Tracing Social Change through Metaphor: A Diachronic Corpus-Assisted Analysis

Winnie Huiheng Zeng; Kathleen Ahrens; Chu-Ren Huang

Tracing Social Change through Metaphor: A Diachronic Corpus-Assisted Analysis

Winnie Huiheng Zeng, Kathleen Ahrens, Chu-Ren Huang

Research output: Chapter in book / Conference proceeding › Conference article published in proceeding or book › Academic research › peer-review

Abstract

This paper examines how conceptualizations of ‘election’ have changed in post-colonial Hong Kong. Drawing on Burgers’ (2016) approach to model how metaphors change their focus on social topics over time, we study the uses of ELECTION metaphors in speeches by government leaders. These changes are classified as either fundamental changes (the use of metaphorical terms from a different domain) or incremental changes (changes in mapping principles within the same domain). We found a reliance on JOURNEY metaphors in framing ELECTION issues. Incremental changes within the ELECTION IS A JOURNEY metaphor highlight a change between the first (1997-2007) and second decades (2008-2017) after the handover from Britain to China. Our study shows that analysing changes in metaphorical frames in discourse is a practical approach to reflect the conceptualizations of social change.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	Proceedings of the 37th Pacific Asia Conference on Language, Information and Computation
Editors	Chu-Ren Huang, Yasunari Harada, Jong-Bok Kim, Si Chen, Yu-Yin Hsu, Emmanuele Chersoni, Pranav A, Winnie Huiheng Zeng, Bo Peng, Yuxi Li, Junlin Li
Publisher	Association for Computational Linguistics (ACL)
Pages	903-911
Publication status	Published - Dec 2023
Event	Pacific Asia Conference on Language, Information and Computation (PACLIC 37) - Duration: 2 Dec 2023 → 5 Dec 2023 https://paclic2023.github.io/

Conference

Conference	Pacific Asia Conference on Language, Information and Computation (PACLIC 37)
Period	2/12/23 → 5/12/23
Internet address	https://paclic2023.github.io/

More information

https://aclanthology.org/2023.paclic-1.90/

Cite this

Zeng, W. H., Ahrens, K., & Huang, C.-R. (2023). Tracing Social Change through Metaphor: A Diachronic Corpus-Assisted Analysis. In C.-R. Huang, Y. Harada, J.-B. Kim, S. Chen, Y.-Y. Hsu, E. Chersoni, P. A, W. H. Zeng, B. Peng, Y. Li, & J. Li (Eds.), Proceedings of the 37th Pacific Asia Conference on Language, Information and Computation (pp. 903-911). Association for Computational Linguistics (ACL). https://aclanthology.org/2023.paclic-1.90/

Zeng, Winnie Huiheng ; Ahrens, Kathleen ; Huang, Chu-Ren. / Tracing Social Change through Metaphor : A Diachronic Corpus-Assisted Analysis. Proceedings of the 37th Pacific Asia Conference on Language, Information and Computation. editor / Chu-Ren Huang ; Yasunari Harada ; Jong-Bok Kim ; Si Chen ; Yu-Yin Hsu ; Emmanuele Chersoni ; Pranav A ; Winnie Huiheng Zeng ; Bo Peng ; Yuxi Li ; Junlin Li. Association for Computational Linguistics (ACL), 2023. pp. 903-911

@inproceedings{74919929ef904668ae487602c8330e45,

title = "Tracing Social Change through Metaphor: A Diachronic Corpus-Assisted Analysis",

abstract = "This paper examines how conceptualizations of {\textquoteleft}election{\textquoteright} have changed in post-colonial Hong Kong. Drawing on Burgers{\textquoteright} (2016) approach to model how metaphors change their focus on social topics over time, we study the uses of ELECTION metaphors in speeches by government leaders. These changes are classified as either fundamental changes (the use of metaphorical terms from a different domain) or incremental changes (changes in mapping principles within the same domain). We found a reliance on JOURNEY metaphors in framing ELECTION issues. Incremental changes within the ELECTION IS A JOURNEY metaphor highlight a change between the first (1997-2007) and second decades (2008-2017) after the handover from Britain to China. Our study shows that analysing changes in metaphorical frames in discourse is a practical approach to reflect the conceptualizations of social change.",

author = "Zeng, \{Winnie Huiheng\} and Kathleen Ahrens and Chu-Ren Huang",

year = "2023",

month = dec,

language = "English",

pages = "903--911",

editor = "Chu-Ren Huang and Yasunari Harada and Kim, \{Jong-Bok \} and Si Chen and Yu-Yin Hsu and Emmanuele Chersoni and Pranav A and Zeng, \{Winnie Huiheng\} and Bo Peng and Yuxi Li and Junlin Li",

booktitle = "Proceedings of the 37th Pacific Asia Conference on Language, Information and Computation",

publisher = "Association for Computational Linguistics (ACL)",

note = "Pacific Asia Conference on Language, Information and Computation (PACLIC 37) ; Conference date: 02-12-2023 Through 05-12-2023",

url = "https://paclic2023.github.io/",

}

Zeng, WH , Ahrens, K & Huang, C-R 2023, Tracing Social Change through Metaphor: A Diachronic Corpus-Assisted Analysis. in C-R Huang, Y Harada, J-B Kim, S Chen, Y-Y Hsu, E Chersoni, P A, WH Zeng, B Peng, Y Li & J Li (eds), Proceedings of the 37th Pacific Asia Conference on Language, Information and Computation. Association for Computational Linguistics (ACL), pp. 903-911, Pacific Asia Conference on Language, Information and Computation (PACLIC 37), 2/12/23. <https://aclanthology.org/2023.paclic-1.90/>

Tracing Social Change through Metaphor: A Diachronic Corpus-Assisted Analysis. / Zeng, Winnie Huiheng ; Ahrens, Kathleen ; Huang, Chu-Ren.
Proceedings of the 37th Pacific Asia Conference on Language, Information and Computation. ed. / Chu-Ren Huang; Yasunari Harada; Jong-Bok Kim; Si Chen; Yu-Yin Hsu; Emmanuele Chersoni; Pranav A; Winnie Huiheng Zeng; Bo Peng; Yuxi Li; Junlin Li. Association for Computational Linguistics (ACL), 2023. p. 903-911.

Research output: Chapter in book / Conference proceeding › Conference article published in proceeding or book › Academic research › peer-review

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PY - 2023/12

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N2 - This paper examines how conceptualizations of ‘election’ have changed in post-colonial Hong Kong. Drawing on Burgers’ (2016) approach to model how metaphors change their focus on social topics over time, we study the uses of ELECTION metaphors in speeches by government leaders. These changes are classified as either fundamental changes (the use of metaphorical terms from a different domain) or incremental changes (changes in mapping principles within the same domain). We found a reliance on JOURNEY metaphors in framing ELECTION issues. Incremental changes within the ELECTION IS A JOURNEY metaphor highlight a change between the first (1997-2007) and second decades (2008-2017) after the handover from Britain to China. Our study shows that analysing changes in metaphorical frames in discourse is a practical approach to reflect the conceptualizations of social change.

AB - This paper examines how conceptualizations of ‘election’ have changed in post-colonial Hong Kong. Drawing on Burgers’ (2016) approach to model how metaphors change their focus on social topics over time, we study the uses of ELECTION metaphors in speeches by government leaders. These changes are classified as either fundamental changes (the use of metaphorical terms from a different domain) or incremental changes (changes in mapping principles within the same domain). We found a reliance on JOURNEY metaphors in framing ELECTION issues. Incremental changes within the ELECTION IS A JOURNEY metaphor highlight a change between the first (1997-2007) and second decades (2008-2017) after the handover from Britain to China. Our study shows that analysing changes in metaphorical frames in discourse is a practical approach to reflect the conceptualizations of social change.

M3 - Conference article published in proceeding or book

SP - 903

EP - 911

BT - Proceedings of the 37th Pacific Asia Conference on Language, Information and Computation

A2 - Huang, Chu-Ren

A2 - Harada, Yasunari

A2 - Kim, Jong-Bok

A2 - Chen, Si

A2 - Hsu, Yu-Yin

A2 - Chersoni, Emmanuele

A2 - A, Pranav

A2 - Zeng, Winnie Huiheng

A2 - Peng, Bo

A2 - Li, Yuxi

A2 - Li, Junlin

PB - Association for Computational Linguistics (ACL)

Y2 - 2 December 2023 through 5 December 2023

ER -

Tracing Social Change through Metaphor: A Diachronic Corpus-Assisted Analysis

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