Search

A Corpus-Based Study of Metaphorical Construction of “Economy” in Chinese Political Discourse

Author(s)

Qianqian Wang*

Affiliation(s)

Center for Linguistics and Applied Linguistics, Guangdong University of Foreign Studies, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China

Abstract

The paper aims at identifying conceptual metaphors used to construct “economy” in order to explore the role and characteristics of conceptual metaphors in political discourse. The research is conducted on the basis of a self-built corpus of Chinese political discourse made up of ninety-eight speeches given by Chinese Secretary-General, with the help of Wmatrix, an Internet-based data analysis tool. It’s found that conceptual metaphors pervade Xi’s political speeches; seven dominant source domains are used to describe “economy”, including organism, journey, building, vehicle, machine, sport & game, and natural object, among which ORGANISM metaphor is the most productive one. In addition, the metaphor density is higher in political discourse than that in economic discourse, and there is distinct metaphorical preference in political discourse. It reflects the constructive value and guiding significance of conceptual metaphor for political discourse system.

Keywords

Corpus Approach; ECONOMY Metaphor; Political Discourse; Wmatrix

References

[1] Boers, S. T. Enhancing metaphorical awareness in specialized reading. English for Specific Purposes, 2002, (2): 137-147. [2] Charteris-Black, J. Corpus Approaches to Critical Metaphor Analysis. Palgrave Macmillan, 2004. [3] Chatti, S. Seasonal metaphors in Arab journalistic discourse. Metaphor and the Social World, 2020, 10 (1): 22-44. [4] Domaradzki, M. Health metaphors and embodiment in Arab economic discourse. Review of Cognitive Linguistics, 2018, (2): 317-347. [5] Hu Chunyu & Xu Yuting. A comparative study of "ECONOMY metaphor" based on Chinese and English media Corpora. Foreign Language Education, 2017, 38 (5): 38-43. [6] Hu Zhuanglin. Cognitive Metaphor (2nd. ed.). Peking University Press, 2020. [7] Klamer, J., McCloskey, D. & R. Solow. (eds.). The Consequences of Economic Rhetoric. Cambridge University Press, 1998. [8] Koller, V. Metaphor and Gender in Business Media Discourse: A Critical Cognitive Study. Palgrave Macmillan, 2004. [9] Lakoff, G. & Johnson, M. Metaphors We Live By. The University of Chicago Press, 1980. [10] Liu Xuelian. A synchronic and comparative study of metaphors in English and Chinese economic discourse. Journal of Henan University of Science and Technology (Social Science), 2013, 31 (5): 70-74. [11] Rayson, P. From key words to key semantic domains. International Journal of Corpus Linguistics, 2008, 13 (4): 519-549. [12] Ren Chaowang & Zeng Lisha. The cross culturality of conceptual metaphors in English and Chinese economic reports. Journal of Guangzhou University, 2016, 15 (11): 64-69. [13] Romero-Trillo, J. Book review: A. Musolff, F. MacArthur ＆ G. Pagani (Eds.), Metaphor and intercultural communication. Review of Cognitive Linguistics, 2018, 16 (1): 299-303. [14] Tan Yesheng & Chen Min. A longitudinal study of metaphors in Chinese economic discourse. Language Teaching and Linguistic Studies, 2010, (5): 84-90. [15] Tian Hailong. Political language study: review and reflection. Foreign Language Education, 2002, 23 (1): 23-28. [16] Ungerer, F. & H. J. Schmid. An Introduction to Cognitive Linguistics. Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press, 2009. [17] Zibin, A. The effect of the Arab Spring on the use of metaphor and metonymy in Jordanian economic discourse. Review of Cognitive Linguistics, 2018, 16 (1): 254-298.