Attributional and Relational Models of Metaphor

Abstract

Two general models have played a central role in the conventional discussion of metaphor (Bortfeld and McGlone, 2001). Comparison or attribute transference models emphasize the transfer of properties or attributes associated with the vehicle on to the topic. For example in ‘Our love has been a roller coaster ride’, properties such as ‘exciting’ or ‘having ups and downs’ are transferred on to the relationship. When an adolescent is called a ‘beanpole’, the property of being physically tall and very thin is transferred from a garden object on to a person; in ‘north face of a mountain’ the properties of location (near the top of a physical entity), topography (relatively flat, but with bumps, hollows and other identifiable features) and orientation (vertical or nearly vertical, and toward the speaker) are transferred from a person to a mountain.

Adapted with permission from Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers from L. David Ritchie (2003b), ‘Categories and similarities: a note on circularity’. Metaphor and Symbol, 18: 125–46.