What do you mean Susan is a wild rose? The interplay of image schemas, linguistic metaphors and context

Abstract

Linguistic metaphors are often idiosyncratic occurrences in language and their interpretation depends heavily on the context. However, sometimes frequent use or established mappings between certain domains (in cognitive-linguistic terms) can lead to unified interpretation of metaphoric expressions. In this paper we are aiming to examine the interpretation of certain linguistic metaphors in terms of context dependency and relatedness to conceptual metaphors. Namely, metaphoric expression Susan is a wild rose can be considered as linguistic concretization of conceptual metaphor WOMEN ARE FLOWERS. Nevertheless, our analysis points to the greater importance of context in interpretation of metaphoric expressions. Theoretical framework is explicature analysis (within the framework of Relevance theory), which is presently prevalent in pragmatic theory. The paper also tackles the issue of deliberate metaphors, since the Deliberate Metaphor Theory introduces the third dimension to the metaphor treatment – communication, and consequently the importance of context. Finally, we will briefly present the possibility of an alternative approach to metaphoric expressions within Relevance theory framework and suggest a possible parallels it might have with the Deliberate Metaphor Theory.