COMPUTER UNDERSTANDING OF CONVENTIONAL METAPHORIC LANGUAGE

Metaphor is a conventional and ordinary part of language. An approach to metaphor, based on the explicit representation of knowledge about metaphors, has been developed. This approach asserts that the interpretation of conventional metaphoric language should proceed through the direct application of specific knowledge about the metaphors in the language. MIDAS (Metaphor Interpretation, Denotation, and Acquisition System) is a computer program that has been developed based upon this approach. MIDAS can be used to represent knowledge about conventional metaphors, interpret metaphoric language by applying this knowledge, and dynamically learn new metaphors as they are encountered during normal processing.