Speaker
Description
This study explores the conceptual metaphors of love in the lyrics of Trịnh Công Sơn, one of Vietnam’s most influential songwriters, from a cognitive linguistic perspective. While Trịnh’s music has often been celebrated for its poetic and philosophical qualities, this research focuses specifically on the linguistic structures that reveal how love is conceptualized in Vietnamese through metaphor. Drawing on the framework of Conceptual Metaphor Theory (Lakoff & Johnson, 1980), the study analyzes a selected corpus of 15 well-known love songs to identify recurring metaphorical patterns, such as LOVE IS PAIN, LOVE IS A JOURNEY, and LOVE IS NATURE. Rather than examining each song in isolation, the study adopts a thematic approach to synthesize metaphorical models across the corpus. The findings indicate that Trịnh Công Sơn’s lyrics reflect a rich emotional landscape shaped by culturally grounded metaphorical thought. This research contributes to cognitive metaphor studies and deepens our understanding of how love and emotion are encoded in Vietnamese language and culture.
Biography
Nguyễn Thị Ngọc Hồng is an independent English educator with 16 years of experience in language teaching and the founder of Kidlish English. She holds a Master's degree in English Language from ULIS, completed in 2022. Her academic interests include Cognitive Linguistics and Metaphor Studies. Ngọc Hồng has a profound passion for Vietnamese literature and poetry, often exploring these works through various linguistic lenses. She is also deeply influenced by the music of Trịnh Công Sơn, which shapes her understanding of language and emotion. Over the course of her career, she has actively contributed to the field of education through research and workshops, promoting language acquisition and cultural awareness. Moving forward, Ngọc Hồng aspires to further develop educational projects and continue making significant contributions to English language teaching in Vietnam.
