From Textual Prompts to Cognitive Models: A Context-oriented Perspective on Metaphor Interpretation in Taiwanese Presidential Speeches

The present research adopts a context-based approach to metaphor interpretation in Taiwanese presidential speeches by detailing the notion of context to include linguistic context and stored knowledge. Two specific sets of metaphors will be investigated as examples in this qualitative study: The metaphorical use of menkan ‘threshold’ can be understood either as a part of a wall of a CONTAINER or as an obstacle in a JOURNEY. The second set of instances involves a country profiled as a SHIP, a TREE, or a PERSON, depending on context. It will be argued that metaphor comprehension in discourse encompasses the following segments: Linguistic context prompts pieces of information that embeds the target lexical item. These pieces of information are organized according to the cognitive models, based on which a global understanding of metaphors is possible. The contribution of the present study is at least two-fold: It delineates the nuts-and-bolts of how context, given appropriate details, is capable of constraining construals. The study further proposes a context-oriented model of metaphor interpretation trying to call for due attention to pragmatics.