Cognitive Metaphors in The Headlines of 'In Touch Weekly' Magazines And Their Relation To The Content of The Articles.

ABSTRACT

Dalam tugas akhir ini, saya membahas kognitif metafor yang dikemukakan
oleh dua orang linguis yang bernama George Lakoff dan Mark Johnson. Konsep
metafor yang mereka kemukakan mempunyai pemikiran yang berbeda dari bahasa
kiasan

atau

peribahasa

tentang

metafor

pada

umumnya

yang


hanya

membandingkan suatu benda dengan benda yang lainnya. Mereka menjelaskan
bahwa di dalam kognitif metafor terdapat suatu entitas yang dipakai, dijelaskan,
dimengerti, direalisasikan dan distrukturalisasikan dengan entitas lain. Hal
tersebut dengan atau tanpa kita sadari acapkali terdapat dalam pola pikir, tuturan
dan tindakan kita sehari-hari yang mengapresiasikan konsep metafor secara
kognitif.
Untuk merealisasikan konsep kognitif metafor ini, saya menggunakan
majalah In Touch Weekly sebagai korpus data untuk dianalisis. Dalam majalah
tersebut, banyak ditemukan tajuk yang mengindikasikan kognitif metafor yang
kemudian dapat dikaitkan dengan isinya secara kognitif. Hal ini dimaksudkan
untuk melebih-lebihkan tajuk tersebut yang kemudian dihubungkan dengan isi
berita secara mendalam, sehingga dapat menarik perhatian para pembaca.
Saya memilih majalah sebagai korpus data dalam penerapan konsep
kognitif metafor karena majalah merupakan bacaan yang dibaca saat waktu luang.
Majalah juga merupakan bagian dari kehidupan masyarakat yang berhubungan

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erat dan sering dijumpai sehari-hari serta memiliki banyak manfaat. Selain itu,
melalui majalah kita dapat mengerti, mengetahui, merasakan dan menyadari
bahwa hampir seluruh aspek dalam kehidupan kita mengapresiasi kognitif
metafor.
Kognitif metafor terdiri dari tiga bagian, yaitu metafor struktural, metafor
orientasional dan metafor ontologikal, yang memiliki beberapa sub-bagian yaitu
metafor entiti, metafor kontainer, personifikasi dan metonimi.
Dalam thesis ini, saya menganalisa dua puluh data dan sebagian besar
tajuk yang ada mengandung metafor entiti yang merupakan bagian dari metafor
ontological. Ada pula dalam satu tajuk memiliki dua bagian metafor sekaligus.
Melalui Tugas Akhir ini, saya berharap para pembaca dapat lebih
mengerti, memahami dan tertarik untuk terus mempelajari secara lebih mendalam
tentang kognitif metafor khususnya dalam majalah yang didalamnya jurnalis
menyajikan banyak artikel yang isinya dapat dijadikan sebagai contoh penerapan
yang erat sekali hubungannya dengan kehidupan sehari-hari.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ..............…………………………………………. i
TABLE OF CONTENTS

…………………………………………………. ii

ABSTRACT …….…………………………………………………………….. iii
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study
……. …………………………………….
Statement of the Problem
……...……………………………………
Purpose of the Study …………………………………………………...
Methods of Research …………………………………………………...
Organization of the Thesis ………………………….………………..

CHAPTER TWO: THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK


1
3
4
4
4

…………………… 5

CHAPTER THREE: ANALYSIS OF COGNITIVE METAPHORS
IN THE HEADLINES OF IN TOUNCH WEEKLY
MAGAZINES AND THEIR RELATION TO
THE CONTENT OF THE ARTICLES …………………………... 11
CHAPTER FOUR: CONCLUSION
BIBLIOGRAPHY

…………………………………... 24

…………………………………………………………... 29


APPENDICES:
The news in In Touch Weekly Magazines

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CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

Background of the Study
Typically, metaphor is viewed as a language variation in which the language is used
figuratively. Webster Collegiate Dictionary terms metaphor as ‘a figure of speech in which a
word or a phrase denoting one kind of object or action is used in place of another to suggest a
likeness or analogy between them.’ In short, metaphor is like a figurative language in which the
language is said to contain figurative meaning.
In linguistics, however, different linguists have different accounts of metaphor. Richards

(1936) for example introduces the term tenor and vehicle in metaphor. Tenor is the underlying
idea of metaphor, whereas vehicle is the image used to represent or carry the metaphor. For
example: Life is a stage suggests that life is the tenor as it underlies the idea of the metaphor and
a stage is the vehicle used to represent or carry the tenor so as to be metaphorical.
Another linguist named Searle (1993) centers his account of metaphor on the simple
subject-predicate cases. He asserts that there has to be relations between three sets of element to
understand a metaphor. Those are S, P and R. S is the subject expression or the object or objects
used to refer to. P is the predicate expression that implies the literal meaning and R is the
figurative or the intended meaning by the speaker. In short, the sentence which has the form S is

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P is to be interpreted as S is R. For instance: the sentence John is a pig indicates that John (S) is
a Pig (P) meant to be taken as John (S) is lazy (R ) as the intended meaning to refer to the
characteristic of John, who is as lazy as a pig.
Yet, two linguists named George Lakoff and Mark Johnson perceive that in our everyday
language, in fact our way of thinking and acting reflect metaphor. They state that “Our ordinary
conceptual system, in terms of which we both think and act, is fundamentally metaphorical in
nature.” (Lakoff and Johnson, 2003:3) In short, Lakoff and Johnson state that almost all aspects

of our life reflect the use of metaphor. Therefore, they are of the opinion that metaphor is
basically a cognitive language in the sense that it is related to the process of knowing,
understanding and learning something by nature because of our daily and cultural experiences of
life.
Due to the fact that Lakoff and Johnson’s account of metaphors cover vast scope of our
lives and are cognitively understood, I am interested to know further concerning Lakoff and
Johnson’s concepts of cognitive metaphors for my thesis. Furthermore, I notice that their
concepts of cognitive metaphor are related to language and cognition as part of the study of
cognitive semantics.
I am going to analyze and discuss their concepts of cognitive metaphor by applying them
in the headlines of In Touch Weekly magazines. I notice that there are actually cognitive
metaphors in the headlines if analyzed by using their concepts of cognitive metaphors. For
example: McHammer is goin’ down. The headline contains the concept down that relates to
sadness, failure, and etc. In this case, the word down suggests McHammer’s bankruptcy because
he fails to maintain his career as a singer. Therefore, his career ‘goes down to the bottom’.

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Related to such account of metaphor, I am interested in analyzing the cognitive metaphor

concepts in the headlines of In Touch Weekly magazines and how they are related to the content
of the article In Touch Weekly is one of the gossip magazines read by the Americans. That is
why my thesis aims at pointing out that metaphor is not merely a figurative language or a figure
of speech, but it actually exists in our everyday life, such as in the newspapers, magazines and
else.
We always read newspapers or magazines in our lives as part of our daily routine. Very
often we are not aware that there are actually sentences printed in the newspapers that contain
metaphors. I also notice that the metaphors in the headlines relates to the content of the articles.
In short, I take an interest in finding out the reason why a journalist may come up with such
headline(s) that imply the cognitive metaphors by relating them to the content of the articles.

Statement of the Problem
1. How are the cognitive metaphors used in the headlines of the In Touch Weekly
Magazine?
2. How do the metaphorical concepts used in the headlines relate to the content of the
articles?

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Purpose of the Study
1. To analyse how the cognitive metaphors used in the headlines of the In Touch Weekly
Magazine.
2. To analyse how the metaphors used in the headlines of the In Touch Weekly magazine
relate to the content of the articles.

Methods of Research
Concerning the methods of research, the source of data is taken from the ten editions of
the In Touch Weekly magazine, and the date and the edition of the magazines are chosen
randomly. Then, I pick and some headlines which I find to contain the cognitive metaphors. And
then, I read the content of the articles and analyze how it relates to the headline that suggests the
cognitive metaphors.

Organization of the Thesis
This thesis starts with Chapter One, in which I present the Introduction, comprising of the
Background of the Study, the Statement of the Problem, the Purpose of the Study, and the
Method of Research. In Chapter Two, I present the Theoretical framework about the cognitive
metaphor. In chapter Three, I present my discussion on the cognitive metaphor and the way it
relates to the content of the articles. I conclude my discussion in Chapter Three and this thesis
ends with the Bibliography and the Appendices, in which I present the samples of data.


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CHAPTER FOUR

CONCLUSION

Having analysed the cognitive metaphor in the headlines of the In Touch
Weekly magazines, I arrive at a conclusion that different headlines may indicate
different cognitive metaphors. Besides, there are some headlines which only have
one aspect metaphor and there are others which have more than one concept of
metaphor.
I find eigth headlines which indicate Ontological Metaphor. To be more
specific, I find that the headline that implies the Entity Metaphor dominates the
headlines. In relation to the content, the journalist wants the readers to understand
much more about the content of the articles by using the entity metaphor.
Moreover, the readers will be more interested in reading the articles.
Because of using this metaphor, the journalist wants to compare the abstract
things with the concrete ones. Afterwards, the readers may understand and

appreciate the reality of their daily life either positively or negatively. For
example: Farah’s winning her cancer battle means that before she wins a war to

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struggle her illness, she is in a battle whether to live or die. Her illness is an
abstract thing and the journalist interprets it as a concrete thing.
The other aspect of Ontological Metaphor is Metonymy. I find three
headlines which suggest this kind of metaphor. If I relate it to the content of the
articles, I find that the journalist uses Metonymy because he/she wants the readers
to be able to guess the hint of what the content of the articles will be and what
makes it sensational before they read them. Furthermore, I also find that the
journalist tends to embellish the content of the articles so that they are going to be
enthusiastic about reading the articles. At last, metonymy suggests something that
has been familiar in public. Example: Who says Rocky is too old? If we read the
word ‘Rocky’, we are familiar with the name because it is a popular film starred
by a famous Hollywood actor, Sylvester Stallone. Therefore, it is easier to tell the
articles and persuade the readers to read them because of the familiar name used
within the articles.
I also find the other concept of Ontological Metaphor, specifically
Personification in the headline. The number of the headlines that suggests
personification is two. Related to the content of the articles, I notice that the
journalist has an important point to make the readers become interested in reading
the articles in the magazine. The first purpose of using metaphor is that the
journalist wants to compare the abstract or concrete thing with the human in order
to make the readers be able to apply something easily. The second purpose of the
journalist’s applying personification is that the journalist wants to prove that all
things or human in this world has limited times in their life. It means that they are
not aware of time that all in the world will pass quickly. For example:

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Motherhood changed Madonna means that after Madonna becomes mother, she
changes her bad habits in her youth. Besides, she knows that she is not young
anymore. That is why, she has to do thing in her life more seriously.
Container Metaphor is the fourth aspect of Ontological Metaphor which I
find in these headlines. There are two headlines, which indicate this concept of
metaphor. In relation to the content of the article, the journalist wants the readers
to know about IN-OUT concept. It means that the readers can fill themselves with
positive things in order to make their life valuable. Yet, if a bad thing occurs in
their life, they can solve it in either a good or a bad way. For example: She’s
trying to fit in …but she can’t help being naughty, this means that Lindsay’s bad
habit contains herself. She tries to relieve herself from this kind of condition, but
she fails because her negative habits have been too many in comparison with her
positive habits, which make her unable to resist conducting her bad habits,
The other concept of metaphor is Structural Metaphor. I find one headline
that suggests this kind of metaphor. If I relate the content of the articles, I find on
the whole that the journalist tries to make the content of the articles become more
sensational. Besides, the journalist wants the readers to be excited to read the
gossip and to have a great desire to know the truth of the gossip. For example:
Does Gwyenth use snake venom to fight wrinkles? From this headline, we can
know that actress is afraid of not being and longer because of the fact that she can
not prevent her self from getting older and older. That is why, she tries to
maintain her youth and beauty by using snake venoms to fight and reduce the
wrinkles in her face.

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I find two headlines which indicate Orientational Metaphor. Related to
the content of the article, the journalist wants to tickle the readers’ conscience and
curiosity to think and interpret the content of the articles in their daily life. For
example: Star’s had plenty of ups and downs. From this context, the journalist
wants to make certain that after they read the article, they can know that the
meaning UP relates to Fatness and DOWN relates to Thinness. The readers can
feel that it is the difficult to keep the body because almost people have
experienced.
At last, I find two headlines which use more than one concept of
metaphor. In relation to the content of the article, the journalist wants to clarify
the content of the articles specifically. The journalist wants to make the readers
understand more about his/her purpose of writing the articles. The example: Nick
and In Touch ring in the holidays, this headline uses Metonymy and
Personification. The journalist uses two concepts of Metaphor because he/she
wants the readers to be familiar with the content and they can compare it as
human. It is closer with them and they can think and act in their daily life easily.
The other example is Eddie’s paternity case heats up. The headline suggests
Entity Metaphor and Orientational Metaphor. Paternity is an abstract thing and the
journalist relates it to a concrete thing in order that the readers can feel,
understand and realize it easier. Besides, the word UP in this case relates to be
more serious in order that the readers think in the same meaning as the journalist’s
purpose.
From the analysis above, it has been proven that the concepts of Cognitive
Metaphors are very close with our daily lives. We are not aware that the concepts

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of cognitive metaphors lie in our thought and action because we are likely to think
that the concepts of metaphor are very difficult to be understood.
Furthermore, if we want to learn and interpret the concept cognitive
metaphor in our life, these concepts shall give a lot of benefits to make us be
enthusiastic and interest in reading many articles in the magazines.
I hope that this thesis makes the readers aware of the significance of the
role of the metaphorical concept in understanding the headlines and their relations
to the content as well as the role of cognitive metaphors aspects. I wish this
thesis would help the readers to understand and learn the concepts of metaphor
easily. Besides, I truly hope that the readers will be more interested and
enthusiastic to read magazines in their daily life because of the headlines that
contain the concept of cognitive metaphors within them.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

Sources:
In Touch Weekly Magazine 8th of January 2007 edition
In Touch Weekly Magazine 3rd of September 2007 edition
In Touch Weekly Magazine 24th of September 2007 edition
In Touch Weekly Magazine 8th of October 2007 edition
In Touch Weekly Magazine 15th of October 2007 edition
In Touch Weekly Magazine 22nd of October 2007 edition

References:
George Lakoff and Mark Johnson.2003. Metaphors We Live By. The University of
Chicago and London.
Ortony, Andrew. 1993. Metaphor and Thought. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press.

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