Using Figurative Language (Paperback)

Herbert L. Colston

ISBN 10: 1107513480 / ISBN 13: 9781107513488

Published by Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2019

About this Item

Paperback. Using Figurative Language presents results from a multidisciplinary decades-long study of figurative language that addresses the question, 'Why don't people just say what they mean?' This research empirically investigates goals speakers or writers have when speaking (writing) figuratively, and concomitantly, meaning effects wrought by figurative language usage. These 'pragmatic effects' arise from many kinds of figurative language including metaphors (e.g. 'This computer is a dinosaur'), verbal irony (e.g. 'Nice place you got here'), idioms (e.g. 'Bite the bullet'), proverbs (e.g. 'Don't put all your eggs in one basket') and others. Reviewed studies explore mechanisms - linguistic, psychological, social and others - underlying pragmatic effects, some traced to basic processes embedded in human sensory, perceptual, embodied, cognitive, social and schematic functioning. The book should interest readers, researchers and scholars in fields beyond psychology, linguistics and philosophy that share interests in figurative language - including language studies, communication, literary criticism, neuroscience, semiotics, rhetoric and anthropology. Using Figurative Language is for both interdisciplinary scholars who study or are interested in figurative language such as linguists, psychologists, philosophers, communication scholars, cognitive scientists and literary scholars, as well as a broad audience of anyone who works with, is intrigued by, enjoys using or has ever used figurative language. This item is printed on demand. Shipping may be from multiple locations in the US or from the UK, depending on stock availability.

Seller Inventory # 9781107513488

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Using Figurative Language (Paperback)
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
• Publication Date: 2019
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1107513480
• ISBN 13: 9781107513488
• Binding: Paperback
• Condition: new

About this title

Synopsis

Using Figurative Language presents results from a multidisciplinary decades-long study of figurative language that addresses the question, “Why don't people just say what they mean?” This research empirically investigates goals speakers or writers have when speaking (writing) figuratively, and concomitantly, meaning effects wrought by figurative language usage. These “pragmatic effects” arise from many kinds of figurative language including metaphors (e.g., “This computer is a dinosaur”), verbal irony (e.g., “Nice place you got here”), idioms (e.g., “Bite the bullet”), proverbs (e.g., “Don't put all your eggs in one basket”) and others. Reviewed studies explore mechanisms – linguistic, psychological social and others, underlying pragmatic effects, some traced to basic processes embedded in human sensory, perceptual, embodied, cognitive, social and schematic functioning. The book should interest readers, researchers and scholars in fields beyond psychology, linguistics and philosophy that share interests in figurative language – including language studies, communication, literary criticism, neuroscience, semiotics, rhetoric and anthropology.

About the Author

Herbert L. Colston is Professor and Chair of Linguistics at the University of Alberta. Previously, he was a Professor of Psychology at the University of Wisconsin, Parkside. Dr Colston has published widely and edited several books including Figurative Language Comprehension: Social and Cultural Influences and Irony in Language and Thought: A Cognitive Science Reader (with Raymond W. Gibbs, Jr, 2007). He co-authored Interpreting Figurative Meaning (Cambridge, 2012) with Raymond Gibbs.