Abstract

Prototypical instances of live, moribund and dead metaphors can be distinguished, but the peripheral parts of these categories intersect in an indeterminate way because of contextual modifications or interpretative differences among language users. The basic distinctive criteria are that 1) the target meaning of a live metaphor is transparently connected with the source, while 2) a moribund metaphor is entrenched and lexicalised and need not be understood via its source, although the source and the metaphor are polysemously connected. Finally, 3) a dead metaphor is no longer a metaphor. It has become literalised, since it is not now connected with its historical source content.

Highlights

  • The term ‘dead metaphor’ is an established one, and it denotes vocabulary items that have lost their metaphorical character

  • Using the terminology of cognitive semantics, we can describe a live metaphor as a use whose understanding is necessarily dependent on a source meaning, which is usually literal and concrete

  • We have looked at live and moribund metaphors, and we should turn to dead metaphors like pedigree or daisy

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Summary

Introduction

The term ‘dead metaphor’ is an established one, and it denotes vocabulary items that have lost their metaphorical character. Using the terminology of cognitive semantics, we can describe a live metaphor as a use whose understanding is necessarily dependent on a source meaning, which is usually literal and concrete.

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