Abstract
We present a formalism of metaphor that is based on a newly developed semantic interpretation of concept in the line of Montague’s type theory, and exposit the role that metaphoric expressions play in linking two concepts together. We argue that metaphors have to be understood intensionally. We show that a metaphoric expression states the inclusion relation between the intensions of two concepts in a certain context. A formal intensional semantics that defines the truth condition of metaphor is established. This semantics accounts for a number of important features of metaphors such as intensionality, nonreversibility, partial systematicity and context-sensitivity.
The authors wish to thank Dr. Bertrand du Castel for his inspiring discussions on metaphors and pointers to important references.
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Mao, Y., Zhou, B. (2007). Interpreting Metaphors in a New Semantic Theory of Concept. In: Washio, T., Satoh, K., Takeda, H., Inokuchi, A. (eds) New Frontiers in Artificial Intelligence. JSAI 2006. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 4384. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-69902-6_16
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-69902-6_16
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