Understanding Figurative Language: From Metaphor to Idioms / Edition 1

by Sam Glucksberg

Overview

This book examines how people understand utterances that are intended figuratively. Traditionally, figurative language such as metaphors and idioms has been considered derivative from more complex than ostensibly straightforward literal language. Glucksberg argues that figurative language involves the same kinds of linguistic and pragmatic operations that are used for ordinary, literal language. Glucksberg's research in this book is concerned with ordinary language: expressions that are used in daily life, including conversations about everyday matters, newspaper and magazine articles, and the media. Metaphor is the major focus of the book. Idioms, however, are also treated comprehensively, as is the theory of conceptual metaphor in the context of how people understand both conventional and novel figurative expressions. A new theory of metaphor comprehension is put forward, and evaluated with respect to competing theories in linguistics and in psychology. The central tenet of the theory is that ordinary conversational metaphors are used to create new concepts and categories. This process is spontaneous and automatic. Metaphor is special only in the sense that these categories get their names from the best examples of the things they represent, and that these categories get their names from the best examples of those categories. Thus, the literal "shark" can be a metaphor for any vicious and predatory being, from unscrupulous salespeople to a murderous character in The Threepenny Opera. Because the same term, e.g.,"shark," is used both for its literal referent and for the metaphorical category, as in "My lawyer is a shark," we call it the dual-reference theory. The theory is then extended to two other domains: idioms and conceptual metaphors. The book presents the first comprehensive account of how people use and understand metaphors in everyday life.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780195111095
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	07/26/2001
Series:	Oxford Psychology Series , #36
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	144
Product dimensions:	9.48(w) x 6.10(h) x 0.65(d)
Lexile:	1340L (what's this?)

About the Author

Princeton University

Table of Contents

Preface1. Metaphor, the Central Trope2. Beyond the Literal3. Beyond Similarity4. Property Attribution5. Idioms: from Metaphor to Idiom and Back6. Concepts as Metaphors, Matthew S. McGloneReferencesIndex

Editorial Reviews

"A leader in the field of psycholinguistics, Glucksberg (psychology, Princeton Univ.) examines how people process and comprehend figurative language like metaphors and idioms....Suitable for graduate students and above, this book will interest cognitive scientists, psycholinguists, philosophers of language, and others working in the field of language."—CHOICE

From the Publisher

Glucksberg (psychology, Princeton U.) discusses and then challenges the rather disreputable theory that literal language is primary and central, asserts that metaphor involves property attribution (not comparison), and also involves "dual reference" where such expressions as "my job is a jail" refers not only to the literal jail, but a class of confining things. Glucksberg asserts that idioms vary so widely as to warrant a taxonomy and are examined to see why they cause such problems in language translation. The last chapter has guest author, Matthew McGlone, arguing against Lakoff and Johnson's idea that metaphors and idioms are not only linguistic, but conceptual categories. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

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