Report on GEF Project

A Corpus-based Analysis of VACCINATION Metaphors

in China Daily and Hong Kong Free Press

Janice Leung

Maryknoll Convent School

Mentor: Dr. Winnie Zeng

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

1. Introduction

1.1 Background

In July of 2021, about one and a half years after the initial COVID-19 outbreak in 2021, the

first batches of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines finished development and were released in

several countries, including but not limited to China, the United States of America, and the

United Kingdom of Britain.

These vaccines were not a be-all-solve-all, however, and short supply of vaccines as

well as complications within the vaccines themselves sparked political tension between major

countries, notably between China and the United States. Many countries competed for the

limited vaccine doses available, and the loosening of social distancing rules as a result only

started another wave of infections, worsening the issue.

This report is a qualitative-based analysis of articles published by two major news

sources- China Daily and Hong Kong Free Press –in Hong Kong, and how the usage of
metaphors reflects the writers’ intentions on delivering the vaccination issues in the news in

question.

1.2 Research objective 

Our aim for this analysis is to compare the patterns of VACCINATION metaphors used

between the two news sources China Daily and Hong Kong Free Press, as well as derive the

writers’ views from their usage of metaphors. 

1.3 Research questions

1) What are the differences in VACCINATION metaphors used between China Daily

and Hong Kong Free Press?

2) What are the differences in the source domains of VACCINATION metaphors

used between China Daily and Hong Kong Free Press?

3) How do the differences in VACCINATION metaphors found reflect the views of

news writers between China Daily and Hong Kong Free Press?

2. Literature review

Conceptual Metaphor Theory (Lakoff, 1993; Lakoff and Johnson, 1980) considers metaphors

as cross-domain mappings between a source (e.g., WAR) and a target domain (e.g.,

VACCINATION). Metaphorical frames have the ability to linguistically present (framing

device) and conceptually reason about (reasoning device) societal issues (Burgers et al.,

2016).

Linguistically speaking, a metaphor is a figure of speech where a simpler concept is

used to represent a more abstract concept. Words used as metaphors are chosen by source
domain; metaphors liken the abstract concept in a sentence to a more simple concept. Below

is an example: 

The final exam is always a struggle.

SOURCE DOMAIN: WAR (the word ‘struggle’)

therefore, in this metaphor, FINAL EXAM = WAR

More often than not, the source domain attributed to the subject is indicative of the writer of

speaker’s views on the subject. A hostile source domain (eg: DEATH, WAR) might imply an

author’s negative views on a certain topic or subject, or that their interpretation of an event

relates it to a show of violence. Metaphors can also be used to personify abstract concepts, in

order to make them easier to understand and dissect. In the case above: 

The final exam is always a struggle.

In this metaphor, FINAL EXAM = WAR, indicative of writer’s fear or aversion to the final

exam and the hardships attributed to it. In this study, we will use the word filtering software

AntConc, made by Laurence Anthony, to locate concordances. A few outstanding

occurrences will be studied qualitatively. 

3. Methodology

3.1 Corpus Building

The first thing we did during our research process was gather info for a corpus. A corpus, by

definition, is a finite pool of data with which researchers can study and derive observations

and conclusions from. That meant the first few weeks of our project were spent entirely on

copy-and-pasting news articles from news websites onto Word documents.

Unfortunately for us, one of the websites we initially chose was far too inefficient for

data gathering as it did not have any filters- or a search engine, for that matter. If we wanted

some old news we would have to scroll all the way down to the end of the page, which would

take too long. So, we were forced to change the news website and start all over again. 

Due to this, as well as time constraints, the number of news articles we found for the

two websites were not proportional, so for this research project we just decided to compare

the percentage/ratio of concordances instead of the exact number. 

This resulted in a very small sample size of metaphor concordances overall. However, our

research had a qualitative focus, so this was not too big of an issue. 

Table 1. Respective Corpus Sizes 

News Source Number of Articles Word Count Time Frame

HKFP 32  14449 2021-07-01 to 2021-08-02

China Daily  41 19182 2021-07-18 to 2021-08-31

As seen in the above table, the word count for China Daily is substantially larger than that of

Hong Kong Free Press. Hence we will use the Normalized Ratios of our findings for

comparisons. 
3.2 Metaphor and source domain identification

After compiling the corpus, we first sought to extract relevant instances in the target domain

of VACCINATION. We searched all lemmas of VACCINATION in the corpus, including

vaccine, vaccines, vaccination, vaccinations, vaccinate, vaccinated, vaccinating, and

obtained their concordances.

Second, we conducted metaphor analysis following Metaphor Identification

Procedure proposed in Praggelaz Group (2007).

Third, we further identified different source domains for VACCINATION metaphors

following the ‘Source domain verification approach” proposed in Ahrens and Jiang (2019).

4. Results

4.1 Comparison on metaphor frequencies between Hong Kong Free Press and China

Daily

Out of the 266 total concordances of ‘vaccine’ we found in the corpus, there were 22

metaphor instances. Below is a table containing all the metaphor concordances and their

corresponding number of appearances. 

Table 2. Frequencies of Metaphors between Hong Kong Free Press and China Daily 

News Source Metaphor Instances Word Count Normalized Ratio (per

10,000)

HKFP 8  14449 5.54

China Daily  14  19182 7.30

According to the table above, we can conclude that China Daily has a larger proportion of

metaphor instances per the word count.  

4.2 Comparison on source domain frequencies between Hong Kong Free Press and

China Daily

Table 3. Frequencies of Different Source Domains between Hong Kong Free Press and China

Daily (33631)

Metaphor Source Normalized Normalized Ratio Normalized

Domain  Ratio  (HKFP) Ratio

(Total) (China Daily)

WAR 2.08 0.59 1.49

SPACE 0.59 0 0.59

BUILDING 1.19 0.89 0.30

JOURNEY 0.59 0 0.59

PERSON 1.49 0 1.49

MOVIE 0.30 0 0.30

5. Discussion

Below is a qualitative analysis of four prominent examples of metaphor found in the articles

within the corpus. 

5.1 Examples from China Daily

Metaphor Domain: WAR, JOURNEY 

Extract (1): 

"We don't have a full population with two doses of vaccine. So there's still some progress to

be made on the vaccination front itself. There's also the fact that the vaccines are never 100

percent effective," he said, adding that there's still a potential for variants to emerge that may

reduce the efficacy of the vaccines further. (Source: China Daily 2021-07-20 'UK virologist

urges caution as COVID-19 restrictions eased on 'Freedom Day')

Within the article, the writer debates the ethical and practical aspects of England’s restriction

lift near the end of July. Alongside this restriction lift comes a vaccination program, which is

supposed to contribute to the restriction lift, as more vaccinated people would theoretically

lower the chances of anyone getting infected and spreading the disease. Naturally, as the title

of the article suggests, virologists and scientists alike who have looked into the vaccine are

doubtful of the viability of the vaccination program, stating that ‘there is that risk (of

infections rising as restrictions are eased)’, and that ‘the easing of restrictions is always a

judgment, which might be proved wrong’. 

As seen in this extract, the vaccination program is presented as a ‘front’, a word

commonly used to describe the battlefield region within a war (eg. the Eastern and Western

Fronts in WW1). This is to be expected- WAR is the most common source domain across all

the metaphor instances. The hostility of the source domain serves to emphasize the difficulty

of the situation- even though England’s population is gradually getting vaccinated to facilitate

the restriction lift, there is no guarantee the spread of infection will stop. 

However, the presence of the other metaphor in the JOURNEY source domain, which

states that there is ‘progress to be made’ on the vaccination front, shows that the virologists’
views on the vaccine are not totally pessimistic- given enough time, a better vaccination plan,

or a better vaccine altogether, might be developed to solve the problem. 

Given the largely discouraging nature of the article on the subject of restriction lifts and lack

of vaccine stability, though, there is more than enough evidence to conclude that this article

looks at the vaccine program in a negative light. 

Extract (2): 

Metaphor Domain: WAR

People started dying. The World Health Organization sprang into action and sought to give

leadership in the world. At first the question was how this condition should be treated. Many

drugs were tried and many were also discarded. Fear and frustration stalked all lands. A big

effort began in many countries to develop a vaccine to protect the masses. (Source: China

Daily 2021-08-30 'US is making virus a global political football’)

This example is far more blatant than the one above. The article in question aims to give

commentary on the actions of the United States in response to the COVID-19 outbreak,

namely the split between the nation’s scientific and political standpoints. According to the

article, the scientists ‘urged that immediate preparations be made to deal with the outbreak’,

while Trump and his administration believed ‘the US was the most powerful country in the

world and it would be able to wipe out the virus in no time’, which interfered with the

country’s plans to take preparatory measures. 

The need to ‘protect the masses’ from the virus with the vaccine is a noteworthy

example; the masses are vulnerable to COVID and may die if they get infected, therefore

necessitating a means of prevention. The word ‘protect’ is used in a way that paints the

vaccines in a positive light. 

 Unlike the article in Section 3.3.1, this writer is committed to delivering the virus’

arrival and the US’ response as a negative show of the country’s incompetence in the

matter. We can derive from this that the writer from China Daily has a more bipolar and

pessimistic view of the event, and it may also suggest that this writer is willing to take sides

to scrutinize the party responsible.

5.2 Examples from Hong Kong Free Press

Metaphor Source Domain: WAR

Extract (3): 

Taiwanese tech giants Foxconn and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company

announced Monday they will each donate five million coronavirus vaccine doses to the

government in a deal with a China-based distributor.

Taipei has been struggling to secure enough vaccines for its population, and its precarious

political status has been a major stumbling block. (Source: HKFP 2021-07-12 'Tech giants to

donate Covid vaccines to Taiwan in China workaround’)

Extract (3) describes the declaration that Foxconn and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing

Company are donating vaccine doses to the Taiwanese government, in an attempt to combat

Taipei’s vaccine shortage and its impending conflict with Beijing. 

The use of the word ‘struggle’ to describe Taipei’s vaccine shortage implies a sense of

urgency and desperation, which is a reference to the political conflict between Taipei and

Beijing caused by this vaccine shortage. It carries an implication that vaccine supply is

limited, especially in heavily affected areas like those in China. 

The article goes into detail about how disadvantaged Taiwan is, given its political volatility in

proximity to China, and the Chinese government’s lack of support for Taiwan. The metaphor

source domain, WAR, is comparable to the situation at hand. 

Given the vivid description of Taiwan’s alleged disadvantages, the writer seems to be

supportive of Taiwan in this scenario, unlike the scrutinizing view of the US in case 3.3.2. 

We can start to see a pattern following this extract; the writers of HKFP generally deliver

news in a more passive voice, and are generally more optimistic than that of China Daily.

Metaphor Source Domain: WAR

Extract (4): 

“Concerning the risk of Delta, if it is really so infectious and transmissible, it is really hard to

prevent its import and transmission in the local community,” Chuang said, referring to the

difficulty in containing the mutant strain in other countries, including in mainland China.

“The best strategy is still vaccination, especially since we have quite effective vaccines at the

moment.” (Source: HKFP 2021-07-03 'Covid-19: Hong Kong quarantine hotel cleaner

infected with mutant strain, as 700 students receive jabs at school’ )

Extract (4) covers a specific case of infection within Hong Kong, namely the infection of a

quarantine hotel cleaner, whose case is debated as some believe the positive test result was

caused by dormant virus particles instead of active ones. Meanwhile, over 700 students,

parents and teachers are vaccinated on school campuses every day, despite the recent

controversies surrounding the vaccination program in Hong Kong. 

The vaccination program is presented as a ‘strategy’ to counteract this risk, a usage of

WAR metaphor typical of the polarizing attitude many governments have pushed in order to

promote preventive measures. 

As a contrast with case 3.3.1, the writer is in agreement with the speaker interviewed- that

vaccination is crucial for the prevention of COVID. The inclusion of this quote, which is

taken directly from a public interview, further cements the theory that the writers in China

Daily write in a more active voice, in contrast to those in Hong Kong Free Press who do not.

5.3 Comparisons on the discussion between the two newspapers

As seen in the case studies above, China Daily followed the trend of using WAR metaphors

to describe the vaccination program. The inclusion of more diverse, ‘personal’ metaphors (in

Extract 1) as well as hyperboles and dramatics (extract 2) shows that China Daily’s writers

chose to be selective in their choice of presentation in the matter in order to indirectly

vocalize their beliefs through metaphor usage.

In contrast, the articles written by Hong Kong Free Press employ heavy emphasis on

facts and data (usage of statistics in Extract 3) as well as public opinion (interview in Extract

4) are indicative of a more passive voice, where the writers are more focused on summarizing

and presenting the situation by itself with minimal input from their personal views.

6. Conclusions 

This study revealed that China Daily used more VACCINATION metaphors per the

normalized ratio. The most common source domain for the metaphors was WAR, and the

views of writers from China Daily were far more vocal about their viewpoints than that of

Hong Kong Free Press.

The research project went pretty smoothly. Delays due to my busy school life aside,

we managed to finish a large portion of the project on time. This project has been a highly

educational experience for me. I have always been interested in psycholinguistics, especially
on the dissonance between what someone says and what they actually mean. Metaphors cover

exactly that- what objects certain topics or things are likened to in a piece of media or

someone’s words, directly reflect the speaker’s views on that topic. This is what we are trying

to do in this research project, and I think the skills taught to me by my mentor have helped

me significantly in understanding metaphors and how they work. Perhaps if I decide to take

on Linguistics as a subject in the future, I will have a head start thanks to this course, and

even if I decide not to pursue it, this course has introduced me to many analytical and data-

gathering skills that will be just as vital to my future academic career. 

References

Ahrens, K., & Jiang, M. (2020). Source domain verification using corpus-based

tools. Metaphor and Symbol, 35(1), 43-55.

Burgers, C., Konijn, E. A., & Steen, G. J. (2016). Figurative framing: Shaping public

discourse through metaphor, hyperbole, and irony. Communication theory, 26(4),

410-430.

Lakoff, G. (1993). The contemporary theory of metaphor. In A. Ortony (Ed.), Metaphor and

thought (2nd ed.) (pp. 202–250). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

Lakoff, G., & Johnson, M. (1980/2003). Metaphors we live by. Chicago, IL: University of

Chicago Press.

Pragglejaz Group, P. (2007). MIP: A method for identifying metaphorically used words in

discourse. Metaphor and symbol, 22(1), 1-39.