CONCEPTUAL METAPHORS OF SUMMER IN ENGLISH SONG LYRICS FROM THE 20TH CENTURY ONWARD

Abstract

This study was conducted to identify both metaphorical expressions and conceptual metaphors of summer in English. In this paper, attempts were made to describe conceptual metaphor from the cognitive perspective based on conceptual metaphor theory raised by Lakoff and Johnson (1980). The data collected from 135 English song lyrics from the 20^th century onward consist of 401 metaphorical expressions. Employing description as the main method, and utilizing the procedure of conceptual metaphor identification (adopted in Steen, 1999, p. 73), the study shows that there are 30 conceptual metaphors of summer through concrete entities as source domains. Moreover, the explanations are given to elaborate on these results in terms of culture, including people’s living experiences and environment. It is also hoped that this study could contribute to the area of metaphor research from the cognitive perspective in Vietnam as well as provide useful implications to the practice of teaching and learning English in Vietnam.