Abstract
The current paper investigates, through cognitive corpus-based discourse analysis, how meta-phors are used to communicate about the pandemic of Covid-19 in Arabic news discourse. Journalists were found to employ creative discourse practices to cognitively appeal to readers by maintaining the WAR metaphor frame but changing the weaponry and agents to compose 'sensational news headlines'. Verbs that reflect a systematic/organised way of using force and power to control the pandemic were rarely mentioned compared to verbs that evoke fear or suggest an aggressive use of force dynamics to defend oneself in a WAR or physical battling frame. It is recommended that journalists, when translating news from a foreign discourse, choose distancing strategies such as transforming metaphors into similes and take into ac-count spreading a language that gives confidence more than increasing fear and stress in such a difficult time of the pandemic.
Corresponding author
Fahad Ahmed Otaif
Associate Professor، قسم اللغة الإنجليزية، كلية اللغات والترجمة، جامعة الملك خالد، Roche Noire
About the Article
Article Type
Original Article
Language
English
Receive Date
16 Nov 2025
Review Date
05 Jan 2026
Accept Date
08 Jan 2026
Open Access
Yes
Copyright License
1658-8126/© 2026-للمؤلفين. نشرتها مجلة جامعة أم القرى لعلوم اللغات وآدابها، وهي مقالة مفتوحة الوصول وموزعة وفق شروط وأحكام/https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0Downloads Count
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Magazine Info
ISSN: 1658-8126