A Study on the Conceptual Metaphor of News Reports on COVID-19 in Mainstream English Media in China — A Case Study of <i>China Daily</i>

Zhenyuan Yan

doi:doi:10.11648/j.ijll.20221001.17

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A Study on the Conceptual Metaphor of News Reports on COVID-19 in Mainstream English Media in China — A Case Study of China Daily

Zhenyuan Yan

Published in International Journal of Language and Linguistics (Volume 10, Issue 1)

Received: 15 January 2022 Accepted: 27 January 2022 Published: 9 February 2022

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Abstract

Traditional metaphor regards metaphor as a rhetorical device, and believes that metaphor is merely an embellishment or decoration in the form of language, and its main metaphorical function is to beautify the language, and to enhance the effect of language expression. Conceptual Metaphor Theory, put forward by the famous linguist Lakoff in 1980, enables the study of metaphor to realize a cognitive turn. In recent years, the study of conceptual metaphor has not only been applied to the analysis of word meaning and general text, but also extended to news discourse. The study of conceptual metaphor in news discourse has become one of the important hot topics of current research. At the beginning of 2020, the outbreak and spread of the new crown pneumonia epidemic is testing people all over the world. As China’s mainstream English-language media, China Daily frequently reports on this hot social event. This study intends to collect reports on COVID-19 in China Daily from January 1, 2020 to December 31, 2020 and establish a corpus to study further its conceptual metaphors. Finally, this study finds eight main kinds of conceptual metaphors, including war metaphors, journey metaphors, building metaphors, human metaphors, light metaphors, book metaphors, plant metaphors and evil metaphors. The metaphors reflect China’s values of courage, struggle and harmony as well as its social awareness of actively building a community with a shared future for mankind.

Published in	International Journal of Language and Linguistics (Volume 10, Issue 1)
DOI	10.11648/j.ijll.20221001.17
Page(s)	47-52
Creative Commons	This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright	Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

COVID-19, News Discourse, Conceptual Metaphor, Corpus, Social Consciousness

References

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[3]	Ding, Ying. (2020). The Use and Reflection of War Metaphors in COVID-19 Governance. Journal of Tongling Vocational and Technical College, 19 (04), 56-61+71. DOI: 10.16789/j.cnki.1671-752x.2020.04.014.
[4]	Islentyeva, A. (2020). Corpus-Based Analysis of Ideological Bias: Migration in the British Press. Taylor and Francis.
[5]	Lakoff, G. & M. Johnson. (1980). Metaphors We Live by. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
[6]	Lakoff, G. (1993). The contemporary theory of metaphor [A]. In Ortony, A. (ed.). Metaphor and Thought. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 59-107.
[7]	Li, Hongtao. (2014). The Ended “War” and the “Labyrinth” That Can't Get Out: The Use of Metaphors and Media Memory in the Commemorative Report of the “Decade of SARS”. Shanghai Journalism Review, (04), 84-93. DOI: 10.16057/j.cnki.31-1171/g2.2014.04.013.
[8]	Li, Wei. (2020). A Cognitive Interpretation of Metaphors in News Reports of Public Health Emergencies: Based on the Study of "War Metaphor"in Media Discourse of COVID-19. Journal of Fuyang Normal University (Social Science), (05), 50-54. DOI: 10.14096/j.cnki.cn34-1333/c.2020.05.08.
[9]	Li, Xue & Zhang, Xin. (2020). A Study on Conceptual Metaphors in Chinese Epidemic Prevention Discourse from the Cultural Context Perspective. Journal of Yancheng Teachers University (Humanities & Social Sciences Edition), (05), 17-26. DOI: 10.16401/j.cnki.ysxb.1003-6873.2020.05.060.
[10]	Mukhortikova, T. (2018). The qualifying study of metaphor as a vehicle of frame in the news texts about 11-m terrorist attacks (El País, The Guardian and Izvestia). Revista de Comunicación, 17 (2), 208-228. https://doi.org/10.26441/RC17.2-2018-A9.
[11]	Ortony, A. (1993). Metaphor and Thought, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
[12]	Shu, Dingfang.(2000). Studies in Metaphor. Shanghai: Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press, 28.
[13]	Si, Jianguo. (2021). War Metaphors in the Shenzhen Special Zone Daily during the Outbreak of Coronavirus. Journal of Qingyuan Polytechnic, 02, 1-6.
[14]	Taylor, C. & Kidgell, J. (2021). Flu-like pandemics and metaphor pre-COVID: A corpus investigation. Discourse, Context & Media, (41), 100503. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dcm.2021.100503.
[15]	Tetyana, K. (2021). Cognitive Metaphors of COVID-19 Pandemic in Business News. SHS Web of Conferences, 100, 02004-02004.
[16]	Xiang, Xu. (2021). A Corpus-assisted Critical Metaphor Analysis of News Reports on COVID-19 by Xinhua News Agency. Shanghai Normal University, 28-53. DOI: 10.27312/d.cnki.gshsu.2021.000080.
[17]	Yu Ning. (1988). The Contemporary Theory of Metaphor: A Perspective from Chinese. Benjamins: Amsterdam and Philadelphia.
[18]	Zhang, Junfang (2012). Analysis of metaphor in international reports on “huangyan island incident”. Press Circles, (16), 17-19.

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Zhenyuan Yan. (2022). A Study on the Conceptual Metaphor of News Reports on COVID-19 in Mainstream English Media in China — A Case Study of China Daily. International Journal of Language and Linguistics, 10(1), 47-52. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijll.20221001.17

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Zhenyuan Yan. A Study on the Conceptual Metaphor of News Reports on COVID-19 in Mainstream English Media in China — A Case Study of China Daily. Int. J. Lang. Linguist. 2022, 10(1), 47-52. doi: 10.11648/j.ijll.20221001.17

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Zhenyuan Yan. A Study on the Conceptual Metaphor of News Reports on COVID-19 in Mainstream English Media in China — A Case Study of China Daily. Int J Lang Linguist. 2022;10(1):47-52. doi: 10.11648/j.ijll.20221001.17

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@article{10.11648/j.ijll.20221001.17,
  author = {Zhenyuan Yan},
  title = {A Study on the Conceptual Metaphor of News Reports on COVID-19 in Mainstream English Media in China — A Case Study of China Daily},
  journal = {International Journal of Language and Linguistics},
  volume = {10},
  number = {1},
  pages = {47-52},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ijll.20221001.17},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijll.20221001.17},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijll.20221001.17},
  abstract = {Traditional metaphor regards metaphor as a rhetorical device, and believes that metaphor is merely an embellishment or decoration in the form of language, and its main metaphorical function is to beautify the language, and to enhance the effect of language expression. Conceptual Metaphor Theory, put forward by the famous linguist Lakoff in 1980, enables the study of metaphor to realize a cognitive turn. In recent years, the study of conceptual metaphor has not only been applied to the analysis of word meaning and general text, but also extended to news discourse. The study of conceptual metaphor in news discourse has become one of the important hot topics of current research. At the beginning of 2020, the outbreak and spread of the new crown pneumonia epidemic is testing people all over the world. As China’s mainstream English-language media, China Daily frequently reports on this hot social event. This study intends to collect reports on COVID-19 in China Daily from January 1, 2020 to December 31, 2020 and establish a corpus to study further its conceptual metaphors. Finally, this study finds eight main kinds of conceptual metaphors, including war metaphors, journey metaphors, building metaphors, human metaphors, light metaphors, book metaphors, plant metaphors and evil metaphors. The metaphors reflect China’s values of courage, struggle and harmony as well as its social awareness of actively building a community with a shared future for mankind.},
 year = {2022}
}

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TY  - JOUR
T1  - A Study on the Conceptual Metaphor of News Reports on COVID-19 in Mainstream English Media in China — A Case Study of China Daily
AU  - Zhenyuan Yan
Y1  - 2022/02/09
PY  - 2022
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijll.20221001.17
DO  - 10.11648/j.ijll.20221001.17
T2  - International Journal of Language and Linguistics
JF  - International Journal of Language and Linguistics
JO  - International Journal of Language and Linguistics
SP  - 47
EP  - 52
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2330-0221
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijll.20221001.17
AB  - Traditional metaphor regards metaphor as a rhetorical device, and believes that metaphor is merely an embellishment or decoration in the form of language, and its main metaphorical function is to beautify the language, and to enhance the effect of language expression. Conceptual Metaphor Theory, put forward by the famous linguist Lakoff in 1980, enables the study of metaphor to realize a cognitive turn. In recent years, the study of conceptual metaphor has not only been applied to the analysis of word meaning and general text, but also extended to news discourse. The study of conceptual metaphor in news discourse has become one of the important hot topics of current research. At the beginning of 2020, the outbreak and spread of the new crown pneumonia epidemic is testing people all over the world. As China’s mainstream English-language media, China Daily frequently reports on this hot social event. This study intends to collect reports on COVID-19 in China Daily from January 1, 2020 to December 31, 2020 and establish a corpus to study further its conceptual metaphors. Finally, this study finds eight main kinds of conceptual metaphors, including war metaphors, journey metaphors, building metaphors, human metaphors, light metaphors, book metaphors, plant metaphors and evil metaphors. The metaphors reflect China’s values of courage, struggle and harmony as well as its social awareness of actively building a community with a shared future for mankind.
VL  - 10
IS  - 1
ER  -

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Author Information

Zhenyuan Yan

Linguistics and Applied Linguistics in Foreign Languages, Southwest Petroleum University, Chengdu, China

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Zhenyuan Yan. (2022). A Study on the Conceptual Metaphor of News Reports on COVID-19 in Mainstream English Media in China — A Case Study of China Daily. International Journal of Language and Linguistics, 10(1), 47-52. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijll.20221001.17

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ACS Style

Zhenyuan Yan. A Study on the Conceptual Metaphor of News Reports on COVID-19 in Mainstream English Media in China — A Case Study of China Daily. Int. J. Lang. Linguist. 2022, 10(1), 47-52. doi: 10.11648/j.ijll.20221001.17

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Zhenyuan Yan. A Study on the Conceptual Metaphor of News Reports on COVID-19 in Mainstream English Media in China — A Case Study of China Daily. Int J Lang Linguist. 2022;10(1):47-52. doi: 10.11648/j.ijll.20221001.17

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@article{10.11648/j.ijll.20221001.17,
  author = {Zhenyuan Yan},
  title = {A Study on the Conceptual Metaphor of News Reports on COVID-19 in Mainstream English Media in China — A Case Study of China Daily},
  journal = {International Journal of Language and Linguistics},
  volume = {10},
  number = {1},
  pages = {47-52},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ijll.20221001.17},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijll.20221001.17},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijll.20221001.17},
  abstract = {Traditional metaphor regards metaphor as a rhetorical device, and believes that metaphor is merely an embellishment or decoration in the form of language, and its main metaphorical function is to beautify the language, and to enhance the effect of language expression. Conceptual Metaphor Theory, put forward by the famous linguist Lakoff in 1980, enables the study of metaphor to realize a cognitive turn. In recent years, the study of conceptual metaphor has not only been applied to the analysis of word meaning and general text, but also extended to news discourse. The study of conceptual metaphor in news discourse has become one of the important hot topics of current research. At the beginning of 2020, the outbreak and spread of the new crown pneumonia epidemic is testing people all over the world. As China’s mainstream English-language media, China Daily frequently reports on this hot social event. This study intends to collect reports on COVID-19 in China Daily from January 1, 2020 to December 31, 2020 and establish a corpus to study further its conceptual metaphors. Finally, this study finds eight main kinds of conceptual metaphors, including war metaphors, journey metaphors, building metaphors, human metaphors, light metaphors, book metaphors, plant metaphors and evil metaphors. The metaphors reflect China’s values of courage, struggle and harmony as well as its social awareness of actively building a community with a shared future for mankind.},
 year = {2022}
}

Copy | Download

TY  - JOUR
T1  - A Study on the Conceptual Metaphor of News Reports on COVID-19 in Mainstream English Media in China — A Case Study of China Daily
AU  - Zhenyuan Yan
Y1  - 2022/02/09
PY  - 2022
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijll.20221001.17
DO  - 10.11648/j.ijll.20221001.17
T2  - International Journal of Language and Linguistics
JF  - International Journal of Language and Linguistics
JO  - International Journal of Language and Linguistics
SP  - 47
EP  - 52
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2330-0221
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijll.20221001.17
AB  - Traditional metaphor regards metaphor as a rhetorical device, and believes that metaphor is merely an embellishment or decoration in the form of language, and its main metaphorical function is to beautify the language, and to enhance the effect of language expression. Conceptual Metaphor Theory, put forward by the famous linguist Lakoff in 1980, enables the study of metaphor to realize a cognitive turn. In recent years, the study of conceptual metaphor has not only been applied to the analysis of word meaning and general text, but also extended to news discourse. The study of conceptual metaphor in news discourse has become one of the important hot topics of current research. At the beginning of 2020, the outbreak and spread of the new crown pneumonia epidemic is testing people all over the world. As China’s mainstream English-language media, China Daily frequently reports on this hot social event. This study intends to collect reports on COVID-19 in China Daily from January 1, 2020 to December 31, 2020 and establish a corpus to study further its conceptual metaphors. Finally, this study finds eight main kinds of conceptual metaphors, including war metaphors, journey metaphors, building metaphors, human metaphors, light metaphors, book metaphors, plant metaphors and evil metaphors. The metaphors reflect China’s values of courage, struggle and harmony as well as its social awareness of actively building a community with a shared future for mankind.
VL  - 10
IS  - 1
ER  -

Copy | Download