The purpose of this paper is to give a theoretical explanation -that is based on the generative lexicon and the semantic field theory- about metaphorical expressions. In the process of discussion, I dealed with metaphorical expressions as a group of e...
The purpose of this paper is to give a theoretical explanation -that is based on the generative lexicon and the semantic field theory- about metaphorical expressions. In the process of discussion, I dealed with metaphorical expressions as a group of extensional polysemy. In the theory of Generative Lexicon (Pustjovsky 1995), polysemy is explained by the lexical rule that is operated by the construction of word meaning that is represented by `Qualia structure`. Because I regard metaphorical expressions as a group of extensional polysemy, I think metaphorical expressions can be explained by lexical rules. In this paper lexical rules are composed of `the conversion rule of meaning construction of a word` and `the realized rule of semantic field`. The conversion rule of meaning construction of a world is divided into three dimensions, the first is the specialization of a Qualia role among four, the second is the partially altercation of a Qualia role, the third is the alternation of a class. Especially the alternation of a class is divided into two parts by an operative scope, the one alternation is established by the conceptual relationship of the lexical representation, the other alternation is established by the constructional relationship of the lexical representation in the text.