When love is not a journey: What metaphors mean

Lakoff(1987, 1993) has argued that the comprehension of metaphorical langua ge is mediated by metaphoric correspondences that structure our understandi ng of abstract concepts. We take issue with the assumptions of this argumen t and discuss the lack of empirical support for several predictions that fo llow from it. As an alternative, we propose a 'minimalist' account of metap hor in which comprehension is conceived as a search for an 'attributive cat egory' that is exemplified by the metaphor vehicle. (C) 1999 Elsevier Scien ce B.V. All rights reserved.