Métaphores aquatiques et moyens d’action humains dans un corpus de presse en français et en allemand

Abstract

The article offers an analysis of aquatic metaphors and more specifically of human action verbs from the hydraulic register (channel, dam, etc.) used metaphorically – water is the source domain, patient arguments belong to another conceptual domain (“channel migration flows”). The corpus consists of press articles in French and German. The theoretical framework of the cognitive theory of metaphor or conceptual theory of metaphor leans back on frame semantics. The analysis takes place at two levels: not only through the mark of the language system, the structure of the language (lexical semantics) but also through its uses and situations of enunciation, in context (discursive semantics). It is highlighted that, in the study corpus which is specifically made of press articles, action verbs which fall into a liquid register contain the seme /negative/ and designate negative actions. Patient arguments are also negative, means of action are uncertain, actors are vague. This explains the familiarity of these verbs within opinion articles.