Different from traditional linguistics which views metaphor as a means of rhetoric, cognitive linguistics holds that metaphor, instead of being a deviant phenomenon of normal language, is a way of thought and a powerful instrument of cognition. Because of the reason that the traditional linguistics failed to explain the essence of metaphor, the modern linguists began to do research on it from t...

The first part of the article offers an historical overview of metaphors, starting from Aristotle and the classical definition of metaphor. Chomsky's contribution to cognitive psychology is also mentioned together with Rosch’s and Kay and McDaniel’s research concerning categorization. The end of the first part contains new theories of metaphor, thus establishing the link to the second part, whi...

Metaphors are generally accepted as essential to the design of effective human computer interfaces. However, “The generally assumed theoretical benefits of user interface metaphor are supported by surprisingly little empirical evidence.” (Blackwell, 1998) This paper discusses the concept of “concrete metaphor” and the problems that it presents in interface and interaction design. Concrete metap...

This paper addresses two issues: (1) what it is for a metaphor to be either alive or dead and (2) what a metaphor must be in order to be either alive or dead. Both issues, in turn, bear on the contemporary debate whether metaphor is a pragmatic or semantic phenomenon and on the dispute between Contextualists and Literalists. In the first part of the paper, I survey examples of what I take to be...

We present an audio waveform editor that can be operated in real time through a tabletop interface. The system combines multi-touch and tangible interaction techniques in order to implement the metaphor of a toolkit that allows direct manipulation of a sound sample. The resulting instrument is well suited for live performance based on evolving loops.

The interaction between real and virtual spaces can be reconceptualized by mobilizing the notion of cybernetic space to signify the relationship between spaces, culture and identity in the synthetic space we tend to live in. The new metaphor can allow for a holistic examination of the Internet in popular culture.

Leviathan In Metaphors we live by, Lakoff and Johnson cite Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679) and John Locke (1632-1704) as the chief proponents of a philosophical trend through which " the suspicion of poetry and rhetoric became dominant in Western thought " and " metaphor and other figurative devices [became] objects of scorn " (Lakoff and Johnson 1980: 190). In his overview over " Metaphor in the Phi...

the main purpose of this paper is to clarify the concept of metaphor and its functions in education. there are two main parts in this paper: the first is to discuss the six major classic and modern theories of metaphor according to their cognitive and intellectual functions , and the second is to identify and classify the four types of figurative language including metaphor, simile, allegory an...

A tension surrounds the role of gesture and embodiment in live coding performance. Considering historical approaches, we propose a reconsideration of text’s current seat as the de facto universal medium for programming code. We further indicate alternative paths for the fusion of gesture and live coding. One such path, based on the mobile touchscreen platform and employing a sketching metaphor,...