Conceptual metaphors of commodity in business articles in Vietnam’s e-newspapers

Abstract

The study aims to identify conceptual metaphors of the target domain COMMODITY in business articles in Vietnamese e-newspapers. 3 research methods are used to realize the research objectives, including literature review, discourse analysis, descriptive methods in combination with statistical techniques and Metaphor Identification Procedure (MIP), the research sample includes 12 business articles posted on reputable e-newspapers of Vietnam. The study has identified 5 metaphors including COMMODITY IS A HUMAN, COMMODITY IS A PATIENT, COMMODITY IS A SPORTSMAN, COMMODITY IS A VEHICLE and COMMODITY IS A LIQUID. The grounding to these 5 metaphors is discussed in the research findings. The findings illustrates the nature of metaphors under cognitive approach – metaphors are a tool that reflect the way people see and perceive the world and are used frequently in different discourses and communication contexts.