The semantics of metaphors of love in english and vietnamese songs

Abstract

This research is aimed at examining the semantic features of metaphors of love in English and Vietnamese songs from two different views that are traditional and contemporary one. This investigation is based on a corpus of 105 famous English songs including 228 typical metaphors of love and 99 famous Vietnamese songs including 262 typical metaphors of love. The results show that both traditional and contemporary views have their own success as well as limitations. Besides, there are also findings about similarity and differences of linguistic items and images used in metaphors of love through English and Vietnamese songs. The research also suggests a procedure of finding, perceiving and comprehending metaphors in general and metaphors of love in English and Vietnamese songs in particular.