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Article published In: Revista Española de Lingüística Aplicada/Spanish Journal of Applied Linguistics
Vol. 36:2 (2023) ► pp.528–555

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Metaphorical Pattern Analysis and MIPVU combined

A case study merging existing methods to identify metaphor in discourse

ORCiD logo with link | Universidad Autónoma de Madrid
Published online: 6 June 2023
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/resla.21004.mue
Abstract
One of the constant debates within conceptual metaphors studies and metaphor in discourse concerns metaphor identification and annotation. In recent years, most metaphor studies have applied Steen et al.’s MIPVU or Pragglejazz’s MIP as the identification method, but this does not mean that they are exclusive. In fact, there are certain factors of a given study that influence the choice of one method over another, such as its design, size or language. It was precisely the particularities of our corpus (made of economic reports published in English and Spanish) that suggested the combination of other existing methods in order to obtain, in the most practical way, the most reliable outcomes for this target-based case study. Stefanowitsch’s MPA was applied and complemented with MIPVU, used to filter and confirm potentially metaphorical patterns. Apart from reviewing some of the existing methods, this paper provides a case study that supports the validity of combining identification methods or adapting them to the needs of each case, as the results obtained after analysis show concordance and agreement post-combination.
Resumen
Análisis de patrones metafóricos y MIPVU: Estudio de un caso que combina métodos para identificar metáforas en el discurso
Uno de los constantes temas de debate en los estudios de metáfora conceptual y de metáfora y discurso gira en torno a su identificación y la anotación. Desde hace unos años, la mayoría de los estudios sobre metáfora han aplicado el método MIPVU de Steen et al.’s MIPVU o el MIP de Pragglejazz como método de identificación, lo cual no quiere decir, no obstante, que sean los únicos que se aplican. De hecho, hay ciertos factores que influyen en la elección de un método u otro para cada estudio, como su diseño, su tamaño o su idioma. Son precisamente esas particularidades de nuestro corpus (formado por noticias económicas publicadas en español e inglés) las que sugirieron una combinación de otros métodos existentes para obtener los resultados más fiables de la manera más práctica en este estudio. Así, el método MPA de Stefanowitsch se aplica a un corpus bilingüe (inglés y español) y se complementa con MIPVU, usado aquí como un método de filtrado y confirmación. Además de revisar algunos de los métodos hasta la fecha, este artículo ofrece un estudio de caso que apoya la combinación de métodos si es justificada; los resultados obtenidos muestran concordancia y confirmación tras la combinación de métodos apoyan el uso y la validez de este tipo de procedimientos.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Literature review: Existing methods for metaphor identification
  • 3.Corpus and methodology: Combining MPA and MIPVU
    • 3.1Corpus design and selection
    • 3.2Objectives and hypotheses
    • 3.3A two-step methodology
      • 3.3.1Applying MPA
      • 3.3.2MIPVU as a double-check method
  • 4.Summary of results
  • 5.Discussion, concluding remarks and further work
  • Notes
  • References
References (51)
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