A Comparative Study Of The Multimodal Metaphors In Huawei And Iphone Advertisements

With the publication of Gorge Lakoff and Mark Johnson’s monograph Metaphors We Live By,metaphor has been proved not only a rhetorical device but also a way of thinking and cognition that exists in our lives and affects us all the time.The study of metaphor has gradually expanded from verbal signs to non-verbal signs,such as images,sounds,music,etc.The study of metaphor in different modalities has also gradually developed from mono-modal to multimodal metaphor.As an important means of product promotion,advertisements aim to impress consumers and influence their decision making,advertisements usually contain rich metaphors,and the presentation and cooperation of various modalities,such as images,sounds,and words,all influence the effect of the metaphors in advertisements.To extend the study of multimodal metaphors in dynamic discourse,this paper makes a comparative analysis of the features,similarities,and differences of the multimodal metaphors in 22 pieces of HUAWEI and 24 pieces of i Phone advertisements based on conceptual metaphor theory,conceptual blending theory,and multimodal metaphor theory through a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods.The findings of the study are:（1）In both HUAWEI and i Phone advertisements,there are structural metaphors,ontological metaphors,and orientation metaphors,among which structural metaphors can be further subdivided into natural phenomenon metaphors,human activity metaphors,and life scene metaphors.Among them,the multimodal mapping in i Phone is more than that in HUAWEI.（2）In the process of metaphor construction,pictorial mode,sound mode,and written mode are all used in advertisements.In order to achieve better results of the advertisements,some certain mode will be added or omitted in the mapping process from the source domain to the target domain,so as to highlight the content of the source domain or the target domain,and help the audience to get a better understanding of the system function,appearance design and complex system of the products.（3）The metaphors in HUAWEI and i Phone have relatively distinct characteristics,as well as similarities and differences.The reasons for the differences derive from the difference in cultural background and the different views of the relationship between mankind and nature,and the fact that Westerners pursue individuality,while Chinese people pursue commonality.This study will further extend the interpretative scope of multimodal metaphors,and reaffirm the dialectical relationships between conceptual metaphor theory,conceptual blending theory as well as multimodal metaphor theory,and the metaphors in dynamic advertising discourse.Meanwhile,it provides a new theoretical perspective for the study of phone advertisements design.In addition,the study can also provide some reference for the study of metaphors in vocative texts,which has some academic and application value.