Metaphors and their semantic predictability in dyadic interaction

Abstract

Philosophy of dialogue is primarily concerned with the relation of I to you, alternatively as the I-and-you（I ⇄ you） sphere of relation, in Martin Buber’s terminology, on the basis of primary words such as I, you, and it. It is convincingly held that the primary words do not refer to or denote or signify things but they intimate human relations. Grounded on primary words, metaphorical expressions are created to bridge over the cognition gaps encountered in the process of dyadic interaction between I and you. To interpret the spontaneously created metaphorical expressions has become intuitive responses frequenting the participants I and you in the ongoing dyadic interaction. In what way I and you collaboratively predict the meaning of metaphorical expressions is an ontological question which might be tackled from the perspective of epistemology. Therefore, it is in epistemology assumed that the semantic predictability of metaphorical expressions in any dyadic interaction can be conceptually realized by means of the four types of coherence in dialogism such as dictional coherence, emotional coherence, intentional coherence and rational coherence. The four types of coherence might be created saliently either in combination with each other or in isolation. No matter what kind of salience is identified, the I-and-you sphere of relation has at most sixteen channels for predicting the semantics of metaphor created in actual dyadic interaction.