An Analysis of Orientation Metaphor on BBC News about Covid-19

AN ANALYSIS OF ORIENTATION METAPHOR ON BBC NEWS ABOUT COVID-19 Anisa Universitas Muhammadiyah Sumatera Utara ABSTRACT This study discuss about analysis of orientation metaphor on BBC News about covid19. The objective of the study was described the conceptual metaphor, especially orientation metaphor were use on BBC News about Covid19. This research used descriptive qualitative method. The data was taken from BBC News about covid19 in orientation metaphor. Based on the result of this research of the analysis of orientation metaphor on BBC News about Covid19, it was found thatt there were totally 3 Headlines. The total occurrence from Orientation Metaphors in BBC News Headline about Covid19 Article ware they using spatial UP-DOWN like HAPPY IS UP and SAD IS DOWN occurrence. Keyword : Conceptual Metaphor, Orientation Metaphor, BBC News 1. INTRODUCTION Metaphors are everywhere, and this becomes evident when you begin to look for them. Metaphors are not just figurative speech used to embellish a text; instead there is in fact much to learn from them in terms of how thoughts and concepts are structured. According to Lakoff & Johnson (2003 [1980]: 3), metaphors reveal how we as humans perceive the world and structure our experiences, as well as how we relate to these and to other people. Metaphors can illustrate such everyday aspects as how we express ourselves about mood: as in feeling up or maybe down (ibid.: 15), similarly they can be used in elaborate ways to make an abstract experience, like love, more concrete by describing this experience in terms of a journey, a disease, magic, war, or as a physical force (ibid.: 49). Structural conceptual metaphors are considered by Lakoff and Johnson (1980) as the group with the highest number. In this kind of conceptual metaphor, complicated and abstract experiences are conceptualized based on the experience of simple and specific experiences. In orientational conceptual metaphor, a system of ideas is organized in the relation and interaction in space like up-down, inside-out, front-behind, shallow-deep, center-periphery etc. Lakoff and Johnson (1980) called this group the orientational metaphor because they are related to the orientation in space. The writer will do the research about analysis of orientation metaphor. In this research will analyzed on BBC News about Covid19. BBC News is one of online news that includes some information about problematic situation with the new through article everyday, like business in economic global, education and health Copyright © 2022 Vol 3 No 2 Tahun 2022 82 information. Inside health information article there are metaphors found in health information, but the use of metaphor makes the readers have difficulty to understand the article. DISCUSSION A. Cognitive Semantics One of the fields of study on semantics related to experience, conceptual systems, and semantic structures is known as cognitive semantics. The phenomenon of cognitive semantics began in the 1970s as a contradictory view of traditional semanticphilosophies that did not involve cognitive organization in linguistics. That is, the relationship between words and their relationship to human experience itself is not interpreted as a meaningful component in an organization or manifestation of language. This has been stated by one linguist Eva Sweetser (1990) "By viewing meaning as the relationship between words and the world, truth-conditional semantics eliminates cognitive organization from the linguistic system" (Sweetser 1990: 4). In contrast to this view, cognitive semantics sees linguistic meaning as a manifestation of conceptual structures: the nature and mental representations in all their richness and diversity, and this is what makes it a special approach to meaning inthe field of linguistics (Evans, 2006: 177). One of the pioneers of cognitive linguistics, Leonard Talmy, describes research on cognitive semantic studies as “Research on cognitive semantics is research on conceptual content and its organization in language” (Talmy 2004:4) The quote explains that conceptual content in a cognitive semantic study is understood as a general conception which includes the meaning of thoughts. Conceptual content is also not only understood as ideational content, but also as experiential content which includes aspects of emotions and perceptual systems. That is, the concept is not only used to make information more comprehensive, but also used to understand and explore further into experiential content where organizational aspects in a language (perceptual systems and emotional aspects) are investigated further. Cognitive semantics is basically concerned with concepts. The most basic approach is the relationship between the conceptual structure of sensory experience (Evans, 2006: 157). In other words, cognitive semantics deals with human interactions and how sensory interactions constribute to the formation of conceptual cinstruct in language. One of cognitive semantic studies related to research conducted id how conceptual metaphors related to human sensors through the study of conceptual metaphor. B. Definition of Metaphor Consider the way native speaker of English often talk about life either their own lives or those of others: People might say that they try to give their children an education so they will geta good start in life. If their children act out, they hope that they are just going through a stage and that they will get over it. Parents hope that their children won’t be burdened with financial worries or ill health and, if they face difficultiesthat they will be able to overcome them. Parents hope that their children will have a long life span and that they will go far in life. But they also know that their children, as all mortals, will reach the end of the road. (based on Winter, 1995, p. 235) This way of speaking about life would be regarded by most speakers of English as normal Copyright © 2022 Vol 3 No 2 Tahun 2022 83 and natural for everyday purposes. The use of phrases such as to get a good start, to go through a stage, to get over something, to be burdened, to overcome something, a long life span, to go far in life, to reach the end of the road, and so on would not count as using particularly picturesque or literary language. Below is a list of additional phrases that speakers of English use to talk about the concept of life: He’s without direction in life.I’m where I want to be in life.I’m at a crossroads in my life. She’ll go places in life. He’s never let anyone get in his way. She’s gone through a lot in life. Given all these examples, we can see that a large part of the way we speak about life in English derives from the way we speak about journeys. In light of such examples, it seems that speakers of English make extensive use of the domain of journey to think about the highly abstract and elusive concept of life. The question is: Why do they draw so heavily on the domain of journey in thre effort t (...truncated)