隐喻传统上属于诗学和文学研究的范畴，但近来日益受到哲学家、语言学家和心理学家的普遍关注，人们将它视为各种意义理论和语言理解理论的检验场（testing ground）。值得一提的是，隐喻研究的认知传统出现复兴，隐喻一跃成为过去的25年中人文社会科学领域炙手可热的研究课题，致使学术界出现了所谓的“隐喻狂热”。
本研究对话语理解特别是隐喻理解具有重要的启示：1.隐喻理解同时涉及社会因素和认知因素：2.言语交流中误解不可避免；3.话语理解中个体差异应给予重视；4.当代隐喻理论的主要观点应当弱化。除此之外，本研究对外语教学特别是对培养学生的“隐喻能力”具有一定的参考价值。
本研究只是对隐喻的理解过程做了一个初步的探索，毋庸讳言，本研究的不足乃至缺陷在所难免，如实验设计不够精细、个体差异考虑不足等等。尽管如此，作者相信，随着人们对知识表征和知识加工的认识进一步深化以及语用推理过程的进一步了解。隐喻话语的理解过程会更加逼近认知心理上的真实性。

序
前言
内容提要
Abstract
Chapter1 General Introduction
1.0 Brief introduction to metaphor studies
1.1 Rationale of this research
1.2 Purposes of this research
1.3 Novel metaphor：target of research
1.4 Methodology for this research
1.5 Overview of the thesis
Chapter2 Literature Review of Related Studies
2.0 Introduction
2.1 Congitive approaches to metaphor
2.2 Pragmatic－cognitive approaches to metaphor understanding
2.3 Process－oriented studies of metaphor understanding
2.4 Evaluation and comments of reviewed theories/models
Chapter3 A Relevance－Theoretic Framework to Metapher Understanding
3.0 Introduction
3.1 Metaphor as representation by resemblance
3.2 Basic notions concerning metaphorical understanding
3.3 Metaphor interpretation
3.4 Characterization of the conceptual framework to metaphor understanding
3.5 Summary
Chapter4 Metaphoricity and Metaphorization
4.0 Introduction
4.1 The notion of metaphoricity
4.2 Metaphor as a re－conceptualization of entities
4.3 Metaphorization and de－metaphorization
4.4 Proposed criteria for metaphoricity identification
4.5 Metaphoricty judgments：an empirical study
4.6 Summary
Chapter5 A Cognitive Process of Novel Metaphor Understanding
5.0 Introduction
5.1 Representational assumptions about Topic and Vehicle domains
5.2 Metaphor understanding：idntificaltion of explica－tures
5.3 Metaphor understanding：construction of contextual assumptions
5.4 Metaphor understanding：constructing implicatures
5.5 Heuristics for the choice of possible interpretations
5.6 A tentative relevance－oriedted model of metaphor understanding
5.7 Summary
Chapter6 Novel Metaphor and Processing Effort
6.0 Introduction
6.1 Controversies on the issue of metaphor and effort
6.2 Novel metaphor understanding as an effort－demanding task
6.3 Rationale of the hypothesis about metaphor and efforts effect
6.4 The experiment
6.5 ummary
Chapter7 Conclusions and Implications
7.0 Introduction
7.1 Brief summary of major findings
7.2 Implications
7.3 Suggestions for further studies
Appendix
Bibliography