What is it about?
This paper investigates a powerful but often overlooked engine of figurative language: structural similarity. This isn’t about simple likeness (e.g., “soft as silk”), but about matching the underlying relationships between things. For example, calling a coach “the John Wooden of football” works because the structural relationship (a masterful, revered expert in their field) is the same, even though coaching and basketball are different from football. The research shows how this principle of matching structures explains a wide range of expressions, from simple analogies to complex narratives like parables (“The Prodigal Son”), where a story’s structure mirrors a deeper spiritual truth. Essentially, it argues that our minds constantly use these structural blueprints to understand and explain complex ideas.
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Why is it important?
This work is significant because it provides a unified cognitive framework that bridges small-scale metaphors and large-scale narratives, which are often studied in isolation. By identifying structural similarity as the core mechanism behind diverse phenomena –from paragon figures (e.g., “the Einstein of biology”) to allegories– this research offers a more elegant and economical explanation for figurative thought. It challenges and refines existing theories by demonstrating that many complex linguistic constructions can be traced back to this single, fundamental cognitive process. For scholars in linguistics, literary analysis, and cognitive science, this provides a powerful new lens for deconstructing how meaning is built, making it a timely and valuable contribution to the field.
Perspectives
I was genuinely excited to discover that the simple yet profound principle of structural similarity acts as a universal key, unlocking the inner workings of everything from a basic metaphor to an entire allegorical narrative. It’s thrilling to find a unifying explanatory principle that can account for such a vast range of human expression. While the field of linguistics often fragments into studying these phenomena separately, this research reinforces my conviction that our pursuit should be to find the elegant, underlying rules that bring coherence to the incredible complexity of language and thought. This feels like a step toward that greater unification.
Professor Francisco J. Ruiz de Mendoza
University of La Rioja
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Structural similarity in figurative language: A preliminary cognitive analysis, Lingua, July 2023, Elsevier,
DOI: 10.1016/j.lingua.2023.103541.
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