Conceptual metaphors of morality in Indonesian language: A corpus-based cognitive semantic study
Main Article Content
Abstract
This study examines conceptual metaphors of morality in the Indonesian language using a corpus-based cognitive linguistic approach. Morality, as an abstract value system, is often understood through metaphors rooted in physical and cultural experiences. This study aims to identify and analyze conceptual metaphors of morality. The data consists of 650 sentence samples obtained from the Leipzig Corpora Collection (2020–2024) and analyzed using Sketch Engine through the Metaphoric Pattern Analysis method and Conceptual Metaphor Theory. The results identified 453 metaphorical expressions (69.69%) classified into 25 conceptual metaphors. The findings show that the dominant metaphor is MORALITY IS A BUILDING (26.49%), followed by MORALITY IS SPACE (11.70%) and MORALITY IS CLOTHING (9.71%). This pattern reflects the tendency of Indonesian society to understand morality as a solid yet fragile entity (a building), as a social environment or identity (space and clothing), and as something that can be measured vertically and is potentially vulnerable to damage. This study contributes to metaphor studies in cognitive linguistics by providing empirical data from Indonesia and offering insights into the construction of moral values in contemporary public discourse.
Downloads
Article Details
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
This open-access article is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) 4.0 license.
You are free to: Share — copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format. Adapt — remix, transform, and build upon the material for any purpose, even commercially. The licensor cannot revoke these freedoms as long as you follow the license terms.
Under the following terms: Attribution — You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.
No additional restrictions You may not apply legal terms or technological measures that legally restrict others from doing anything the license permits.
How to Cite
Share
References
Arcimavičienė, L. (2008). Morality through Metaphor: A Cross-Linguistic Analysis of Political Discourse. Kalbotyra, 59, 11–19. https://doi.org/10.15388/Klbt.2008.7588
Biemann, T., Zacher, H., & Feldman, D. C. (2012). Career patterns: A twenty-year panel study. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 81(2), 159–170. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2012.06.003
Budd, K., Kelsey, D., Mueller, F., & Whittle, A. (2019). Metaphor, morality and legitimacy: A critical discourse analysis of the media framing of the payday loan industry. Organization, 26(6), 802–829. https://doi.org/10.1177/1350508418812569
Chatterjee, A. (2021). Pandemic as a Metaphor for Moral Degeneration in Tagore’s Rajarshi. New Literaria, 2(2), 40–49. https://doi.org/10.48189/nl.2021.v02i2.006
Cristy, S. N., Mulyadi, M., & Syarfina, T. (2024). Metafora cinta dalam bahasa Batak Toba. Jurnal Genre (Bahasa, Sastra, Dan Pembelajarannya), 6(2), 371–388. https://doi.org/10.26555/jg.v6i2.10839
Gibbs, R. W. (2008). Embodiment and Cognitive Science. Cambridge University Press.
Gibbs, R. W. (2021). Metaphor and Thought: Reflections on Metaphor in Language and Mind. Cambridge University Press.
Gries, S. Th. (2009). What is Corpus Linguistics? Language and Linguistics Compass, 3(5), 1225–1241. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1749-818X.2009.00149.x
Hurford, J. R., Heasley, B., & Smith, M. B. (2007). Second Edition: Semanticss a Coursebook. Cambridge University Press.
Johnson, C. E. (2014). Why “Good” Followers Go “Bad”: The Power of Moral Disengagement. Journal of Leadership Education, 13(4), 36–50. https://doi.org/10.12806/V13/I4/C6
Kearns, K. (2011). Semantics. Macmillan Education UK. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-230-35609-2
Kövecses, Z. (2000). Metaphor and Emotion. Cambridge University Press.
Kövecses, Z. (2002). Metaphor: A Practical Introduction. Oxford University Press.
Kövecses, Z. (2010). Metaphor in Culture: Universality and Variation. Cambridge University Press.
Kövecses, Z. (2019). The Concept of Emotion in the Language of Metaphor. Routledge.
Lakoff, G. (1990). The Invariance Hypothesis: Is Abstract Reason Based on Image-Schemas? Cognitive Linguistics, 1(1), 39–74.
Lakoff, G. (1993). The contemporary theory of metaphor. In Metaphor and Thought (2nd ed., pp. 202–251). Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139173865.013
Lakoff, G. (1996). Moral Politics: What Conservatives Know That Liberals Don’t. University of Chicago Press.
Lakoff, G. (2006). Think Points: Communicating Our American Values and Vision: A Progressive Handbook. Farrar, Straus, and Giroux.
Lakoff, G., & Johnson, M. (1980). Metaphors We Live By. University of Chicago Press.
Lakoff, G., & Kövecses, Z. (1987). The cognitive model of anger inherent in American English. In Cultural Models in Language and Thought (1st ed., pp. 195–221). Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511607660.009
Langlotz, A. (2006). Idiomatic Creativity: A cognitive-linguistic model of idiom-representation and idiom-variation in English (Vol. 17). John Benjamins Publishing Company. https://doi.org/10.1075/hcp.17
Leech, G. (1981). Semantics. Penguin Books Ltd.
Levinson, S. C. (1983). Principles of Pragmatics (1st ed.). Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511813313
Liu, Y., Li, K., Li, L., Zhang, J., Lin, Y., DiFabrizio, B., & Wang, H. (2020). Morphological Metaphor Mapping of Moral Concepts in Chinese Culture. Frontiers in Psychology, 11, 554061. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.554061
McEnery, T., & Hardie, A. (2012). Corpus Linguistics: Method, Theory and Practice. Cambridge University Press.
Mulyadi, Dardanila, & Yusuf, M. (2024). Emotive interjection in Asahan Malay language: A natural semantic metalanguage perspective. Multidisciplinary Science Journal, 7(5), 2025172. https://doi.org/10.31893/multiscience.2025172
Mulyadi, M., Yusuf, M., & Siregar, R. K. (2021). Verbal humor in selected Indonesian stand up comedian’s discourse: Semantic analysis using GVTH. Cogent Arts & Humanities, 8(1), 1943927. https://doi.org/10.1080/23311983.2021.1943927
Pirmansyah, P., & Nur, T. (2021). Metafora Konseptual dalam Al-Quran Surat Yasin: Kajian Semantik Kognitif. Jurnal Perspektif, 5(2), 146. https://doi.org/10.15575/jp.v5i2.126
Rajeg, I. M. (2019). Metafora Emosi Bahasa Indonesia. https://doi.org/10.31237/osf.io/8dwms
Salman, M. B., & Al- Azzawi, S. K. (2021). Conceptual Metaphors of “Morality is Straightness” and “Immorality is Crookedness” in The Prophetic Hadith and Bible. Journal of Tikrit University for Humanities, 28(3, 4), 16–33. https://doi.org/10.25130/jtuh.28.3.4.2021.23
Semino, E. (2008). Metaphor in Discourse. Cambridge University Press.
Stefanowitsch, A. (2006). Corpus-based approaches to metaphor and metonymy. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/292744446_Corpus-based_approaches_to_metaphor_and_metonymy
Surip, M. (2021). Metafora Politik Pemilihan Presiden dan Wakil Presiden Republik Indonesia Tahun 2019 Pada Media Massa Nasional. Universitas Sumatera Utara.
Voskoboinyk, V., & Sukhachova, N. (2023). Metaphor as a means of influencing the adressee (based on English advertising texts). Linguistics, (1 (47)), 96–107. https://doi.org/10.12958/2227-2631-2023-1-47-96-107
Wang, H. L., Lu, Y. Q., & Lu, Z. Y. (2016). Moral-up first, immoral-down last: The time course of moral metaphors on a vertical dimension. NeuroReport, 27(4), 247–256. https://doi.org/10.1097/WNR.0000000000000528
Yu, N. (2012). The metaphorical orientation of time in Chinese. Journal of Pragmatics, 44(10), 1335–1354. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2012.06.002
Yu, N. (2016). Spatial Metaphors for Morality: A Perspective from Chinese. Metaphor and Symbol, 31(2), 108–125. https://doi.org/10.1080/10926488.2016.1150763
Yu, N. (2022). The Moral Metaphor System: A Conceptual Metaphor Approach (1st ed.). Oxford University PressOxford. https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780192866325.001.0001
Yule, G. (1996). Pragmatics. Oxford University Press.