A Cognitive Analysis of Conceptual Metaphor in the Lyrics of Taylor Swift

Chuyi LIAO

Abstract


Where there is a language, there is a metaphor. Metaphor is a kind of cognition phenomenon that can reflect and influence human beings’ mindset, so does lyrics. The present study aims to explore the general distribution and practical meaning of conceptual metaphor theory in the identified conceptual metaphors in the lyrics written by Taylor Swift. Based on a corpus of all the lyrics from the selected twenty Taylor Swift’s most popular songs, the identified and categorized conceptual metaphors in the data are analyzed by discourse analysis in accordance to Lakoff and Johnson’s Conceptual Metaphor Theory. Upon investigation, the general distribution of conceptual metaphors in the selected lyrics written by Taylor Swift is mainly divided into two categories, structural metaphor and ontological metaphor. The result of the discourse analysis implies that conceptual metaphor plays a key role in the lyrics written by Taylor Swift.


Keywords


Conceptual metaphor theory; Taylor swift; Lyrics; Structural metaphor; Ontological metaphor

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References


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DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3968/11967

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