Metaphor and the Natural Semantic Metalanguage

This paper examines the account of metaphor developed within the Natural Semantic Metalanguage (NSM) framework. It is claimed by this view that metaphorical content is paraphraseable, and that the use of metaphor can be described via a cultural script. I explore the importance of paraphrasing metaph...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of pragmatics Vol. 41; no. 5; pp. 1017 - 1028
Main Author Wearing, Catherine
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Amsterdam Elsevier B.V 01.05.2009
Elsevier
Subjects
Descriptive studies and applied theories
Discourse Analysis
Linguistics
Metaphor
Metaphorical content
Metaphors
Natural Semantic Metalanguage
Paraphrase
Pragmatics
Semantics and pragmatics
Metaphorical content
Metaphor
Natural Semantic Metalanguage
Natural semantic metalanguage
Semantics
Pragmatics
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Summary:This paper examines the account of metaphor developed within the Natural Semantic Metalanguage (NSM) framework. It is claimed by this view that metaphorical content is paraphraseable, and that the use of metaphor can be described via a cultural script. I explore the importance of paraphrasing metaphors for the NSM approach, and argue that the prospects for successful paraphrases are less promising than has been claimed. I then show that the cultural script does not suffice to explain how metaphors work, and describe how the script must be supplemented to generate a more adequate explanation.
Bibliography:ObjectType-Article-1
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
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ISSN:0378-2166
1879-1387
DOI:10.1016/j.pragma.2009.01.004