The Cross-Cultural Understanding of Metaphors in the Information Technology Sphere
The Cross-Cultural Understanding of Metaphors in the Information Technology Sphere

Summary/Abstract: This paper analyses recent changes in cross-cultural communication concerning metaphor use and its functioning on the Internet, specifically in the information technology sphere. The paper outlines the academic literature and proposes a study that aims to evaluate users’ perception of IT metaphors. The study analyses reports and articles for IT users. The articles were profiled according to country and language, with a detailed analysis of English and Ukrainian examples. The paper reviews the relation between IT metaphors and their cognition, introducing a new conceptualization “A Computer as a Human Being”. The research seeks to provide evidence for the claim that understanding metaphors facilitates cross-cultural communication, whether universal or culturally-bounded. The results show the growing scale of the creation of new metaphors due to cross-cultural communication, especially in the IT sphere, and the importance of the cognitive functions of metaphors in a culturally and linguistically diverse environment.

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