Meanings are like Onions: a Layered Approach to Metaphor Processing

TL;DR

This paper introduces a layered, onion-like model for metaphor processing that integrates content analysis, conceptual blending, and pragmatic intent to enable deeper, context-aware computational understanding of metaphors.

Contribution

It presents a novel three-layered framework for metaphor interpretation, combining cognitive and pragmatic aspects into a unified formal model for computational systems.

Findings

Layered model captures complex metaphor meanings

Framework integrates cognitive and pragmatic perspectives

Enables context-sensitive metaphor understanding

Abstract

Metaphorical meaning is not a flat mapping between concepts, but a complex cognitive phenomenon that integrates multiple levels of interpretation. In this paper, we propose a stratified model of metaphor processing that treats meaning as an onion: a multi-layered structure comprising (1) content analysis, (2) conceptual blending, and (3) pragmatic intentionality. This three-dimensional framework allows for a richer and more cognitively grounded approach to metaphor interpretation in computational systems. At the first level, metaphors are annotated through basic conceptual elements. At the second level, we model conceptual combinations, linking components to emergent meanings. Finally, at the third level, we introduce a pragmatic vocabulary to capture speaker intent, communicative function, and contextual effects, aligning metaphor understanding with pragmatic theories. By unifying these layers into a single formal framework, our model lays the groundwork for computational methods capable of representing metaphorical meaning beyond surface associations, toward deeper, more context-sensitive reasoning.