What is a substance metaphor?

Definition
	A substance metaphor is an ontological metaphor in which an abstraction, such as an event, activity, emotion, or idea, is represented as material.

Examples (English)

Here are some examples of the activity-as-substance metaphor:

Adapted from:

Lakoff, G. and Johnson 1980 31

Generic
	A substance metaphor is a kind of
	What is an ontological metaphor?

Source
	Lakoff, G. and Johnson 1980 25, 31

Concept module: substance metaphor
In overview module: Glossary (Linguistics): S
In modular book: Glossary of linguistic terms, by Eugene E. Loos (general editor), Susan Anderson (editor), Dwight H., Day, Jr. (editor), Paul C. Jordan (editor), and J. Douglas Wingate (editor)
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This page is an extract from the LinguaLinks Library, Version 5.0 published on CD-ROM by SIL International, 2003. [Ordering information.]

Page content last modified: 5 January 2004