Automatic detection of figurative language is a challenging task in computational linguistics. Recognising both literal and figurative meaning is not trivial for a machine and in some cases it is hard even for humans. For this reason novel and accurate systems able to recognise figurative languages are necessary. We present in this paper a novel computational model capable to detect sarcasm in ...

This chapter describes a technique for generating semi-abstract figurative imagery using variations on the Mandelbrot Set, evolved using a genetic algorithm. The Mandelbrot Set offers an infinite supply of complex fractal imagery, but its expressive ability is limited, as far as being a “material” for visual manipulation by artists. The technique described here achieves a unique and varied bran...

Despite flourishing research on the relationship between emotion and literal language, and despite the pervasiveness of figurative expressions in communication, the role of figurative language in conveying affect has been underinvestigated. This study provides affective and psycholinguistic norms for 619 German idiomatic expressions and explores the relationships between affective and psycholin...

Three engraved limestone plaquettes from the recently excavated Epipaleolithic open-air site Ein Qashish South in the Jezreel Valley, Israel comprise unique evidence for symbolic behavior of Late Pleistocene foragers in the Levant. The engravings, uncovered in Kebaran and Geometric Kebaran deposits (ca. 23ka and ca. 16.5ka BP), include the image of a bird-the first figurative representation kno...

The goal of the current study was to identify the neural substrate of idiom comprehension using fMRI. Idioms are familiar, fixed expressions whose meaning is not dependent on the literal interpretation of the component words. We presented literally plausible idioms in a sentence forcing a figurative or a literal interpretation and contrasted them with sentences containing idioms for which no li...

City Portraits and Caricatures Introduction Cities are a very rich source of data in order to understand how people organize themselves on different scales. The discourse on the visualization of cities offered different approaches, from more abstract to illustrative and figurative ones. In this chapter, we approach the visualization of cities in a less abstract, puristic way. Distancing ourselv...

We start with a rectangular grid of points, and we connect pairs of points to form either a tour (a Hamiltonian cycle) or a braid (a collection of disjoint paths that start in the top row and end on the bottom). In each case, our goal is to design a graph that will closely resemble a grayscale target image when viewed from a distance. From up close, the graph will look like an abstract pattern....

The relevance of the study is caused by the continuing interest of linguists to the problem of phraseology as a special – national – sign in the language system, reflecting the national-cultural features of the perception of the world, national mentality, ideological and mental attitudes of native speakers. The analysis of scientific literature showed that the phraseological layer reflecting th...

In this paper, we present an application for formal concept analysis (FCA) by showing how it can help construct a semantic map for a lexical typological study. We show that FCA captures typological regularities, so that concept lattices automatically built from linguistic data appear to be even more informative than traditional semantic maps. While sometimes this informativeness causes unreadab...

Do we view the world differently if it is described to us in figurative rather than literal terms? An answer to this question would reveal something about both the conceptual representation of figurative language and the scope of top-down influences on scene perception. Previous work has shown that participants will look longer at a path region of a picture when it is described with a type of f...