| dc.description.abstract | This paper examines metaphorical euphemisms
of death appearing in Kenyan newspaper using the
theoretical framework of Conceptual Metaphor Theory as
initiated by Lakoff and Johnson (1980). Obituaries are used
to publicly announce death, giving details that can be used
to identify the deceased. Thus, a cognitive approach enables
us to demonstrate the mitigating capacity of metaphors used
as a power fulsource for euphemistic reference.
Specifically, this paper investigates metaphorical
expressions for death found in Kenyan obituaries, and to
which conceptual mappings do these expressions belong
and the cognitive processes underlying death euphemisms.
Drawing on a corpus of 100 randomly death obituaries
collected from the Daily Nation, and the Standard
newspaper, the study found that metaphors are used as a
euphemistic device for speaking about this fear-based taboo
and conceptual mappings of Death in Kenyan obituaries
are to some extent culture-Specific. The study found that the
social cultural perceptions that the society has towards
death greatly influence the language used in the writing of
obituaries | en_US |
