Conceptual Metaphors in History Discourse

Scientific discourse is characterised by a set of rigid rules, one of which includes minimal use of stylistic devices. However, with the development of conceptual metaphor theory (CMT) by Lakoff and Johnson (1980), metaphor is now regarded as an inseparable part of human cognition and discourse. This enables the examination of scientific texts within the framework of conceptual metaphors. The article aims at: (a) identifying conceptual metaphors and their subtypes in soft sciences, more specifically, in history discourse; (b)determining their functions and value for the language of history. The findings showcased how extensively metaphors are used in scientific language despite analysing only a small number of concepts. As a result of the study, the majority of metaphors described belong to structural and ontological subtypes, including the examples of ontological personification. Relatively few orientational metaphorswere found as well.