Understanding Figurative Language: From Metaphor to Idioms (Oxford Psychology Series Book 36)

The book "Understanding Figurative Language" is a groundbreaking exploration of how people comprehend figurative language, including metaphors and idioms.

The author, Glucksberg, challenges the traditional view that figurative language is more complex than literal language and argues that it involves the same linguistic and pragmatic operations.

Through a comprehensive analysis of ordinary language, including conversations, newspaper articles, and media, Glucksberg developes a new theory of metaphor comprehension.

This theory posits that metaphors are used to create new concepts and categories, which are spontaneous and automatic.

The book also covers the dual-reference theory, where the same term can refer to both its literal meaning and a metaphorical category.

With this product summary, you will gain a deeper understanding of how people understand figurative language and why it is so important in everyday communication.