Metaphors of Alcohol: A cognitive Linguistic Perspective

This is a Cognitive Linguistics study of the metaphors used in Gĩkũyũ alcohol related discourse. A survey carried out by NACADA in 2012 showed that alcohol, classified as a depressant, is one of the most abused substances in Kenya. It contains ethanol which causes intoxication when taken in large quantities. In Kenya, alcoholic substances are divided into beer, spirits, wines, traditional brews and illicit brews. This study set out to identify metaphors used in Gĩkũyũ alcohol related discourse, analyze their conceptual structure and their communicative value. Metaphors are the linguistic tools that we use to express one notion or idea in terms of another. Of the five counties in Central Kenya that have a large population of Gĩkũyũ speakers, the researcher purposefully sampled Kĩambũ County. The researcher used Metaphor Identification Procedure, Vrije Universiteit (MIPVU) an improved version of Metaphor Identification Procedure (MIP) by the Pragglejaz Group (2007) to identify metaphors from Gikuyu alcohol discourse among consumers, who are a major key-player in alcohol related discourse. A total of 7 metaphors were identified and analyzed for their conceptual structure. Analysis of the conceptual structure involved presenting the identified metaphors to a group of 12 campaigners against alcohol abuse. Further, this article aimed at contributing to Cognitive Linguistics by analyzing these metaphors within Steen’s 2011 Discourse Metaphor Theory.