METAPHORISATION OF TERMS IN CONTEMPORARY GERMAN MEDIA DISCOURSE
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.31861/gph2026.858-859.86-97Keywords:
determinologization, media discourse, concept, conceptual metaphor, frame semantics, term, German pressAbstract
The article analyzes the processes of metaphorical reinterpretation of terminological The article examines processes of metaphorical reinterpretation of terminological vocabulary in contemporary German media discourse. It aims to identify patterns of metaphorical term usage within a cognitive-informational framework. The corpus comprises over 500 metaphorized terms extracted from leading German publications (Die Zeit, SZ, FAZ, Die Welt, Der Spiegel) covering the period 2022–2025. The study employs metalinguistic and contextual analysis, as well as the classification and systematization of linguistic data, supplemented by statistical methods to determine the frequency of metaphorical models across thematic domains.
Metaphorized terms are analyzed as cognitive models for conceptualizing socio-political and economic reality. The study distinguishes macro- and micro-models of metaphorization organized according to a frame-slot structure. The three most frequent macro-models are examined in detail: “Politics, economics, and social life are spectacle,” “Political, economic, and social life is war,” and “Political, economic, and social problems are diseases.” The distribution of these models varies across domains: the spectacle metaphor predominates in the political sphere (27%), the medical metaphor in the economic sphere (27%), while in the sociocultural sphere the models are more evenly distributed.
The findings show that determinologization involves a combination of terminological precision and metaphorical imagery, enhancing both nominative accuracy and pragmatic impact. The persistence of terminological meaning within metaphorical contexts makes such units particularly effective in media discourse. Approximately 100 identified metaphors are not recorded in contemporary German dictionaries, highlighting the dynamic nature of press metaphorics. Overall, the results demonstrate that the metaphorization of terms functions not merely as a stylistic device, but as a cognitive mechanism for structuring knowledge and shaping the conceptual worldview in media discourse.
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