ABSTRACT

Evidence of primings in the dataset implies that these lexical, grammatical, textual and pragmatic manifestations play an important role in distinguishing between subtleties in word senses and meanings, even in the case of less obvious metaphoricity. The phrase in a flame, is used as a form of exaggeration of the strength and power of the spices, and is thus heavily metaphoric—the fields are described as so rich with fiery spices, that they are alight. An exploration of the boundary at which terminology breaks down and metaphoricity becomes manifest in more 'creative' ways provides implications for the findings of the research so far. Thus polysemy and semantic extension play a role in creating sense of metaphoricity. All references to flames are concrete and non-metaphoric, with the exception of two similes or explicit comparisons. The quantitative discussion of middle group instances of grew has proved worthwhile, mainly because it has again highlighted the indistinctness that lies between instances of metonymy and metaphor.