HOW LIKE-SIMILE RELATES TO METAPHOR: AN EXPLORATION OF ANALYTICAL PARAMETERS

Abstract

Traditional accounts of figurative language consider like-simile and metaphor to be largely equivalent. However, more recent research shows that metaphor expresses a closer association between the two terms of comparison than like-simile. This paper proposes a variety of criteria to understand the similarities and differences between these two figures of speech, among them the abstractness of the resemblance relationship, the greater subjectivity of metaphor, and the role of comparison in contrast to other factors. This discussion casts light on the metaphor-simile equivalence versus non-equivalence debate.