ABSTRACT
This chapter demonstrates that the universality of metaphor is a complex phenomenon. Different issues are discussed. First of all, documentation of metaphorical expressions cross-linguistically is possibly problematic due to the number of languages and variety of structures. Second, metaphor is a phenomenon that bridges the level of metaphoric expression and the level of conceptualization, where the latter especially causes methodological issues related to subjectivity. Third, it has been suggested that metaphor universality is associated with the notion of embodiment. In this chapter different views on this issue are discussed. The second part of the chapter explores how abstract concepts are conceptualized metaphorically across languages. Available resources in English and Croatian, together with reliable procedures for metaphor identification in multiple languages are discussed.
