Similitud no-literalun análisis microestructural de la metáfora

Resum

The aim of the present investigation was, firstly, to test if metaphoricity is associated with a greater semantic distance between the topic and the vehicle than between the subject and the literal predicate (Tourangeau y Sternberg, 1981). Secondly, we wanted to verify if an attribute imbalance exists between the topic and the vehicle (Ortony, 1979) or, inversely, if the shared attributes have the same weight. Thirdly, we wanted to analyse the phenomena of momentaneous connotation (instantiation), from a microstructural perspective, by way of context manipulation of metaphors as well as literal sentences. The sample was composed of 300 psychology undergraduates in the Universidad de la Laguna. The procedure used was of the normative-descriptive type. The results support Tourangeau and Sternberg (1981) semantic distance hypothesis, but do not confirm Ortony (1979) attribute imbalance hypothesis. In addition, the contextual influence on momentaneous connotation (instantiation) is a phenomenon that occurs when two categorial terms combine to constitute either a literal or a metaphoric sentence.