Publication Details
Abstract
This article analyzes the cognitive foundations of simile-based constructions and their role within language and thought systems. The study demonstrates that simile is not merely a stylistic device, but a complex cognitive process grounded in comparison. Through analogical and narrative mapping, features of the source domain are projected onto the target domain, generating new knowledge and culminating in inference. The formation of similes relies on cognitive mechanisms such as associative memory, analogical reasoning, creative imagination, emotional expression, attention direction, sensory perception, and the encoding of sensory details. In particular, attributive, relational, and systemic mapping processes serve to identify structural and functional similarities between the simile’s subject and object.