CULTURAL METAPHORS IN VIETNAMESE FOLKTALES

Abstract

The study approaches Vietnamese folktales from the theoretical frameworks of Cognitive Linguistics and Cultural Linguistics, focusing on examining the role of cultural metaphor systems in organizing and conveying the community's abstract concepts. Based on a discourse analysis of several representative folktales (such as Tấm Cám, Thạch Sanh, Sự tích hồ Ba Bể, Chuyện quả bầu, etc.), the study identifies three dominant types of metaphors: ontological metaphors, orientational metaphors, and structural metaphors. The findings indicate that these types of metaphors (ontological metaphors, orientational metaphors, and structural metaphors) not only concretise abstract categories but also organize the space as a mechanism of cultural evaluation, as well as simultaneously embodying and "verifying" moral values through characters' actions and narrative outcomes according to cause-and-effect relationships. From a cultural linguistics perspective, the stable repetition of these metaphors demonstrates that they are not only figures of speech, but also collective cognitive mechanisms, which assist communities in internalising moral norms, spiritual beliefs, and the social order through storytelling experiences.