VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF POST- GRADUATE STUDIES
-----------o0o------------

NGUYỄN THỊ HỒNG THU

A STUDY ON METAPHORS OF LOVE IN SOME ENGLISH
LOVE SONGS IN THE LATE 20TH CENTURY FROM
COGNITIVE PERSPECTIVE
Nghiên cứu ẩn dụ về tình yêu và tình nhân trong một số bản tình ca tiếng Anh
ở cuối thế kỷ 20 từ góc nhìn tri nhận

M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

Major: English Linguistics
Code: 60220201

Ha Noi, 2015


VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF POST- GRADUATE STUDIES
-----------o0o------------

NGUYỄN THỊ HỒNG THU

A STUDY ON METAPHORS OF LOVE IN SOME ENGLISH
LOVE SONGS IN THE LATE 20TH CENTURY FROM
COGNITIVE PERSPECTIVE

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the following people for
their great supports during my two-year time for the MA course.
First and foremost, I would like to express my deep gratitude to Assoc. Prof.
Dr. Võ Đại Quang, my supervisor, for his clear guidance, insightful comments and
dutiful supervision.
My deep thanks also go to all the lecturers at University of Languages and
International Studies, Vietnam National University- Ha Noi for their knowledge,
experience and enthusiasm in their lectures, from which I have acquired valuable
knowledge and inspiration to fulfill this minor thesis.
With the passion for literature and semantics, I am really interested in the
lectures of Prof. Dr. Nguyen Hoa and Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nguyen Thom which have
inspired me to do this study.
I also would like to express my sincere thanks to my family any many of my
friends and colleagues for their valuable sharing and encouragements.
Finally, my sincere thanks are for the people who will give me the precious
comments after reading the graduation thesis.

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ABSTRACT

In this thesis, the researcher has tried to give an overview of the relevant
literature review in the concern of the knowledge related to metaphors basing on
the theory of the famous writers, especially Lakoff and Kovecses. This study
focuses on the metaphors of love and lovers in the English love songs in the late
20th century from the cognitive perspective. It will help the readers have a deeper
sight into theoretical knowledge on metaphors in order to be able to find out,
comprehend and analyze the interesting metaphors in songs. The writer also
suggests some suitable ways for learners to learn English better, for teachers to give

1.1.2. Change of meaning. ......................................................................................5
1.1.3. Components of Word Meaning ....................................................................5
1.1.4. Concepts of metaphor ................................. Error! Bookmark not defined.
1.1.5. Classification of metaphor ............................................................................7
1.1.6. Conceptual (cognitive) metaphors ................................................................7
1.1.7. Classification of conceptual (cognitive) metaphors ......................................8
1.1.8. Target domain and source domain of conceptual metaphor ..........................9
1.2. Review of previous works related to the theme of the thesis. ......................10
1.2.1. ―Metaphor we live by‖ (1980) by Lakoff and Johnson ..............................10
1.2.2. ―A holographic study of metaphors concerning love in Chinese‖ by
Renying Yang .......................................................................................................10
1.2.3. Richard Nordquist on his article ―Love is metaphor". ...............................10
1.3. Summary ...........................................................................................................11
CHAPTER 2: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY .................................................12

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2.1. Research-governing orientations ....................................................................12
2.1.1. Research questions ......................................................................................12
2.1.2. Research types ............................................................................................12
2.1.3. Research approach ......................................................................................12
2.1.4. Research methods .......................................................................................13
2.2. Data collection and data analysis ....................................................................14
2.2.1. Data .............................................................................................................14
2.2.2. Data collections instruments .......................................................................14
2.2.3. Data analysis techniques .............................................................................14
2.2.4. Data analysis ...............................................................................................15
2.3. Research procedures .......................................................................................15
2.4. Reliability and validity .....................................................................................16

3.4.2. Occurrence of love metaphors in English songs in three subtypes. ..................41
3.5. Summary ..........................................................................................................42
PART C: CONCLUSION.......................................................................................43
1. Concluding remarks and Implications ..............................................................43
1.1. Concluding remarks .......................................................................................43
1.1.1. The typical metaphorical images of love and lovers in English songs ..43
1.1.2. How these metaphorical images are expressed in songs. .......................43
1.1.3. The value of these metaphorical images in songs Error! Bookmark not
defined.
1.2. Implications ..................................................................................................43
1.2.1. Implications for learners .......................................................................44
1.2.2. Implications for teachers ........................................................................45
1.2.3. Implications for translators ...................................................................46
2. Limitations and suggestions for further studies ...............................................47
REFERENCES ........................................................................................................ 49

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PART A. INTRODUCTION
1. Rationale of the study
Metaphor in language is like a flower of life. Life becomes more beautiful with the
colorful flowers and language becomes more legend and lovely with the
metaphorical images. Understanding metaphors is crucial to comprehend figurative
language in literature and to enhance practicing skills of learning English.
Metaphors are used to describe something that the author cannot adequately
represent in a literal fashion or in a simple declarative sentence. They can broaden
or bring a fresh perspective to a familiar or overused subject. Writers use metaphors
to give clarity to their writing or to paint a visual picture by words. Whatever the
author's intent, analyzing the context in which metaphors are used will reveal much

1. What are the typical metaphors of love in English love songs in the late 20th
century from the cognitive perspective?
2. How are the metaphors of love expressed in the love songs?
3. Significance of the study
3.1. Theoretical significance
This study is to find out typical metaphorical images of love and lovers in the
famous English love songs with a view to contributing to the studies of linguistics
from cognitive prospective. That how these metaphorical images are expressed in
cognition and the artistic value of these images in songs will be analyzed
specifically can provide a new look into English literature.
3.2. Practical significance
This research is performed with the purpose of helping Vietnamese learners and
teacher of English better understand conceptual metaphors in English songs and
then create the suitable tips to apply language flexibly. As a result, they will be
able to learn and teach English effectively. In addition, it can contribute to the
teaching of literature, semantics, cultural linguistics applied in Vietnamese
universities of foreign languages. Especially, the translators will take the
necessary notes when working with metaphors in the process of translation
4. Scope of the study
Basing on the theory of the famous writers, especially Lakoff and Kovecses, this
study focuses on the metaphors of love and lovers in the famous English love songs

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in the late 20th century from the cognitive perspective.
5. Method of the study
The study is mainly carried out through the documentary analysis and descriptive
study with the support of qualitative and quantitative approach. The data is
quantitatively analyzed in terms of the percentage of the occurrence of metaphorical

is that it clarifies the independent characteristic of the word as a language unit.
Jackson & Amvela (2000: 50) mention the word as an uninterruptible unit of
structure consisting of one or more morphemes and which typically occurs in the
structure of phrases. Hoang Tat Truong has an investigation in the independent
characteristic of words in Basic English Lexicology (1993:2) in which the word is
defined as dialectical unity of form and content, independent unit of language capable
to form a sentence by itself. It can be seen from the definitions of the author that the
word is the meaningful smallest unit that consists of the form and the content. Words
are divided into two basic types: Lexical words and grammatical words.
The meaning of any word is a matter of what we do with our language, not
something hidden inside anyone's mind or brain so Patrick Hogan (2010: 42)
takes another definition ―Word meaning relates to the semantic value‖ that is
conventionally associated with individual lexical items, which is to say word.
Because this paper partly depends on senses of words and semantic change to
discover the metaphorical concepts of love, the following part is to focus on
change of word meaning.

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1.1.2. Change of meaning.
Language is a thing that is just changing all the time. The change can affect any part
of language such as sounds, pronouncing, words combination...According to
Bloomfield, Leonard (1933: 425) ―innovation which change the lexical meaning
rather than the grammatical function of a form, are classed as change of meaning or
semantic change‖. The definition emphasizes lexical meaning change, whatever
structure types the word belongs to. Trier (1931: 134) with the studies beyond the
analysis of single words has claimed that every semantic change of a word would
affect all other words in lexical term.
All words have a meaning, but since English first appeared from its base language,

In Understanding English Semantics, Nguyen Hoa (2004: 98) refers to denotation as
the ability of a word or expression to identify all the objects covered by a word.
While connotation is the communicative value of a word or an expression by virtue
of what it refers to, over and above its purely conceptual content.
If semantics components serve as material to analyze metaphors
1.1.4. Concepts of metaphor
Language is a very powerful tool as it reflects the way we categorize and
conceptualize the world we live in. It is almost impossible to understand a thing
without grouping it with other category members that share the same properties. In
doing so, we acquire different kinds of concepts and, as a result, build our general
knowledge. Metaphors supply these requirements. Often we treat them only as
stylistic devices, but in fact metaphorical expressions verbally represent the way of
human thinking and reasoning. People tend to conceptualize emotions, love being
one of them, metaphorically because both emotions and metaphors connected with
them are inevitable parts of everyday live.
''Without our ability to categorize, we would not function at all, either in the
physical world or in our social and intellectual lives'' (1990: 6) Lakoff explains. So
many definitions of metaphor are created but it can be understood in the most
common way: According to Lakoff and Johnson (1980: 4), ―Metaphor is for most
people a device of the poetic imagination and the rhetorical flourish - a matter of
extraordinary language rather than ordinary language‖. A metaphor can be defined
in

the

other

ways

an object or concept it