When UP Is Not Always Good: How Vietnamese Lên and Xuống Reflect Cultural Values

When Metaphor Hierarchies Interface with Cultural Values: Asymmetric Evaluations in Vietnamese Orientational Metaphors Lên and Xuống

Orientational metaphors are typically assumed to align UP with positive evaluation and DOWN with negative evaluation; however, Lakoff and Johnson’s priority architecture predicts that scalar mappings can override valence-based expectations when schemas compete. Yet evidence in underrepresented languages remains limited. This study analyzes Vietnamese lên (up) and xuống (down) in a genre-diverse corpus. The metaphor identification procedure (MIP) yielded 505 metaphorical tokens, consolidated into 202 realizations coded for mapping pattern (Patterns A–C) and connotative valence; interrater agreement was strong (κ = .82–.85). Scalar mappings (Pattern A) dominate both directionals, supporting scalar priority (MORE IS UP/LESS IS DOWN) over valence-based expectations: negative evaluation derives from target-domain construal rather than the directional schema. Pattern B (hierarchy/stance) concentrates in lên: Vietnamese norms of restraint and collective harmony yield 50% negatively evaluated UP expressions construed as arrogance or imposition. A theoretically coherent minority of positively evaluated DOWN realizations in xuống (16.3%; Pattern C) reflects a dual-motivation mechanism in which embodied scalar grounding intersects with cultural valorization of composure and spiritual renunciation. These findings demonstrate that cross-linguistic evaluative variation reflects cultural elaboration of evaluative force within universal priority hierarchies—not departures from embodied schemas—supporting Kövecses’s extended conceptual metaphor theory.