Abstract

The aim of the present paper is a presentation of the semantic description of the chosen metaphors in German public discourse in environmental issues and energy policy. The theoretical background of the semantic description is marked by the blending theory (developed by G. Fauconnier, M. Turner) and by the model of the frame semantics (A. Ziem). The semantic aspect of the analysis is focused on the exploring of an evaluative component, in the semantic structure of the metaphorical expression, which profiles the metaphorical frame, positively or negatively. The question of the location of the evaluative component in the semantic structure of the metaphor is a criterion for a differentiation of tree types of metaphors. The final results of the semantic description will be a portraying of the emergent meaning as a phenomenon of the conceptual integration, of a dynamic process depending not only on the given discourse, but also on other discourses. The emergent meaning and the semantic potential of the metaphors then build a basis for the pragmatic interpretation of their communicative functions in the particular discourse.