This volume brings together twelve usage-based studies conducted by leading researchers in language and cognition that explore core issues of figurativeness fro

Meaning does not reside in linguistic units but is constructed in the minds of the language users. Meaning construction is an on-line mental activity whereby sp

Our understanding of the nature and processing of figurative language is central to several important issues in cognitive science, including the relationship of

This lively, comprehensive and practical book offers a new, integrated and linguistically sound understanding of what figurative language is.

How Words Mean introduces a new approach to the role of words and other linguistic units in the construction of meaning. It does so by addressing the interactio