Conceptualisation of ECONOMY in the British and Romanian business press. A corpus-based - PowerPoint Presentation

Slide1

Conceptualisation of ECONOMY in the British and Romanian business press. A corpus-based approach

Teodora PopescuUniversity of Alba Iulia, Romania26-28 May 2017, OsijekSlide2

Introduction

Main research project:Universals and variants of English and Romanian business metaphors. A corpus-based conceptual mapping of contemporary journalese (2015-2017, University of Alba Iulia, Romania)The main tenet is that cognitive metaphors are instantiations of cultural categories manifested in the language spoken by the community that shares a common set of characteristics within a given cultural matrix. A grant of the Romanian National Authority for Scientific Research and Innovation, CNCS – UEFISCDI, project number PN-II-RU-TE-2014-4-2785Slide3

business-metaphors.roSlide4

Introduction

Economic discourse has abounded in figurative language from the beginnings of trade itself. The communicative function of metaphor in particular is self-evident in journal article titles, the financial press, headlines, marketing and advertising, etc. The interrelatedness of semantic and social change of the language reflects different historical moments, marked by social and economic transformations. Slide5

Introduction

Besides its social, political and cognitive dimensions of the language used in the business domain, it also displays cultural underpinnings, pertaining to specific cultural concepts of one particular nation. Conceptualisations of culture, besides cognitive categories offer deeper insights into intercultural communication. An understanding of people’s metaphorical language can reveal deep meanings pertaining to different cultures. Slide6

Literature review

Models of culture in relation to linguistic structures (Holland & Quinn 1987, Geertz 1973, Kachru & Kahane 1995; Palmer 1996; Jackendoff 2007). The study of the mental lexicon revealing the interrelations between cognition, knowledge organisation and communication (Aitchison 1994; Wierzbicka 1992, 1997, Libben et al. 2011

). Cognitive metaphor theory (Lakoff & Johnson1980, Lakoff & Turner 1989, Goatly

1997

)

Metaphorical universality and variation (Kovecses 2005, 2010, 2014

)

.

Geert Hofstede’s anthropological theory of cultural categories (

1991

)

, among others

.Slide7

Literature review

Beyond the static organisation of words in dictionaries, the mental lexicon of a language reveals the interrelatedness between cognition, knowledge organization and communication. (Aitchison 1994, Geertz 1973, Jackendoff 2007, Kachru & Kahane 1995, Wierzbicka 1992) Going further into analysing the relationship between language and culture, it is acknowledged that culture is intrinsically interspersed with linguistic structures. According to Geertz, culture “denotes a historically transmitted pattern of meanings embodied in symbols, a system of inherited conceptions expressed in symbolic forms by means of which people communicate, perpetuate and develop their knowledge about and attitudes toward life” (1973: 89). Slide8

Literature review

Kövecses (2005: 64) argued that the cognitive view of metaphor can simultaneously account for both universality and diversity in metaphorical thought. He has proved that certain conceptual metaphors (for anger, time, event structure, and the self) are potentially universal or can be near-universal. He identified these as being “simple” or “primary” metaphors and/or complex metaphors based on universal human experiences.Slide9

Charteris-Black (2004)

Conceptual keysConceptual metaphorsKeywords THE ECONOMY IS HUMAN(anthropomorphic and animate - personification)e.g. MARKET TRADING IS A STATE OF MENTAL HEALTHMARKET TRADING IS PHYSICAL CONFLICT

MARKET TRADING IS A STATE OF PHYSICAL HEALTH-vulnerable, jitters, depress, etc.-health, recovery, paralysis-protect, battle, defend, rally, retreat, etc.

ECONOMIC PROBLEMS ARE NATURAL DISASTERS

(

depersonification

)

e.g. DOWNWARD

MARKET CHANGES ARE DISASTERS

THE BEHAVIOUR OF THE MARKET IS BEHAVIOUR OF GAS, etc.

-collapse, damage, havoc, punctured, etc.

-bubble, burst, volatile, etc.

MARKET CHANGES ARE PHYSICAL MOVEMENTS

(reification)

e.g. MARKET CHANGES ARE WAYS OF MOVING ON

THE GROUND

MARKET CHANGES ARE WAYS OF MOVING IN

THE WATER

-tumble, topple,

stumble, lurch, etc.

-plunge, float, the storm, etc.Slide10

Research methodology

The research hypothesis at the basis of this paper is that there are identifiable ways in which metaphors are ascribable to cultural differences in the Romanian and British languages, and these linguistic expressions are a reflection of cultural and social realities.Our analysis is based on two corpora (British and Romanian), consisting of articles from general audience and financial broadsheets, written during 2012-2016. The newspapers used for this study are: The Economist, The Guardian, The New York Times and The Telegraph for the English corpus; and Adevãrul, Jurnalul Naţional, Cotidianul, Capital, and Ziarul

Financiar for the Romanian corpus.Slide11

Research methodology

Identification of metaphor entails identification of “ideational meaning”, by which one has to establish whether metaphors can be identified in a text and if there is some “tension between a literal source domain and a metaphorical target domain” (Charteris-Black 2004: 35). Slide12

Research methodology

According to Stefanowitsch (2006) there exist three main strategies for extracting linguistic expressions (as cited in Chapeton 2010):a) The first strategy is based on searching for source domain vocabulary. This entails selecting a potential source domain and then searching for individual lexical items from this domain using concordancers. b) The second one resorts to searching for target domain vocabulary. An analysis based exclusively on these two methods will only identify a subset of metaphorical expressions, namely those which contain specific vocabulary belonging to the source or target domain.

c) The third strategy used in the extraction of metaphorical expressions is manual coding. The drawback to this method is that it limits the potential size of the corpus, as the researcher has to carefully read throughout the whole corpus. Moreover, this

strategy involves

manual annotation

, a very time-consuming and painstaking process.Slide13

Research methodology

= a combined method for the identification of metaphorical linguistic expressions, based on keywords belonging to the target domain and a manual search inside the corpus, starting from headwords from the target domain and manual search throughout the corpus.The methods employed were: quantitative analysis, based on statistical data starting from headwords and collocations frequently identified in the corpus and qualitative analysis, in which we analysed the metaphors found from the perspective of universality and cultural variation.Slide14

Results and interpretation

The results of the investigation revealed once again (Popescu 2012, 2015a, 2015b) that metaphors clustered in cognitive categories can account for cultural categories, both in terms of conceptual universals and variants, resulting in a complex mapping of interrelated cross-connections. Cultural conceptualisations are found in linguistic conceptualisations, and what is more, there are universal concepts that all humans share, while there exist cultural determinations which would in turn shape behaviours and communication patterns.Slide15

Results and interpretation

Several conceptual metaphors were identified, which appeared with more or less frequency in both languages, according to the cultural determinations of the two nations: the economy is a moving object, the economy is human (a human body) > the economy is a thinking entity, economic transactions are physical conflicts, the economy is a machine, the economy is a container for money.Slide16

THE ECONOMY IS A MOVING OBJECT/ENTITY – British corpus

1) That is because China is in the midst of two tricky transitions: from an investment-led economy to a consumption-driven one2) the ECB’s unconventional policies over the past 18 months had been the “dominant force” in spurring the euro-zone economy3) it could give the world economy a boost4) a falling real may help to shift Brazil’s economy

away from import-driven consumption and towards investmentSlide17

THE ECONOMY IS A MOVING OBJECT – British corpus

5) Reformists hope the plenum will begin to steer the economy away from what might be called the Beidaihe model6) pilots are squabbling over the controls while the economy hurtles towards disaster7) squeeze of 5% of GDP, easily enough to push the economy into recession8) easing fears that the world’s second-biggest economy was heading for a slump Slide18

THE ECONOMY IS A MOVING OBJECT – Romanian corpus

1) care nu au înțeles încotro se îndreapta economia, who did not understand the direction in which the economy was heading

2) Mare parte din economia subterană a ieșit la lumin

ă

.

A large part of the

subterranean / black

economy

emerged

to light

3)

înc

ă

o

ocazie

bun

ă

pentru

a da un

brânci

în

sus

economie

i

.

another

good occasion to push the economy

upward

4)

economia

care se

chinuie

să

reintre

pe

o

traiectorie

de

cre

ș

tere

the economy which is struggling to

get back on an ascending track

.Slide19

THE ECONOMY IS A MOVING OBJECT – Romanian corpus

5) când economia era în picaj liber when the economy was in free fall 6) Investițiile publice pot juca un rol foarte important în repornirea economiei Public investment can play a very important role in relaunching / restarting the economy7) o încetinire

a economiei chineze era de așteptat a slowdown in Chinese economy was to be expected8) avansul economiei se bazează pe

exporturi

the

advancement

of the economy is based on exportsSlide20

THE ECONOMY IS A MOVING OBJECT – Romanian corpus

9) experimentele de până acum sunt toxice și forțează economia să bată pasul pe loc

. (to beat the step on place) the experiments so far are toxic and are forcing the economy to tread water = to be active but without making progress or falling further behind (The Cambridge Dictionary)

(in the original Romanian

idiom

there is no reference to

“water”)

as compared to the

following

example (“settled” economies), LACK OF MOVEMENT IS LACK OF PROGRESSSlide21

THE ECONOMY IS A MOVING OBJECT – Romanian corpus

10) Statul bagă bețe fiscale în roatele economiei The state is putting fiscal needles in the tyres of the economy.(original Romanian idiom: a băga bețe-n roate; approx. translation to upset the apple cart (

= to cause trouble, especially by spoiling someone's plans, creatively adapted to pinpoint the detrimental state interference with economic affairs)Slide22

THE ECONOMY IS A MOVING OBJECT

/ HUMANSir George Iacobescu (69 de ani) întruchipează generația emigranților din perioada dictaturii lui Nicolae Ceausescu, oameni care au

căutat mai degrabă să își continue specialitățile în țările europene

de

adopție

,

economi

i

așezate

, dominate de

marile

corporații

și

mai

degrabă

închise

,

greu

accesibile

antreprenorilor

.

(

Adevărul

financiar

,

10 March 2015)

(transl.)

Sir

George

Iacobescu

(69 years old) embodies the generation of

im

migrants

during

Nicolae

Ceausescu’s dictatorship, people who had rather sought to continue

in

their

area of expertise

in

their European countries of adoption, with

settled economies

, dominated by the great corporations and rather

closed

/ confined

,

hardly accessible to entrepreneurs. Slide23

Interpretation

a se așeza = to sit down (refl. v.), from Latin assedere, French s’assoirto settle down = to start living in a place where you intend to stay for a long time, usually with your partner (Cambridge Dictionary)o economie așezată / a settled economy = a stable economy, an economy that is no longer on the movehumans

“settle down”an economy without fluctuations is a safe, stable one.Slide24

THE ECONOMY IS A HUMAN BODY – British corpus

1) The first is that a limping economy is struggling to provide good jobs2) credit crunch of the kind that crippled America’s economy3) The tax does not seem to have harmed the provincial economy4) sanctions relief will not transform the ailing economy5

) is still an impressive figure for a once-moribund economy6) the deteriorating economy7) … from an economy addicted to rapidly rising credit to one that is more

self-sustaining

8

)

the

central bank’s actions would

revive

the

economySlide25

THE ECONOMY IS A HUMAN BODY – Romanian corpus

1) O maladie – o cerere insuficientă pentru bunuri și servicii – s-a abătut de mult timp asupra economiei mondiale. A malady – an insufficient demand for goods and services – long ago fell upon the world economy.2) [Economia] Mergea foarte prost, tocmai din cauză că preferințele publicului erau amputate.

[The economy] It was going very badly, particularly because the preferences of the public were amputated.3) relaț

ia

dintre

sănătatea

economie

i

ș

i

mediul

politic

the relationship between the health of the economy and the political environmentSlide26

THE ECONOMY IS A HUMAN BODY – Romanian corpus

4) imaginea unei economii care începe să-și recapete din suflu. the image of an economy that is starting to regain its health (lit. breath)5) Cum economia dă semne de

stabilizare As the economy is giving signs of stabilisation6) ceea ce transmite un semnal descurajator privind revigorarea

economie

i

which sends out a disheartening signal regarding the reinvigoration of the economySlide27

THE ECONOMY IS A HUMAN BODY – Romanian corpus

7) Economia a fost măcinată după Revoluție de privatizări eșuate și falimentări. The economy was gnawed at after the Revolution by unsuccessful privatisation and bankruptcies.8) după ce au administrat economiei mondiale drogul banilor ieftini în

doze din ce în ce mai mariafter administering to the world economy the drug of cheap money in ever increasing dosesSlide28

THE ECONOMY IS A HUMAN BODY – Romanian corpus

7) pentru ca economia „bolnavă“ a Frantei să nu îi afecteze businessul. so that France’s sick economy would not affect his business.8) Economiile din Polonia si România au o recuperare

amplă The economies of Poland and Romania have a strong (lit. ample) recovery.Slide29

THE ECONOMY IS A THINKING ENTITY – Romanian corpus

1) Economia s-a încăpătânat, însă, să nu se conformeze regulii de trei simplă, arătând că este influentată de mecanisme mai complexe decât pot concepe planificatorii centrali ai finantelor. However, the economy became obstinate about not conforming to the direct proportionality rule, showing that it is influenced by more complex mechanisms than the central financial planners can think of.Slide30

THE ECONOMY IS A MACHINE –

British corpus1) can create the conditions for a functioning economy2) His most urgent task is to fix the economy.3) she has been unable to get the spending cuts and fiscal reforms needed to repair the economySlide31

THE ECONOMY IS A MACHINE – Romanian corpus

1) modul în care funcționează o economie the way in which an economy functions2) Încă un motor al economiei mondiale s-a defectat. Another engine of the world economy has broken down.

3) Cum rămâne cu supraîncălzirea economiei, accelerarea consumului How about the overheating of the economy, the acceleration of consumptionSlide32

THE ECONOMY IS A CONTAINER FOR MONEY (MONEY IS LIQUID/SOLID)

1) improve the distribution of liquidity in the economy2) the flow of funds in the economy1) Combinatul Sidex Galaţi era văzut în 2000 ca o gaură neagră a economiei din cauza pierderilor masive. Sidex Galati Plant was seen in 2000 as a black hole of the Romanian economy, because of massive losses.2) continuarea programului de injectie

de monedă în economia europeană continuing the programme of currency injection in the European economySlide33

Conclusions

Basically, the same conceptual metaphors were identified in both corpora, which accounts for the fact that these are in general ‘primary’ metaphors, born out of our experience of the world. Nevertheless, there exist cultural variations, embodied in various linguistic expressions of the same conceptual metaphor, or different meaning broadening of the same words. Slide34

Conclusions

Apparently conflicting concepts coexist in the Romanian language (a static, but stable economy vs an economy in movement entails both a need for stability and desire for progress)The ECONOMY is A MACHINE metaphor in English displays linguistic expressions that are more general (a functioning economy, to fix the economy, to repair the economy), whereas in Romanian one can identify more technical terms, such as ‘the engine of the economy broke down’, ‘overheating of the economy’, which may reveal a preference for a mechanicist approach to the economy, and in general, a pervasive need for control (see Hofstede’s high UAI for the Romanian people).Slide35

Conclusions

Derived from THE ECONOMY IS HUMAN metaphor, the conceptualisation of the ECONOMY as a THINKING ENTITY (with a will of its own) was only found in the Romanian corpus.Slide36

References

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