Computer Interpretation of Metaphoric Phrases

Computer Interpretation of Metaphoric Phrases

by Sylvia Weber Russell
Released November 2015
Publisher(s): De Gruyter
ISBN: 9781501502194

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Book description

The computational approach of this book is aimed at simulating the human ability to understand various kinds of phrases with a novel metaphoric component. That is, interpretations of metaphor as literal paraphrases are based on literal meanings of the metaphorically used words. This method distinguishes itself from statistical approaches, which in general do not account for novel usages, and from efforts directed at metaphor constrained to one type of phrase or to a single topic domain.

The more interesting and novel metaphors appear to be based on concepts generally represented as nouns, since such concepts can be understood from a variety of perspectives. The core of the process of interpreting nominal concepts is to represent them in such a way that readers or hearers can infer which aspect(s) of the nominal concept is likely to be intended to be applied to its interpretation. These aspects are defined in terms of verbal and adjectival predicates. A section on the representation and processing of part-sentence verbal metaphor will therefore also serve as preparation for the representation of salient aspects of metaphorically used nouns.

As the ability to process metaphorically used verbs and nouns facilitates the interpretation of more complex tropes, computational analysis of two other kinds of metaphorically based expressions are outlined: metaphoric compound nouns, such as "idea factory" and, together with the representation of inferences, modified metaphoric idioms, such as "Put the cat back into the bag".

Table of contents

  1. Cover
  2. Title
  3. Copyright
  4. Preface
  5. Table of Contents
  6. 1 Metaphors: Human Use and Computer Processing
    1. 1.1 Views of metaphor
    2. 1.2 The metaphoricity of language
    3. 1.3 Modeling metaphoric communication
      1. 1.3.1 What, how and why
      2. 1.3.2 Examples
    4. 1.4 Outline
  7. 2 Computational Models of Metaphor
    1. 2.1 Verbal metaphor
      1. 2.1.1 Physical-domain metaphor
      2. 2.1.2 Cross-domain metaphor
    2. 2.2 Nominal metaphor
      1. 2.2.1 Physical-domain metaphor
      2. 2.2.2 Cross-domain metaphor
  8. 3 A Semantic – Component – Based Approach
    1. 3.1 Types and examples
    2. 3.2 Part – sentence metaphor
      1. 3.2.1 Linguistic evidence
      2. 3.2.2 Domains
      3. 3.2.3 Structure extension
    3. 3.3 Within-domain metaphor
      1. 3.3.1 Feature-based constraints
      2. 3.3.2 Interpretation
        1. 3.3.2.1 Metaphoric vs. literal
        2. 3.3.2.2 Procedure
  9. 4 The Role of Abstraction
    1. 4.1 “Abstract” objects
    2. 4.2 Abstraction from verbal concepts
    3. 4.3 Mathematical language
    4. 4.4 Representation
  10. 5 Processing Cross – Modal Verbal Metaphor
    1. 5.1 Differences: Conceptual domains
    2. 5.2 Similarities: Extensible verb components
      1. 5.2.1 Verb structures
        1. 5.2.1.1 Objects and relations
        2. 5.2.1.2 Further structural components
      2. 5.2.2 Verb features
    3. 5.3 Verb extension across domains
    4. 5.4 Interpretation
    5. 5.5 Metaphor vs. incoherence
      1. 5.5.1 Nominal descriptors
      2. 5.5.2 Constraints on coherence
    6. 5.6 Coherence problems
      1. 5.6.1 Constraint fuzziness
      2. 5.6.2 Complications
    7. 5.7 Paraphrases
  11. 6 Nominal Metaphor
    1. 6.1 The nature of nominal metaphor
    2. 6.2 Representing salient properties
    3. 6.3 Interpreting nominal metaphor
      1. 6.3.1 Example
      2. 6.3.2 Discursive context example
    4. 6.4 Coherence vs. incoherence
    5. 6.5 The MAP program for nominal metaphor
    6. 6.6 Paraphrase examples
    7. 6.7 Metaphoric nominal compounds
      1. 6.7.1 Nominal compounds
      2. 6.7.2 Application to metaphoric nominal compounds
  12. 7 Metaphoric Idioms
    1. 7.1 Basic and modified idioms
      1. 7.1.1 Tasks
      2. 7.1.2 MAP as applied to idiom interpretation
    2. 7.2 Representations
      1. 7.2.1 The cat in the bag
      2. 7.2.2 Salt in the wound
    3. 7.3 Creative variations
  13. 8 Conclusion: Possibilities and Limits
    1. 8.1 Summary
    2. 8.2 Interdisciplinary pursuits
    3. 8.3 What is missing
      1. 8.3.1 Translation
      2. 8.3.2 Experience
  14. Index
  15. Endnotes

Product information

  • Title: Computer Interpretation of Metaphoric Phrases
  • Author(s): Sylvia Weber Russell
  • Release date: November 2015
  • Publisher(s): De Gruyter
  • ISBN: 9781501502194