Money metaphors in English and Romanian. A Comparative Approach (original) (raw)
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The present article is based on an analysis of 74 documents (speeches, interviews, press releases and leaflets) issued by the National Bank of Romania and by three Romanian commercial banks before and during the recent financial crisis. It discusses the most important types of metaphors identified, whilst highlighting their use to persuade, to create identities, as well as their role in creating psyhological realities depending on context, participants and intentions. Its theoretical framework includes socio-cognitivist and „blending“ approaches.
Purpose – The purpose is to examine two rival narratives regarding the nature and evolution of money with reference to metaphor. Design/methodology/approach – The article draws on theoretical literature on money. Post-Keynesian perspectives are given consideration due to the particular attention that this school has given to money. Findings – A crucial divide in the understanding of money is interpreted in terms of two different narratives. We conclude that the narrative of money as credit has greater explanatory power, but that the commodity narrative, which is metaphorical in nature, is easier to comprehend and conceptualize. Research limitations/implications – This study has been qualitative in nature; further research would require specification of a linguistic methodology, including selection and analysis of a corpus. A process for detecting metaphors within a selected corpus would also need to be established. Moreover the discussion of the commodity metaphor as a normative theory has not considered the moral aspects of different views on debt and credit. Social implications – Study of metaphor should shed light on basic assumptions behind public policy choices. This should enhance the general understanding of related debates, for example on public spending (i.e. austerity v. stimulus). Originality/value – This article examines a familiar debate in economics using the methods of linguistics. The approach may also serve a function as a pedagogical tool. Keywords: Money, metaphor, banking, commodity, credit Article Type: Theoretical article
Money hanging in my closet? : various conceptualisations of money in English
2018
Bringing into focus the theoretical framework of conceptual metaphor viewed through the lens of cognitive linguistics, the following paper is to concentrate on the construction of various conceptualisations of money in English. To this end, it shall deal with specific image schemas basing on a collection of subjectively selected money-related metaphors and idioms. Comparing and contrasting them with a set of chosen quotations on the subject of money containing metaphorical expressions taken from several famous figures shall confirm whether or not the conceptual domains signalled in dictionary entries actually overlap with those found in the examples of common parlance featured.
The Money as Solid Metaphor in Economic and Business Terminology in English
2014
Within the framework of Conceptual Metaphor Theory, as propounded by cognitive linguists (e.g. Lakoff and Johnson 1980, Kovecses 2002), in this paper we deal with the MONEY IS SOLID metaphor as linguistically instantiated in English economic terminology. Whereas money in its physical form comes in the shape of notes and coins that are tangible, visible and solid, we show that money in its more general and more abstract meaning is frequently structured conceptually by means of the MONEY IS SOLID metaphor, which is firmly grounded in our knowledge of the behaviour of solid matter. Based on a corpus of money-related terms collected mainly from several English dictionaries of economics and finance, the aim of our research is to determine and examine the various conceptual mappings the metaphor under discussion rests on.