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In:What makes a Figure: Rethinking figurativity
Edited by Herbert L. Colston
[Figurative Thought and Language 19] 2025
► pp. 194–219

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Chapter 7
How many metaphors can metaphor afford?

An embodied view of metaphorical meaning

 | National and Kapodistrian University of Athens
 | National and Kapodistrian University of Athens
Published online: 28 October 2025
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https://doi.org/10.1075/ftl.19.07pia
Abstract
Whether metaphor forms a unified category is a contentious matter that has elicited an array of different views, with certain metaphor scholars contesting the possibility of “metaphorical continuity”. The dividing line between different types of metaphor inheres in the metaphor’s degree of conventionality, with non-conventional metaphorical expressions often requiring a different processing route than conventional ones. In this chapter, we aim to contribute to the “continuity vs discontinuity” debate over metaphorical meaning by considering the possibility that embodied simulation may offer a unified platform for explaining metaphor across the board. Our analysis is based on metaphorical representations of the emotional pain experienced by women after miscarriage and/or pregnancy loss. The findings suggest that simulation pervades the interpretation of such metaphors despite their varying degrees of (non-)conventionality, and that metaphor may enable an experiential, rather than conceptual, understanding of pain, in line with previous accounts (cf. Semino 2010).
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Metaphor as embodied simulation
  • 3.Data collection and analysis
  • 4.Metaphorical representations of pain and embodied simulation
  • 5.Conclusions
  • Notes
  • References
References (72)
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