Orientation metaphor in Economic Discourse (based on the headlines of Russian and Vietnamese Internet publications)

A metaphor is a way of understanding one object through another. In linguistics, a metaphor is a figure of speech in which a word or phrase is used to refer to another subject in order to emphasize the similarity between two subjects. The study of metaphor was initiated by the ancient Greek thinker Aristotle. According to Aristotle, the basis of metaphor is the similarity of two objects ^[9]. He considered metaphor to be the main means of cognition.

Metaphor is increasingly perceived as the key to understanding the foundations of thinking and the processes of creating a vision of the world. V.N. Telia considers metaphor as a way of thinking about the world that uses previously acquired knowledge ^[16]. Russian linguoculturologist V.A. Maslova also emphasizes that "metaphor is a way of thinking about the world that uses previously acquired knowledge, comprehending new ones: a new concept is formed from some not yet clearly "thought out" concept by using the primary meaning of the word and numerous accompanying associations" ^[6].

In 1980, American researchers J. Lakoff and M. Johnson have attracted the attention of linguists all over the world with their work "Metaphors we Live by." This study is considered a breakthrough in the study of metaphor ^[5]. The results of the study showed that metaphor is "the main mechanism by which we comprehend abstract concepts and carry out abstract reasoning." It is proved that many objects can be understood only through metaphor, and the abstract can be understood through more concrete. The author also pointed out that the metaphor system plays an important role in grammar and vocabulary ^{[19, 245 p.]}. 

In the Russian scientific literature, you can find a large number of studies devoted to the study of metaphor.  The question of metaphor classification is considered in the works of V.N. Telia and N.D. Arutyunova ^[16],[1]. The semantic classification of metaphor was described in the work of V.P. Moskvin ^[10]. The function of metaphor is investigated in the work of V.K. Kharchenko ^[17]. The question of metaphor in economic discourse has been actively studied in recent years. Matienko O.P. analyzed the features of metaphor in the Russian economy on the material of media texts ^[7]. The main types of metaphors in economic discourse were highlighted in the work of Makhnitskaya E.Yu. ^[8]. In the article by E.K. Kravtsova and E.Y. Pishkova, the question of the translation of metaphors in economic texts was studied ^[4].

In Vietnamese linguistics, various aspects related to metaphor became the subject of study at the beginning of the XXI century (Chan Huu Thuk (2012), Chan Van Ko (2006, 2009), Nguyen Duc Ton (2007) and many others). Linguist Chan Huu Thuk gives the main definitions of metaphor and its role in the development of the culture of peace ^[20]. The monograph by the author Chan Van Ko is considered the main work within the framework of the introductory theory of conceptual metaphors in the Vietnamese language, which comprehensively examines the issues of the conceptual theory of metaphors from two classic works by Lakoff and Johnson "Metaphors we Live by"; "Women, fire and dangerous things. What categories speak about the mind" ^[21].

Nguyen Duc Ton analyzed the traditional theoretical issues of metaphors on the material of the Vietnamese language ^[13]. Nguyen Duc Dan ^[12] and Nguyen Van Hiep ^[11] considered metaphorical transference with spatial meaning. 

The focus of our research has also become orientation metaphors in economic discourse in the headlines of Russian and Vietnamese online publications.

As you know, the conceptual metaphor in the theory of J. Lakoff and M. Johnson were divided into three groups of metaphors – structural, orientation and ontological. Structural metaphors are presented "when one concept is metaphorically structured in terms of another" ^{[5, 14 p.]}. "Ontological metaphors serve as a way of perceiving events, activities, emotions or ideas as material entities and substances" ^{[5, 26 p.]}. The orientation metaphor includes expressions based on spatial orientation and relies on spatial oppositions: up and down; inside and out; forward and backward; deep and shallow; central and peripheral, etc. J. Lakoff and M. Johnson argue "that this kind of spatial relationship is dictated by human interaction with the material world and is determined primarily by the special shape of the human body and its placement in space" ^{[5, 35 p.]}. Many scientists were based on the definition of J. Lakoff and M. Johnson to expand their research on orientation metaphors. According to Dubin P.P., "orientation metaphors, which have a fundamental structure in the form of spatial images, have great potential for analyzing human cognitions, that is, mental operations that serve and accompany the perception of the surrounding world" ^[2].

In modern Russian linguistics, there are more and more works on the study of orientation metaphor. The orientation metaphor in political discourse was described in the article by I.A. Rusova ^[14]. The author analyzed the models of the spatial metaphor up – down and forward – backward based on the texts of the inaugural speeches of American presidents. Y.V. Kalugina considered orientation metaphors with spatial opposition up – down / up –down in economic texts based on the material of the English-language press ^[3]. Spatial metaphor in phraseological units of the English language was considered in the article by L.B. Yabzhanova ^[18]. However, orientation metaphors are not represented enough on the material of the Russian language.

Let's consider the models of orientation metaphors in the headlines of Russian and Vietnamese Internet publications: top – bottom, forward – backward, right – left, inside – out.

1. 1. Orientation metaphors of the type "top – bottom"

Orientation metaphors are characterized by their external consistency, for example: a good model is the top; a bad one is the bottom. In economics, the top orientation does not always mean good, and the bottom orientation does not always mean bad, for example: a rapid increase in prices for goods on the market sometimes negatively affects consumers, and a change in the exchange rate (increase or decrease) may be a manifestation of inflation. The instability of the economy is reflected in metaphors: rise – top, decline – bottom; development – top, recession – bottom.

In economic discourse, if the up orientation generally means an increase in something (prices, currency exchange rate, etc.), then the down direction usually refers to a decrease in something (price, currency exchange rate, etc.).

In the headlines in Russian, there are often metaphorical expressions with an upward orientation to indicate an increase in the exchange rate in the economic market, for example: went up, rushed up, turns up, grows, soared, etc.

"The ruble turned up against the dollar and euro in the evening" (interfax.ru 26.05.21). In this example, we are talking about the fact that the ruble exchange rate against currencies is rising. Or in the following example, the ruble exchange rate is compared with an airplane that turns around to take off: "The dollar has soared to almost 79" (profinance.ru 28.10.20).

There is also a metaphor of creeping up: "Cars have crept up in price" (360tv.ru 11.11.20). 

Such an economic phenomenon as a price increase is represented in the form of a person who jumped: "Apartment prices in Russia jumped" (mk.ru 02.10.20).

In the following examples, we will analyze the orientation metaphor with the orientation of the bottom in Russian. Expressions are often used: go down, turn around down, fall – fall, drown, etc. Consider the following examples:

"Shares of companies and banks went down due to the default of the fund" (quote.rbc.ru 30.05.21); "Oil prices turned down after rising the day before" (neftegaz.ru 16.07.20). The verb expand denotes actions performed, as a rule, by transport. In the second example, the expression turn down is used to indicate a sharp decline in the price of oil.

"The dollar is falling, oil is rising" (bfm.ru 31.05.21). In this example, the use of orientation metaphors denotes the negative processes of the world economy: a decline in the dollar exchange rate leads to an increase in the price of oil.

Consider the following headline: "Bitcoin has collapsed below 43 thousand dollars and continues to sink" (ixbt.com 17.05.21). The sinking metaphor reflects the decline of the dollar and gives the economy a negative assessment.

In general, the top–bottom model in Vietnamese has the same meaning as in Russian, for example: "Gi? v?ng v? USD t? do c?ng ?i l?n" (vneconomy.vn, 16.01.20) – ‘the price of gold and free dollars are going up;

"Gi? v?ng bay cao" (vtv.vn 22.03.21) – 'gold has soared high';

"Gi? v?ng n h?y d?ng khi T?Ng th?ng Ph?p m?c Covid-19" - "the price of gold jumped when the French president got sick with covid."

  «L?i su?t ng?n h?ng gi?mch?m y, Gi? x?ng quay u gi?m» (laodong.vn 26.08.21) - ‘bank interest rates fell to the bottom, gasoline prices turned down’

 «Gi? v?ng ti?p t?c ch?m s?u trong y m?i» (laodong.vn 19.02.21) – ‘the price of gold continues to sink to a new bottom’

From the examples given, it was noticed that in two languages, an increase is associated with the spatial orientation of the top, a decrease is associated with the orientation of the bottom.

In Russian and Vietnamese, the spatial metaphor of up–down also describes development or decline.

"Economy – down, fiscal risks – up" (Interfax.ru 31.08.21). 

"The DPR economy is getting back on its feet" (vesti.ru 30.06.20).

"The economy is going down, and someone manages to earn. We are sorting it out" (Yandex.ru 27.05.21).

"The Russian economy has collapsed to the bottom" (finanz.ru 21.06.20).

"The economy has failed, but not so deeply" (ng.ru 17.08.20).

In the Vietnamese language, headings were found that use orientational metaphors such as top - bottom:

«Vi?t Nam c?n c? “n chim Vi?t” bay cao, bay xa trong n?n kinh t? to?n c?u» (congthuong.vn 13.10.20) – ‘Vietnam needs a flock of birds that flies high and far in the global economy.’ In this example, a flock of birds represents Vietnamese enterprises developing in foreign markets of the economy.

"D?uhi?ulaod?cc?an?nkinht?TrungQu?c" - 'China's economy went down the slope'.

Despite the common features, the use of orientation metaphors in Russian and Vietnamese has specific national characteristics. As part of the research, we found orientation metaphors of the top–bottom model that exist only in Russian or only in Vietnamese. For example, the expression to sit on a saw sounds incomprehensible to Vietnamese readers. In Russian, this expression is stock jargon, which means a situation when "buy expensive and then sell cheap or sell cheap and then buy expensive" (terminy.info ):

"The Russian stock market is on the saw" (fingazeta.ru , 05.04.21).

Also, the terms issuing income or dropping out applications when translated into Vietnamese can only be replaced with non-metaphorical expressions.

In the following example, there are metaphors in which the movement of the bottom is expressed using the verb to lie down:

"How to trade when the market "goes sideways" (bcs-express.ru ). Here, lying sideways means that "after the end of the trend, the market entered the consolidation zone at certain levels" (bcs-express.ru ).

In the headlines of Vietnamese online publications, the expressions leo thang - ‘climb the stairs’, l ? n ? ?nh – ‘climb to the top’ are often found, which denote growth. For example, in the following headings:

"Gi ? v ? ng ? ?t ng?t t ? ng m?nh do l?m ph ? t leo thang" (dantri.vn 21/9/21) – 'the price of gold suddenly rose sharply due to the fact that inflation was climbing the ladder.'

"Gi ? v?t li?u l ? n ? ?nh" (vietnamplus.vn ) – 'prices for materials rose to the tops of y'.

Thus, in the headlines of Russian and Vietnamese economic Internet publications, models were found: rise - top, decline – bottom; development – top, decline – bottom. The above metaphors are almost completely identical in Russian and Vietnamese, both in meaning and in form.

1. 2. Forward–backward orientation metaphors

Together with the top–bottom model, the forward–backward model is also a productive type of orientation metaphor in the headlines of online publications. Forward-oriented metaphors often have a positive meaning, and vice versa, backward-oriented metaphors often have a negative meaning.

In economic discourse, the forward–backward orientation metaphor model is used to denote the state of the economy: growth or decline, development or decline.

Let's look at examples in Russian:

"We are trying to take a big step into a bright digital future" (bfm.ru 4.4.20). In this context, the author writes about the future development of online trading in the Russian market.

"It is possible to make a serious step forward to the growth of the share of the white economy" (kommersant.ru ). Here, "to take a serious step forward" means to increase the pace of economic growth.

"The banking sector in Russia: one step forward or two steps back?" (finam.ru , 07.04.21). This title is like a forecast of risks of changes in the Russian banking sector: profit or double loss?

In the example of "The Ruble is backing back", the orientation metaphor is based on the opposition "back".

"Retail is moving further away from the bottom" (vedomosti.ru 09.11.19); "In the battle with the shadow: the gray economy retreats reluctantly" (sputniknews). When using the verbs to retreat, to move away, the orientation metaphor back in these two examples has a positive connotation.

Let's look at examples in Vietnamese:

"Bc ti?n h?i nh?p kinh t? qu?c t? c?aVi?tNam" (vneconomy 16.02.21) – 'Vietnam stepped in the international economic integration'.

"MOT 'bc l?i' r?t l?n i v?i n?n kinh t? th? gi?i" (gov.vn 12.08.20) – ‘a huge step back for the world economy’.

 "N?ng cao hi?u qu? u t? y l?i l?m ph?t t?i Vi?t Nam" (rfi.fr 20.04.20) – 'improving the effectiveness of investments in order to push inflation in Vietnam'. In this example, pushing away from inflation means fighting inflation.

In the following examples we are seeing metaphors in which the movement forward is expressed using lexical-semantic group "WAR", such as: attack, counter attack, attack... Consider the titles in Russian and Vietnamese languages: "the Attack of the West on the Russian economy" (regnum.ru 9.3.22), "Counter attack on prices" (izi.ru 21.5.21); "Chi?n lc t?n c?ng tr?c di?n v?o c?c th? trng ti?m n?ng" (vneconomy 12.5.21) – ‘strategy of direct attacks on potential markets’. The economic market is like a war, where the army moves forward to fight the enemies.

The forward-backward orientation metaphor model is less diverse than the up-down model.

1. 3. Orientation metaphors of the "right–left" type

In Russian and Vietnamese, the orientation of the right is often associated with something positive, and the orientation of the left is associated with something negative.

Left means everything negative. This explains the semantics of many expressions, for example: get up from the left foot, left money, go left ...

"The US stock market started the year with the left foot" (invest.ru ). In the Russian language, the phraseology get up from the left foot is about a person who is in a bad mood. In this example, we are talking about a strong drop in the main indices on the US stock market.

"Nothing will work if the left hand does not know what the right hand is doing (agrumenti.ru )". The hand is a symbol of action, power and strength. In this title, the "right hand and left hand" movement means a combination – capitalism and planned economy are always quite combined.

In Russian, the expression to go left is often found, which has many meanings. In everyday life, going to the left means treason, death or termination of criminal activity (dic.academic.ru ). In economics, this expression also has a negative connotation, which means corruption or the use of funds for other purposes. Consider the following examples:

"Money went to the left in Leninogorsk to repair a children's hospital" (kazan.mk.ru 10.6.20); "Nuclear money has gone to the left" (moscow-post.ru ).

"Budget – to the left, budget – to the right" (mk.ru ). In this example, we are talking about the fact that the budget is spent recklessly, and the expenses exceed the required amount.

Consider the following example: "To distribute discounts right and left means to remain with losses" (tvk6.ru 01.4.21). The expression "sale to the right, to the left" in economic texts means a situation when sellers want to sell all goods with big discounts, and this often leads to losses.

In the following headings in Russian there are expressions left turn and right turn:

"Anti-Russian sanctions will provoke a right turn and a change of elites in the EU" (eurasia.expert 16.03.22); "Does Russia need a left turn in the economy" (vedomosti.ru 7.9.21)

In the first example, the author of the article writes about the social reaction in the EU countries to economic sanctions against Russia. A right turn means an increase in electoral support for parties that adhere to nationalist ideology.

In the second example, a left turn means economic development in the logic of communism. The author of the article substantiates the inconsistency of the idea of Russia's return to a command economy with the central role of the state in the economic system.

The spatial metaphor of right–left in Vietnamese headlines is less diverse than the metaphors of up–down and forward –backward. The number of these metaphors is small.

In the Vietnamese language, there is a metaphorical image m?t tr ? i– ‘left side’, which is used in a negative sense:

"M?t tr?i c?a th? trng crypto b?ng n?" (tuoitre.vn 24/07/21) - the left side of the developing crypto market. The left side in this heading means the risks of investing in cryptocurrency.

The headings in Vietnamese also contain metaphorical expressions "r? tr ? i" - "turn left" and "r? ph?i" - "turn right". Let's look at specific examples:

«Doanh nghi?p Vi?t chuy?n i s?: Kh?ng bi?t r? tr?i hay r? ph?i!» (vneconomy.vn 21.11.19) – "Vietnamese enterprises are being transformed into digital form: they do not know whether to turn left or right.’ In this example, we are talking about the fact that Vietnamese enterprises have not chosen the direction in which they need to develop, since digitalization has not yet been fully studied by Vietnamese enterprises. They are at a fork in the road.

«Doanhnghi?pnh?r?tr?i ??tho?tCovid» (vneconomy.vn 14.5.21) - ‘small businesses turn left to avoid Covid'.

The metaphor of turning left in Vietnamese means a situation when it is necessary to change the action plan that was previously developed. In a concrete example, we are talking about the fact that small enterprises deviate from the vector of development that they developed for themselves in the pre-crisis period.

1. 4. Orientation metaphors of the "in–out" type

In most cases, orientation metaphors are erased metaphors, such as: enter – exit, get in – get out, crawl in – crawl out, etc.

Let's look at specific examples:

"Oil has entered 2022 very badly" (fief.ru 18.01.22).

"The global stock market is entering a period of seasonal weakness" (profinance.ru 24.06.21).

"How to successfully enter the international market?" (habr.com 30.11.20).

"Russia's regions have emerged from the economic depression" (lenta.ru 15.8.20).

We should immediately note that in the above examples, the orientation metaphors inside and out remind us of the image of a door through which it is necessary to enter or exit, which symbolizes economic changes and the transition to a new level of economic development.

We also found metaphors formed with the help of verbs to crawl in – to crawl out. In general, they have the same meaning as the opposition to enter – exit:

"The economy has crept into crisis" (vedomosti.ru 18.2.21).

"Crawled out from under the sanctions..." (secretmag.ru 1.3.21).

Similar metaphors have been found in the headlines of Vietnamese online publications:

«5 ?i?u c?n l?m trc khi bc ch?n v?o th? trng m?i» (tapchitaichinh.vn 02.1.20) – ‘5 things to do before entering a new market'. The expression enter the market often refers to a startup or business innovation of enterprises.

In the following example, the metaph ao l?ng - 'rural pond', which is found in economic texts denotes the domestic market: "H?ng Vi?T m?i ra kh?i ao l?ng ch?t ?u? i" (zingnews.vn ) – 'Vietnamese goods that just came out of a rural pond have drowned.' In this example, we are talking about the fact that the export turnover of Vietnamese goods has significantly decreased in foreign markets. Vietnamese goods are compared to small fish swimming from a river into a large sea, in which it is easy to drown before large waves.

In addition, we noticed that orientational metaphors inside – out in Russian and Vietnamese are also often represented by lexical units expressing the movement of water, such as: outflow, outflow, etc.

"Net capital outflow from Russia has almost doubled" (kommersant.ru 9.12.20). In this example, the movement of capital is compared with the movement of liquid, thanks to the metaphor "outflow".

"Leaked from OPEC: Qatar does not carry risks to the market" (izi.ru 3.12.2019). In this headline we are talking about the fact that Qatar has left the OPEC organization.

Consider similar metaphors in Vietnamese:

"H?ng tri?u USD v?n ch?y v?o c?c d? an t?ng trng xanh" (vnplus.vn 09/23/21) – 'Millions of US dollars are still pouring into green growth projects.' In this context, to pour in means an investment.

"Ngo?i t? c?a ngi Vi?t ch?y ra nc ngo?i b?ng c?ch n?o?" (vov.vn 25.5.20) – ‘as foreign currency Vietnamese flows abroad? ’ The metaphor to flow out here has a negative meaning, which denotes a situation where money is illegally sent abroad.

We analyzed 66 headings of articles for 2019-2022, in which an orientation metaphor occurs. The study revealed that the orientation metaphor is used more often in Russian headings (44 headings) than in Vietnamese headings (22). Based on the total number of analyzed examples in Russian and Vietnamese, we have established the percentage of frequency of use of orientation metaphors in three types: top – bottom, forward – backward, right – left, inside – out. The data obtained are presented in figure 1.

The diagram shows that most of the spatial metaphors presented in the headlines of Russian and Vietnamese Internet publications are formed on the basis of the orientation "bottom" (21.2%) and "top" (19.6%).

Conclusions:

During the linguistic analysis of the material of the orientation metaphor in Russian and in Vietnamese , the following coincidences were revealed:

In the headlines of economic articles in Russian and in Vietnamese, such groups of orientation metaphors as "TOP – BOTTOM", "FORWARD – BACKWARD", "RIGHT – LEFT", "INSIDE – OUT" are widely represented. In the Russian and Vietnamese languages, associative pairs are fixed: top – positive, bottom - negative, forward – positive, backward – negative, right – positive, left – negative. Based on the analyzed examples of metaphors found in the headlines in Russian and Vietnamese, we found that there are many similarities in the use of orientation metaphors, despite the differences in culture and economic conditions of the two countries. It can be concluded that orientation metaphors are actively used in the headlines of Vietnamese and Russian journalistic articles of an economic nature.