Conceptual Metaphors in Facebook Eulogy Posts of COVID-19 Bereaved Filipinos

Lourd Greggory Crisol

doi:10.52751/cmujs.2025.v29.i2.yjkvqc85

Authors

Lourd Greggory Crisol Mindanao State University- Iligan Institute of Technology Author

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.52751/cmujs.2025.v29.i2.yjkvqc85

Keywords:

COVID-19, Cognitive Linguistics, Filipino Spirituality, Conceptual Metaphor

Abstract

This study was crafted to explore how bereaved Filipino families articulated their experiences during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic through Facebook posts. It employed the conceptual metaphor theory by Johnson and Lakoff (1980) which sheds light on how people process thoughts and organize their worlds through language. In analyzing the data, content analysis was used to examine the metaphors in 42 Facebook posts of bereaved family members due to COVID-19 and to further systematize this process, methods of Critical Metaphor Analysis were used. These Facebook posts, which are dated 2020-2021, were collected though screenshots for the duration of one month. In the analysis of data, 15 categories of conceptual metaphors were identified. These metaphors reflected the resiliency, positivity, and religiosity of those who made the posts. This means that they chose to see the good amidst the grief they experienced. It was concluded that the use of conceptual metaphor analysis is effective in providing people with a better understanding of Filipino society and culture, and how they dealt with the loss of family during the height of the pandemic. It is recommended that other linguistic analysis be done on this corpus for better understanding of the phenomenon.

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