Formalizing contemporary conceptual metaphor theory

This paper describes an innovative formalization of Conceptual Metaphor Theory and its implementation in a structured metaphor repository. Central to metaphor analysis is the development of an internal structure of frames and relations between frames, based on an Embodied Construction Grammar framework, which then informs the structure of metaphors and relationships between metaphors. The hierarchical nature of metaphors and frames is made explicit, such that inferential information originating in embodied conceptual primitives is inherited throughout the network. The present analysis takes a data-driven approach, where lexical differences in linguistic expressions attested in naturally-occurring discourse lead to a continued refinement and expansion of our analyses.