Publications

Publication details [#76]

Negro Alousque, Isabel. 2010. The figurative language of corporate alliances. Cuadernos de Investigación Filológica 35-36 : 49–61. 13 pp.
Publication type
Article in journal
Publication language
English

Abstract

This paper departs from the widely accepted claim that metaphor is a pervasive conceptual operation in language. Employing English and Spanish newspaper articles, the present article focuses on the metaphorical nature of business language. More particularly, the author attempts to analyze metaphorical expressions dealing with corporate alliances. With this aim in mind, Negro draws from Lakoff’s conceptual metaphor theory (Lakoff 1980, 1987, 2006) and Fauconnier and Turner’s blending theory (cf. Fauconnier 1995, 1997; Fauconnier and Turner 1995, 2006). According to the author, corporate alliances are conceptualized through the following domains: WAR (e.g. TAKEOVERS AND MERGERS ARE WARS), SPORT (e.g. TAKEOVER AND MERGES ARE A SPORT GAME), FICTION (e.g. TAKEOVER AND MERGES ARE PLAYS), GAME (e.g. TAKEOVER AND MERGES ARE CARD GAMES) and LOVE (e.g. TAKEOVER AND MERGES ARE MARRIAGES). In conclusion, the main argument around which this paper revolves is that both English and Spanish share a similar metaphorical understanding of economic issues, which in turn provides evidence regarding the universality of many metaphors.