHS spending would be

slashed [15]

It can be found that grow means to increase in size by a natural process, but when it mapped into the economic domain, it means the development or expanse the

business, economic activities when it collocates with the nouns (growth,

prosperity), the verbs (grow, flourish, mushroom, shoot up), and the adjective (thriving)

4.1.2 Emotion is plant

An emotion is a feeling such as happiness, love, fear, anger, or hatred, which can be caused by the situation that you are in or the people you are with Metaphor is a means of conceptualizing human being‟s bodily experience and understanding the world, through which we comprehend abstract concepts and perform abstract reasoning Since cognition can influence and be influenced by emotions, the study

of human emotions plays an important role in the probe into human cognition

4.1.2.1 Love is a plant

Love is a complex emotion, but familiar and closely attached to human life It is the endless source of inspiration to composers, especially poets Love in literature is

diverse, plentiful, and mainly indicated by metaphors Literary language used to be regarded as unconventional, more imaginative and creative than daily language thanks to rhetoric, including metaphor Love can be compared to a plant, as there are enough similarities between the domains According to Kövecses (2002/2010), plants serve different functions, have different stages and consist of different parts

and these characteristics can be extended to love as well In the “love is plant”

metaphor, love focuses on the aspect of the growth of plants The natural growth involves the sprouting of plants, as in the example (38), the process of growth, as in the example (37), the bud as in the example (39), the flower and fruit, as in the example (43) (41) and withering in the example (40):

- The couple posed for an intimate black and white Matthew Kristall spread,

where they talk about their first encounter and how their love sprouted into

something that no one ever imagined [38]

- That, we‟ve come to realize, is the secret of how love grows [37]

- Macron's parents, worried about the budding love affair, sent him away for

his last year of high school [39]

- In a final romantic flourish, he employed her brother and a friend to lead

her to a beach and asked her father and stepmother to hand her a tablet to watch the film [43]

- Will love blossom in Chris Huhne's courtroom drama? [41]

- How exactly is that morally superior to trying to play pragmatic happy

families after romantic love has withered? [40]

Another possible way of describing the taste of the conceptual domain love is

shown by using terms related to the flavor of the conceptual domain plant

- Oh, hang on I've got confused, she was on US reality series Flavor of Love

and I Love New York [42]

4.1.2.2 Happiness is a plant

In happiness is a metaphor, “happiness” maps onto the result of cultivating a plant

More specifically, it maps mainly onto the flower and the fruit The entity of

"flower" and the function of "flowering" are embodied in example (47) and example (45), and the entity of "fruit" and "the taste of fruit" are mapped in the example (48)

- You can tell they're willing to immediately dissociate with you if you

answer in the affirmative," says Aken'ova, whose quick smile blossoms as

brightly as the tattooed flower on her right biceps (47)

- The second period had a flavor of happiness that was the victory with

Liverpool the more dominant (45)

- It sounds like the locals might have been enjoying the sweet fruits of their

labours a little too much (48)

Like plants, happiness that is the meaning and the purpose of life, the whole aim and end of human existence develops rapidly and vigorously

-The crude adoption of Aristotle as a champion of feeling good helps

happiness flourish, while flourishing flounders [44]

- Boris jumped at the idea and I remember our lunch as the last time I saw

Bill exuberantly happy [49]

In addition, there is the metaphorical expression in which the seed shows the beginning of merriness

- How to plant the seeds of happiness [46]

To look closely at the examples, we observed a trend in the mappings The metaphor focuses on blossoming of the flower Therefore, the result of the growth

of plants is what maps onto the target domain of happiness

4.1.2.3 Sadness is a plant

As has been demonstrated previously, there are systematic conceptual mappings between the source domains of plant In the following conceptual metaphor, the

same source domain occurs with the target domain of sadness To some extent,

there are similarities in the way transferring the meaning of metaphorical expressions between two emotions: happiness and sadness Here are some

examples:

- With each passing day his frustration and sadness grew as he realized the

fever was gobbling up the precious little time he had left [50

- Outward displays of grief grew less common, but Accrington's wound

refused to heal [51]

- My life's greatest sorrow stems from my inability to feel close to other

women [53]

- My depression flourished as our politicians saw fit to approve the

nomination of a woman who has absolutely no experience in public education

to oversee our educational troops [52]

Clearly, in the above metaphors the highlighted causes of sadness are the frustration, grief, depression and loss