An Analysis of Conceptualization of Inflation in Vietnamese Economic Discourse
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17507/tpls.1603.04Keywords:
cognitive linguistics, metaphor of inflation, Vietnamese economic discourse, Vietnamese mediaAbstract
This study investigates how Vietnamese economic discourse conceptualizes inflation through the source domain of a physical object. Using the framework of Conceptual Metaphor Theory (Lakoff & Johnson, 1980) and adopting a Critical Metaphor Analysis approach (Charteris-Black 2005, 2014), the study examines a corpus of 281 metaphorical expressions extracted from economic discourse in Vietnamese online newspapers between 2011 and 2025. The findings reveal two prominent derived metaphors: ‘INFLATION IS A MOVING OBJECT’ and ‘INFLATION IS A BURNING OBJECT.’ These metaphors play an important role in helping the public comprehend fundamental aspects of inflation by linking this abstract economic phenomenon with universal embodied experiences. Beyond their cognitive function, such metaphors function as strategic discursive tools for shaping public views, emotional responses, and expectations toward macroeconomic policies. The study contributes to cross-linguistic research on economic metaphors and offers insights into the ideological functions of discourse. It also suggests pedagogical applications for teaching media and journalism language as well as teaching Vietnamese for specific purposes.
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