Metáforas de fenómenos naturales y prosodia semántica en la cobertura mediática española del Brexit

Ismael Ramos Ruiz; Álvaro Ramos Ruiz

doi:10.4185/rlcs-2026-2697

Authors

Ismael Ramos Ruiz Université Paris Cité https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5661-0460
Álvaro Ramos Ruiz Universidad Loyola Andalucía https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9101-2642

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.4185/rlcs-2026-2697

Keywords:

Conceptual metaphor, natural-phenomena metaphors, semantic prosody, media discourse, Spanish press, Brexit, corpus linguistics

Abstract

Introduction: This study examines the use of natural-phenomena metaphors and their evaluative orientation, understood in terms of semantic prosody, in Spanish press coverage of Brexit. Drawing on Conceptual Metaphor Theory and research on semantic prosody, it explores how a complex political and economic process was discursively reframed through more accessible and experientially grounded representations in mainstream media discourse. Methodology: The analysis is based on a corpus of 9,035 newspaper texts published between 24 June 2016 and 31 January 2020 in four leading Spanish digital newspapers, El País, El Mundo, La Vanguardia, and ABC, compiled from the Factiva® database. The study adopts a combined quantitative and qualitative lexico-semantic approach. Metaphorical uses were identified using a predefined list of terms associated with natural phenomena and organised into five conceptual domains. This identification process followed a semi-automatic procedure based on the MIP method and was complemented by systematic manual revision. Results: The findings reveal a clear predominance of hydrological and atmospheric metaphors, together with a secondary presence of biological and geological metaphors. Across the four newspapers analysed, these metaphorical patterns display a predominantly negative semantic prosody. Discussion: This configuration constructs Brexit as a process associated with instability, disruption, and crisis, with only limited variation across newspapers, suggesting the circulation of shared interpretive frames in the Spanish mainstream press. Conclusions: Natural-phenomena metaphors operate as cognitive and discursive devices that contribute to naturalising and dramatising Brexit, thereby reinforcing a predominantly adverse representation of the process in Spanish media discourse.

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Author Biographies

Ismael Ramos Ruiz, Université Paris Cité

Ismael Ramos Ruiz is a Maître de conférences (Associate Professor) in Spanish Linguistics and Translation at Université Paris Cité, affiliated with UFR EILA (Department of LEA) and a member of the research group CLILLAC-ARP (EA 3967). He holds a PhD from the University of Granada. His main research interests focus on media and economic discourse analysis, cognitive linguistics, conceptual metaphor, and semantic prosody, with particular attention to political and journalistic communication. He has participated in competitive national and international research projects and has published with well-established journals and publishers, including Peter Lang, Classiques Garnier, and Círculo de Lingüística Aplicada a la Comunicación.

Álvaro Ramos Ruiz, Universidad Loyola Andalucía

Álvaro Ramos Ruiz is an Adjunct Professor of Journalism at Universidad Loyola Andalucía, in the Department of Communication and Arts. He is a member of the research group Léxico y Discurso (HUM-265). He completed his doctoral thesis under an international co-supervision agreement between the University of Granada and Université Paris Cité. His main research interests focus on media discourse analysis, informational bias, semantic prosody, and corpus linguistics. He has participated in competitive national and international research projects and has published with well-established journals and publishers, including IRSS, CLAC, Peter Lang, and Tirant lo Blanch.

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