The Study of Conceptual Metaphors of Love in Jay Chou’s Songs

Abstract

This study aims to explore the conceptual metaphors of love in Jay Chou’s songs and to study the concept of love of the language user. The study is conducted by analyzing Jay Chou’s 169 songs during the period of 2000 – 2020 by employing the conceptual metaphors theory of Lakoff and Johnson. The study suggests that the conceptual metaphorical expressions are used 67 times in the songs and reflect 8 types of conceptual metaphors which can be categorized and ranked based on the frequency of the appearance of each type in the songs respectively as 1. [Love is a living organism] 2. [Love is an object] 3. [Love is food]             4. [Love is journey] 5. [Love is a supernatural] 6. [Love is an acting] 7. [Love is nature] 8. [Love is science]. The conceptual metaphors reflect the concept of love of the language user in both positive and negative aspects. The study result of all categories shows that most of the metaphorical expressions appear in the songs are verbs, adjectives, and nouns respectively, and concrete objects that have certain common characteristics with the idea of love are often employed to compare with love to convey the meaning of love which is abstract and difficult to understand through concrete objects. Furthermore, the metaphorical expressions in the songs also reflect the concept of love of the language user who gives significance to the surroundings especially human, objects, and food by using all these as metaphorical expressions, this way makes it easier for the audience to understand the meaning of the songs and can visualize and feel the songs better.