Figurative Language and Its Functions in English Songs across Music Genres on 2023 Billboard Year-End Chart
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Abstract
This study investigated the types and functions of figurative language used in popular English songs ranked on Billboard’s 2023 Year-End Chart, with attention to genre variations. Forty English songs across five genres (i.e., pop, hip-hop, country, rhythm and blues or R&B, and electronic dance music or EDM) were analyzed, resulting in 202 lyric lines containing a total of 229 instances of figurative language classified into fifteen types. The most frequently occurring types were metaphor, hyperbole, rhetorical question, simile, and meiosis. Figurative language functions in various ways, including comparing two different ideas or entities, conveying particular meanings through emotional intensification and exaggeration, evoking emotions without expecting an answer, and conveying negative attitudes. Genre-specific patterns were also observed: in pop and R&B songs, metaphor and hyperbole are primarily used to express emotions, with metaphor representing abstract ideas and hyperbole amplifying emotional intensity; in hip-hop, metaphor, rhetorical question, and meiosis supported themes of self-expression in a form of negative attitude. Country music emphasized vivid storytelling through metaphor and conveyed devotion through hyperbole, while no figurative language was found in EDM. The results confirmed that figurative language is a vital component of songwriting, serving as both a literary device and a communicative strategy. The study benefits EFL teachers and learners, and songwriters in terms of the essential role of figurative language and how it is used in enhancing lyrical sophistication and emotional expression.
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ข้อความรู้ใดๆ ตลอดจนข้อคิดเห็นใดๆ เป็นของผู้เขียนแต่ละท่านโดยเฉพาะ คณะมนุษยศาสตร์ มหาวิทยาลัยนเรศวร และกองบรรณาธิการวารสารมนุษยศาสตร์ฯ ไม่จำเป็นต้องเห็นพ้องด้วย
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