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Review of Cognitive Linguistics: Online-First Articles

A look at, inside, and outside metaphors

The multitudinal interactions of metaphorical meaning

| University of Alberta

How metaphors are comprehended and their pragmatic effects have long been of interest (Colston, 2019; Gibbs, 2017; Gibbs & Colston, 2012). Attending to the varied constructions where metaphors appear has also advanced our understanding (Athanasiadou, 2017). How metaphors in extra-linguistic mediums has been of particular interest of late, as have the import of embodied simulations (Bergen, 2012; Cienki & Muller, 2008; Forceville & Urios-Aparisi, 2009). But these explorations outside of language and inside the body have left some bits relatively unattended. Metaphors and their host constructions can be embedded into an array of language genres. These also bring their own idiosyncratic influences on metaphor cognition. Moreover, the target domain content that metaphors invoke adds to this complex mixture. And metaphors can be layered within metaphors. This paper presents a tour of just some of the immense fractalesque complexity invoked when we look at the full richness of metaphorical meaning.

Keywords: metaphor, constructions, language genre, meaning, pragmatic effects
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Metaphor within metaphor – The case of picture poems
  • 3.External and internal characteristics of linguistic metaphors, shown in, Guitar Riff
    • Conjoined antonymy
    • Echo
    • Bridging
    • Pre-use signaling
    • Modification
    • Alliteration
  • 4.External and internal meaning influences, beyond the included poem
    • Sophistication
    • Imagery
    • Discourse patterns
  • 5.Language genres
  • 6.Target domains
  • 7.Interactions
  • 8.Conclusion
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 25 June 2024
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https://doi.org/10.1075/rcl.00189.col
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