Identifying conceptual metaphors using the Metaphor Identification Procedure Vrije Universiteit (MIPVU)

Abstract

Little or no research has been done on conceptual metaphor and its translations in isiXhosa. No report has been found on the use in African languages of the metaphor identification tool developed by Steen et al. (2010). This problem is addressed in this article. A sample of sentences was selected from the source text Long walk to freedom by Mandela (1994) and was compared with the corresponding sentences in the target text Indlela ende eya enkululekweni. Metaphor-related words were identified and analysed in both texts using the metaphor identifying procedure developed at the Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam. The tool eliminates bias on the part of the researcher and yields authentic results. The findings reflect that the majority of metaphor-related words identified in both texts were used indirectly, meaning that they were manifestations of conceptual metaphors. It was also found that the source text and target text had an equal number of metaphor-related words. The tool for identifying metaphors used in this research proved to be reliable and can contribute to the theory of metaphor in translation.