When to use a metaphor

Metaphors in dialogical explanations with addressees of different expertise

verfasst von

Ingrid Scharlau, Miriam Körber, Meghdut Sengupta, Henning Wachsmuth

Abstract

The present study aims to understand how metaphors are used in explanations. According to many current theories, metaphors have a conceptual function for the understanding of abstract objects. From this theoretical assumption, we derived the hypothesis that the lower the expertise of the addressee of an explanation, the more metaphors should be used. We tested this hypothesis on a relatively natural data set of 24 published videos with close to 100,000 words overall in which experts explain abstract, mostly scientific concepts to persons of different expertise, varying from minimal (children) to profound (expert). Contrary to our expectations, the frequency of metaphors did not decrease with expertise, but actually increased. This increase could be statistically substantiated with higher differences in expertise. The study contributes to a better understanding of the use of metaphors in actual explanatory processes and how metaphor use depends on contextual factors. It thus supports the expansion of the conceptual and linguistic perspective on metaphors to include the aspect of how metaphors are used by speakers.

Organisationseinheit(en)

Institut für Künstliche Intelligenz
Fachgebiet Maschinelle Sprachverarbeitung

Externe Organisation(en)

Universität Paderborn

Typ

Artikel

Journal

Frontiers in Language Sciences

Band

3

Publikationsdatum

18.12.2024

Publikationsstatus

Veröffentlicht

Peer-reviewed

Ja

ASJC Scopus Sachgebiete

Kognitive Neurowissenschaft, Experimentelle und kognitive Psychologie, Linguistik und Sprache

Elektronische Version(en)

https://doi.org/10.3389/flang.2024.1474924 (Zugang: Offen)