Publications
Publication details [#5918]
Hintikka, Jaakko and Gabriel Sandu. 1994. Metaphor and other kinds of nonliteral meaning. In Hintikka, Jaakko. Aspects of Metaphor (Synthese Library 238). Dordrecht: Kluwer. pp. 151–188. 38 pp.
Publication type
Article in book
Publication language
English
Keywords
Place, Publisher
Dordrecht: Kluwer
Abstract
Metaphor is an intriguing concept in the theory of lexical meaning. One-world analyses of metaphor are insufficient. Metaphorical expressions are ambiguous expressions. Metaphorical meaning is nonliteral meaning which utilizes meaning lines drawn by similarity. Metaphor is a vehicle of reference and not of truth. In every metaphorical use of language there is an element of comparison. The similarity it is based on can be of different kinds: qualitative, functional,... The paper deals with the following subjects: mixed metaphors, metaphor and truth and negative statements that are used metaphorically, metaphor and irony, metaphor and context-independence, metaphor as a creative use of language, metaphor and novelty, metaphorical analogy. The study is based on possible-worlds semantics (PWS).
(Sabine De Knop)