Abstract

Religious language relies on shared metaphor and frames that contextualize religious experience and practice. Current approaches to frame semantics (Fillmore 1982) and cognitive metaphor (Lakoff & Johnson 1980) lend important insight into religious language, particularly in describing the role that figurative language serves in a religious speech community. However, a vital component of many religious speech communities is the presence of and engagement with a scriptural canon, which often contains metaphorical and framing language that religious speakers can directly reference. Yet, past conceptualizations of speech communities have not accounted for this engagement with a shared canon. To illustrate the role that a canon serves in a religious speech community, and to examine the ways that religious speakers engage with it, this thesis introduces the concept of canonical framings, which are the metaphors and semantic frames that are expressed in a canon. By searching for all instances of speakers in a corpus who cite specific passages of that canon, it can be demonstrated how speakers agree with, innovate on, or even challenge the framings contained within the canon. These variations can be compared across speakers and over time, suggesting diachronic trends that relate to shifts in the discourse of that religious speech community. This thesis utilizes canonical framings to analyze the speeches given in sessions of General Conference, a semi-annual conference held by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, with respect to two of the Church's religious practices: the payment of tithing and the adherence to a code of health (called the Word of Wisdom). This thesis exemplifies a number of strategies that speakers use to innovate on the canonical framings that relate to these practices, and considers potential shifts in rhetorical focus on the punitive vs. beneficial results of compliance with each practice.

Degree

MA

College and Department

Humanities; Linguistics

Rights

https://lib.byu.edu/about/copyright/

Date Submitted

2026-08-12

Document Type

Thesis

Keywords

religious language, frame semantics, cognitive metaphor theory, audience design, diachronic comparison, Latter-day Saint, Mormon, General Conference, word of wisdom, tithing

Language

english

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