ScholarLens Back to search
2003•Oxford University Press eBooksRequires access

On Our MindSalience, Context, and Figurative Language

Rachel Giora

Open publisher page 1,338 citations

Abstract

How do we learn to produce and comprehend non-literal language? Competing theories have only partially accounted for the variety of language comprehension evoked in metaphor, irony, and jokes. This book has developed a novel and comprehensive theory, the Graded Salience Hypothesis, to explain figurative language comprehension. The book contends that the salience of meanings (i.e., the cognitive priority we ascribe to words encoded in our mental lexicon) has the primary role in language comprehension and production.

About this research paper

What this paper is about

How do we learn to produce and comprehend non-literal language? Competing theories have only partially accounted for the variety of language comprehension evoked in metaphor, irony, and jokes. This book has developed a novel and comprehensive theory, the Graded Salience Hypothesis, to explain figurative language comprehension. The book contends that the salience of meanings (i.e., the cognitive priority we ascribe to words encoded in our mental lexicon) has the primary role in language comprehension and production.

Why it matters

OpenAlex reports 1338 citations for this work. Citation counts describe recorded attention and do not establish research quality.

Key contribution

A contribution statement is not available in the OpenAlex record.

Method / approach

Method details are not available in the OpenAlex metadata.

Main findings

Findings are not separately available in the OpenAlex metadata.

Limitations

Limitations are not available in the OpenAlex metadata.

Applications

Application details are not available in the OpenAlex metadata.

Available abstract

How do we learn to produce and comprehend non-literal language? Competing theories have only partially accounted for the variety of language comprehension evoked in metaphor, irony, and jokes. This book has developed a novel and comprehensive theory, the Graded Salience Hypothesis, to explain figurative language comprehension. The book contends that the salience of meanings (i.e., the cognitive priority we ascribe to words encoded in our mental lexicon) has the primary role in language comprehension and production.

Key concepts: Literal and figurative language, Salience (neuroscience), Comprehension, Linguistics, Metaphor, Irony, Mental lexicon, Cognition

Related papers

Related paper 1Related paper 2Related paper 3
Back to paper searchBrowse research topicsOriginal source
On Our MindSalience, Context, and Figurative Language — Research Paper | ScholarLens