Elsevier

Journal of Pragmatics

Volume 40, Issue 11, November 2008, Pages 1823-1864
Journal of Pragmatics

Complementary perspectives on metaphor: Cognitive linguistics and relevance theory

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2008.02.001Get rights and content

Abstract

Contemporary theories of metaphor differ in many dimensions, including the discipline they originate from (e.g., linguistics, psychology, philosophy), and whether they are developed primarily within a cognitive or pragmatic theoretical framework. This article evaluates two directions of metaphor research within linguistics, cognitive linguistics and relevance theory, which both aim to capture essential aspects of the reason for metaphor, and how people ordinarily use and understand metaphor in daily life. We argue, contrary to most received opinion, that cognitive linguistics and relevance theory provide complementary perspectives on metaphor. Both theories offer important insights into the role of metaphor in cognition and language use, and suggest detailed hypotheses on metaphor understanding that surely are part of a comprehensive theory of metaphor.

Section snippets

Markus Tendahl is lecturer in English Linguistics at the University of Dortmund, Germany. In his PhD dissertation A Hybrid theory of Metaphor: Relevance Theory and Cognitive Linguistics he has suggested a comprehensive cognitive theory of metaphor. His research interests include figurative language, cognitive linguistics and pragmatics.

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    Markus Tendahl is lecturer in English Linguistics at the University of Dortmund, Germany. In his PhD dissertation A Hybrid theory of Metaphor: Relevance Theory and Cognitive Linguistics he has suggested a comprehensive cognitive theory of metaphor. His research interests include figurative language, cognitive linguistics and pragmatics.

    Raymond W. Gibbs, Jr. is Professor of Psychology at the University of California, Santa Cruz. He is author of The Poetics of Mind: Figurative Thought, Language, and Understanding (1994), Intentions in the Experience of Meaning (1999), and Embodiment and Cognitive Science (2006). He is co-editor with Gerard Steen of Metaphor in Cognitive Linguistics (1999), with Herbert Colston of Irony in Language and Thought: A Cognitive Science Reader (2007), and editor of the journal Metaphor and Symbol. His research interests include psycholinguistics, figurative language, and pragmatics.

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