On some specific features of conventional figurative language (Acerca de algunas características específicas del lenguaje figurado convencional)

Abstract

ABSTRACT The aim of this article is to summarize some of my research results in the field of figurative language obtained in intensive cooperation with my colleague Elisabeth Piirainen. The idea to publish a linguistically oriented article in a psychological journal may be somewhat surprising and requires additional explanation. The starting point of our analysis of figurative language is our confidence that this part of the language system cannot be described without addressing issues outside linguistics proper, i.e., without the inclusion of extralinguistic knowledge. In this sense, figurative language is not a purely linguistic phenomenon; it includes elements of culture-based knowledge and has intersection points with all areas of knowledge interested in culture. To be able to study any properties of conventional figurative language, we need to answer at least two questions. First, what are the criteria of figurativeness, i.e., how can we select figurative expressions from the set of all units of language? Second, how to distinguish conventional figurative units from non-conventional figurative expressions. These questions are discussed in detail in our book Figurative language: cross-cultural and cross-linguistic perspectives. Let us briefly review these issues.