A Study Of Discourse Metaphor In Q-A Sequence Of Government Press Conference

Among the multidimensional kinds of press conferences, those held by the governments, especially heads of governments, are most highly specified, authorized and valued. Today, government press conferences have been widely and regularly held by governments, via the press, to release news to the common people. And scholars from the fields of linguistics, politics, sociology, culture and so on make use of the content, dialogue pattern, language used or communication style into study because they are rich and authorizedIn linguistic study, scholars can be found using Halliday?s functional grammar to discuss discourses, or applying Lakoff?s cognitive theory to analyze metaphors, or employing Martin?s appraisal theory to evaluate targets. This thesis focuses on the analysis of discourse metaphor used in government press conferences, in question-answer sequence in particular. And with the help of conceptual theory and conceptual integration theory, the author attempts to explore discourse metaphors in the government press conferences, in terms of their construction, characteristics and metaphorical functions.The thesis studies metaphors in discourse, and discusses the phenomena that cognition and comprehension of metaphors influence people?s metaphorical thinking. Thus, it puts forward the research questions as follows: How are conceptual metaphors conceived in discourse in government press conferences? What are their functions? Are there any differences between the two sides of each question-answer pair in the use of discourse metaphors? What are reasons for the differences?Based on the conceptual theory and conceptual integration theory, this thesis makes case studies on the various functions of discourse metaphor, such as cognitive function, linguistic function, communicative function and Meaning-extension-and-creation function, and decodes its dynamic construction. As a result, it points out that the speakers of two sides in a question-answer sequence use discourse metaphors differently, and the differences are caused due to different political situations, aims or other reasons. All in all, the application of conceptual theory and conceptual integration theory into discourse metaphors is proved to be effective.