ABSTRACT
This chapter introduces a critique of a version of the conceptual metaphor (CM) view, regarding the issue of metaphorical coherence in natural discourse. It considers the distribution of metaphors in natural discourse in light of certain implications of this theory to achieve two complementary objectives: to provide an initial study of the relations between metaphors in discourse, and to examine assumptions that are compatible with the CM view of metaphor. The chapter argues that the use of a given root metaphor in the production of one of its instantiations should support the subsequent use of consistent instantiations. It examines whether conventional metaphorical expressions are coherently distributed in local units of discourse, as the metaphorical coherence principle predicts. However, the CM theory also generates predictions regarding the distribution of metaphorical expressions in natural discourse, as a reflection of the use of root metaphor in the production of discourse.
