Human Source Domain in Metaphorizing Corporate Terminology

This study attempts to apply the theory of conceptual metaphor to investigate the cognitive mechanism of metaphorisation in corporate terminology mapped from the human source domain. The corpus comprising 299 metaphorical corporate terms collected from business dictionaries, books and authentic business discourses was analysed with the Metaphor Identification Procedure Vrije Universiteit in this qualitative research. The study grouped the collected metaphorical terms into four metaphors, namely CORPORATE LIFE CYCLE IS HUMAN LIFE CYCLE, CORPORATE CHARACTERISTICS ARE HUMAN CHARACTERISTICS, CORPORATE ACTIVITIES ARE HUMAN ACTIVITIES, and CORPORATE RELATIONSHIPS ARE HUMAN RELATIONSHIPS. Numerous human attributes transfer to those of companies via detailed mappings: the progress or development of corporations corresponds to the natural growth of human beings; companies are identified as citizens; corporate personality is viewed as human personality; corporate strength is described as human physical strength; corporate competence is considered as human competence; corporate activities are understood by means of human activities; corporations are conceptualised as families; merger and acquisition are similar to a marriage, while divestitures are comprehended as divorces; the relationship between a company and its stakeholders is identified as human social relationships. The findings strengthen metaphorisation as a productive way of enriching specialised vocabulary.