Reading metaphors: The role of context in comprehension and selection of meanings in written texts

The paper focuses on the interpretation of living metaphors, through the analysis of data collected within the framework of a wider project concerning reading and pragmatic abilities in neurotypical adults. In particular, the items considered for this paper (selected from a standardized battery in Italian, APACS) aim at investigating the ability to understand and explain the meaning of figurative expressions, which are presented out of (or with a minimum) context to elicit generalized verbal explanations. The testing procedure was completed with a repetition of the same items inserted in a textual context, which was supposed to facilitate the task. The results show that, differently from idioms and proverbs (which were also included in the test), living metaphors are more easily explained in the presence of a context, although the qualitative analysis of answers reveals that the linguistic nature of the elements of each metaphor influences the reaction of the respondents.