Rock bottoms, juggling balls and coalprints
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Fiona MacArthur
Abstract
In comparison with the interest shown in the difficulties second language (L2) speakers have in understanding English metaphors, very little attention has been paid to examining the metaphors they actually produce, particularly in the oral mode. In this chapter I examine the metaphors used by L2 speakers in face-to-face interaction with native (L1) speakers or with other L2 speakers, using data from three different sources: the Vienna-Oxford Corpus of International English (VOICE), the European Corpus of Academic Talk (EuroCoAT), as well as smaller databases compiled in the course of other research. I consider the following aspects of metaphor production in L2 conversation: its frequency, its general characteristics, its conventionality, and some of the factors that prompt its use in discourse.
Abstract
In comparison with the interest shown in the difficulties second language (L2) speakers have in understanding English metaphors, very little attention has been paid to examining the metaphors they actually produce, particularly in the oral mode. In this chapter I examine the metaphors used by L2 speakers in face-to-face interaction with native (L1) speakers or with other L2 speakers, using data from three different sources: the Vienna-Oxford Corpus of International English (VOICE), the European Corpus of Academic Talk (EuroCoAT), as well as smaller databases compiled in the course of other research. I consider the following aspects of metaphor production in L2 conversation: its frequency, its general characteristics, its conventionality, and some of the factors that prompt its use in discourse.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Preface vii
- Introduction 1
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Section 1. General empirical studies, with main focus on metaphor
- Producing metaphor (and other forms of non-literal language) in the laboratory 37
- Metaphor and one-off pictures 55
- Metaphor production and metaphor interpretation 85
- On the role of perceptual similarity in producing visual metaphors 105
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Section 2. General empirical studies – other
- On why people don’t say what they mean 129
- How nice does it sound? 175
- How defaultness shapes our language production 211
- Producing figurative meanings 237
- The production of verbal irony 263
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Section 3. Empirical and analytical studies aimed at specific applications
- Generating metaphors in product design 299
- Rock bottoms, juggling balls and coalprints 331
- Figurative production in a computer-mediated discussion forum 363
- The production of time-related metaphors by people who have experienced pregnancy loss 389
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Section 4. Other theoretical analysis and cognitive or computational modelling
- Metaphor generation through context sensitive distributional semantics 421
- Mind the gap 449
- Figurative language 469
- Metaphor as sign and as symbol 511
- Topic Index 533
- Author Index 543
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Preface vii
- Introduction 1
-
Section 1. General empirical studies, with main focus on metaphor
- Producing metaphor (and other forms of non-literal language) in the laboratory 37
- Metaphor and one-off pictures 55
- Metaphor production and metaphor interpretation 85
- On the role of perceptual similarity in producing visual metaphors 105
-
Section 2. General empirical studies – other
- On why people don’t say what they mean 129
- How nice does it sound? 175
- How defaultness shapes our language production 211
- Producing figurative meanings 237
- The production of verbal irony 263
-
Section 3. Empirical and analytical studies aimed at specific applications
- Generating metaphors in product design 299
- Rock bottoms, juggling balls and coalprints 331
- Figurative production in a computer-mediated discussion forum 363
- The production of time-related metaphors by people who have experienced pregnancy loss 389
-
Section 4. Other theoretical analysis and cognitive or computational modelling
- Metaphor generation through context sensitive distributional semantics 421
- Mind the gap 449
- Figurative language 469
- Metaphor as sign and as symbol 511
- Topic Index 533
- Author Index 543
