Metaphorization of terms with color component in financial and economic discourse (based on the material of English, Russian and French press)

Abstract

The study is devoted to examine metaphorization as one of the ways of term formation. Metaphor is considered as the main means of linguistic expression of the concept, an integral attribute of professional discourse and one of the ways to create new terms. Metaphors make it easier to perceive the abstract due to their ability to explain a complex vague expression and make it more understandable and clear. The article focuses on metaphors with a color component, which are used as term components for the nomination of economic reality in the financial and economic discourse. The article analyzes three achromatic colors used as color terms: white, black, and gray, examines the specifics of using color metaphors on the example of economic texts published in English-language, Russian-language and French-language media, and concludes that this type of semantic term formation is productive. The article presents definitions of the studied color metaphorical terms and provides examples of their contextual use. Our analysis methodology includes the method of parallel research of metaphors and a definitive and comparative analysis of English, Russian and French color terms. A comparative analysis of the functioning of color terms-metaphors of the financial and economic terminology in three languages showed that the vast majority of metaphors are nominative metaphors. The study allowed us to confirm that the term system of financial and economic vocabulary is closely related to socio-economic reality in society, and the color-coded metaphor terms used in financial and economic discourse represent information in the form of a conceptual model, allowing people to clearly describe economic concepts and transmit information about real events in economic life.