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Metaphor, hyperbole and simile: A pragmatic approach

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 March 2014

Robyn Carston  and
Catherine Wearing
Robyn Carston
Affiliation:
University College London Centre For The Study Of Mind In Nature, Oslo
Catherine Wearing*
Affiliation:
Wellesley College
*
Correspondence addresses: Robyn Carston, Linguistics, University College London, Chandler House, 2 Wakefield Street, London WC1N 1PF, UK. Email: [email protected].
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Abstract

According to recent work on lexical pragmatics within the relevance-theoretic framework, grasping the intended meaning of a metaphorically used word requires a process of adjusting the linguistically encoded concept to derive an ad hoc concept whose denotation is broader than that of the lexical concept. Metaphorical uses are claimed to be one kind of loose use of language, on a continuum with approximations, hyperboles and other kinds of meaning extension. The question addressed in this paper is whether this account fully captures the processes involved in understanding metaphors and the kinds of cognitive effects they have. We tackle this question by examining the similarities and differences between metaphors and hyperboles and between metaphors and similes. The upshot of our analyses is two proposals, both requiring further investigation: (a) that a distinction should be drawn between the kind of ad hoc concepts derived for hyperbolic and other loose uses, on the one hand, and metaphorical uses, on the other, and (b) that the understanding of some metaphorical uses, in particular extended and/or novel creative cases, is achieved by a different mode of processing altogether, one which gives much greater weight to the literal meaning.

Keywords

metaphorsimilehyperbolerelevance theoryloose usead hoc conceptliteral meaning
Type
Research Article
Information
Language and Cognition , Volume 3 , Issue 2 , June 2011 , pp. 283 - 312
Copyright
Copyright © UK Cognitive Linguistics Association 2011

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