Article published In:
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
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/rcl.00189.col
References (48)
References
Athanasiadou, A. (Ed.) (2017). Studies in figurative thought and language. Amsterdam & Philadelphia: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Baumeister, R. F., & Leary, M. R. (1995). The need to belong: Desire for interpersonal attachments as a fundamental human motivation. Psychological Bulletin, 117 (3), 497. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Bergen, B. K. (2012). Louder than words: The new science of how the mind makes meaning. New York: Basic Books.Google Scholar
Black, E. (2006). Pragmatic Stylistics. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.Google Scholar
Cameron, L. J., & Stelma, J. H. (2007). Metaphor clusters in discourse. Journal of Applied Linguistics and Professional Practice, 1 (2), 107–136. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Cienki, A., & Muller, C. (Eds.). (2008). Metaphor and gesture. Amsterdam & Philadelphia: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Colston, H. L. (1997). Salting a wound or sugaring a pill: The pragmatic functions of ironic criticism. Discourse Processes, 23 1, 25–45. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2015). Using figurative language. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2019). How language makes meaning: Embodiment and conjoined antonymy. New York: Cambridge University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2020). Guitar Riff. Unpublished poem.Google Scholar
(2020, June). Master of your domain: Metaphorical and figurative creativity in managing social status. Paper presented at the meeting of Researching and Applying Metaphor 13 (RaAM-13), Virtual.
(2021a). Evaluating metaphor accounts via their pragmatic effects. In A. Soares da Silva (Guest Ed.), A. Athanasiadou & H. Colston (Eds.), Figurative language: Intersubjectivity and usage (pp. 75–108). [Figurative thought and language 11]. Amsterdam & Philadelphia: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2021b). Humor and figurative language: Good for a laugh, and more. In M. Strick & T. E. Ford (Eds.), The social psychology of humor (92–107). Oxon, UK: Routledge. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2023). The roots of metaphor: The essence of thought. Frontiers in Psychology, 14 1, 1–11. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Colston, H. L., & Rasse, C. (2022). Figurativity: Cognitive, because it’s social. In H. Colston, G. Steen & T. Matlock (Eds.), Dynamism in metaphor and beyond (pp. 243–264). Amsterdam & Philadelphia: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Colston, H. L., Rasse, C., & Bohach, M. (2023, June). Metaphorical alignment via public discourse: Cognitive and social contributions. Poster presentation at the meeting of Researching and Applying Metaphor (RaAM), Alcala, Spain.
Corts, D. P., & Meyers, K. (2002). Conceptual clusters in figurative language production. Journal of Psycholinguistic Research, 31 1, 391–408. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Dancygier, B. (2022). Experiential viewpoint, simile, and dynamicity in discourse. In H. Colston, G. Steen & T. Matlock (Eds.), Dynamism in metaphor and beyond (pp. 205–222). Amsterdam & Philadelphia: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Dunbar, R. (1998). The social brain hypothesis. Evolutionary Anthropology, 6 1, 178–190. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Eisenberger, N. I., Lieberman, M. D., & Williams, K. D. (2003). Does rejection hurt? An fMRI study of social exclusion. Science, 302 1, 290–292. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Eisenberger, N. I. (2012). The pain of social disconnection: Examining the shared neural underpinnings of physical and social pain. Nature Reviews, Neuroscience, 13 (6), 421–434. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Eisenberger, N. I., & Cole, S. W. (2012). Social neuroscience and health: Neuropsychological mechanisms linking social ties with physical health. Nature Neuroscience, 15 1, 669–674. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Evans, V., Bergen, B., & Zinken, J. (2007). The cognitive linguistics enterprise: An overview. In V. Evans, B. Bergen, & J. Zinken (Eds.), The cognitive linguistics reader (pp. 2–36). [Advances in cognitive linguistics]. London & Oakville: Equinox.Google Scholar
Fauconnier, G., & Turner, M. (2002). The way we think: Conceptual blending and the mind’s hidden complexities. New York: Basic Books.Google Scholar
Fish, S. (1980). Is there a text in this class? The authority of interpretive communities. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Forceville, C. J., & Urios-Aparisi, E. (Eds.). (2009). Multimodal metaphor. Berlin: de Gruyter. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Geeraerts, D. (2001). The definitional practice of dictionaries and the Cognitive Semantic conception of polysemy. Lexicographica, 17 1, 6–21.Google Scholar
Gerrig, R., & Shawver, Z. (2022). Narrative experience of metaphor. In H. Colston, G. Steen & T. Matlock (Eds.), Dynamism in metaphor and beyond (pp. 45–62). Amsterdam & Philadelphia: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Gibbs, R. W. (2005). Embodiment and cognitive science. New York: Cambridge University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2017). Metaphor wars: Conceptual metaphor in human life. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
(Ed.). (2016). Mixing metaphor. Amsterdam & Philadelphia: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Gibbs, R. W., & Colston, H. L. (2012). Interpreting figurative meaning. New York: Cambridge University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Kimmel, M. (2009). Why we mix metaphors (and mix them well): Discourse coherence, conceptual metaphor, and beyond. Journal of Pragmatics, 42 (1), 97–115. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Kovescses, Z. (2015). Where metaphors come from: Reconsidering metaphor in context. New York: Oxford University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2017). Levels of metaphor. Cognitive Linguistics, 28(2), 321–347. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Lakoff, G., & Johnson, M. (1980). Metaphors we live by. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Lieberman, M. D. (2013). Social: Why our brains are wired to connect. New York: Broadway Books.Google Scholar
Lieberman, M. D., & Eisenberger, N. I. (2009). Pains and pleasures of social life. Science, 323 1, 890–891. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Paradis, C. (2003). Is the notion of linguistic competence relevant in Cognitive Linguistics? Annual Review of Cognitive Linguistics, 1 (1), 207–231. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Rasse, C. (2022). Poetic metaphor: Creativity and interpretation. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Reid, R., Al-Azary, H., & Katz, A. N. (2023). Cognitive factors related to metaphor goodness in poetic and non-literary metaphor. Metaphor and Symbol, 38 ( 2 ), 130–148. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Steen, G. (2017). Deliberate metaphor theory: Basic assumptions, main tenets, urgent issues. Intercultural Pragmatics, 14 (1), 1–24. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Stravynski, A., & Boyer, R. (2001). Loneliness in relation to suicide ideation and parasuicide: A population-wide study. Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior, 31 (1), 32–40. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Sullivan, K. (2013). Frames and constructions in metaphoric language. Amsterdam & Philadelphia: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2016). Integrating constructional semantics and conceptual metaphor. Constructions and Frames, 8 ( 2 ), 141–165. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Turner, M., & Fauconnier, G. (1995). Conceptual integration and formal expression. Metaphor and Symbolic Activity, 10 (3) 183–204. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Williams, K. D. (2001). Ostracism: The power of silence. New York: The Guilford Press.Google Scholar
Wilson, D., & Sperber, D. (2012). Meaning and relevance. New York: Cambridge University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar