A Logical Description of Metaphor Analysis

This paper aims to use logical techniques to describe how metaphors are analyzed. Metaphor analysis process functions as one of the most important strategies to uncover implied information in discourse understanding. A metaphor analysis logic system is developed and presented in terms of its definitions, axiomatic system, inference rules, properties, semantic interpretations and applications. The merits of the logic are that possible worlds are substituted with possible feature spaces compared with Local Frame Theory, and an understanding modal operator U_p, a relational symbol < and a Gestalt rule are embodied. The most notable feature of the logic is that it takes into account subjective factors in the process of metaphor analysis.