| Chapter 1 Introduction | 第1-11页 |
| Chapter 2 General survey of studies on metaphor | 第11-20页 |
| ·Definitions of metaphor | 第11-12页 |
| ·Etymological definition | 第11页 |
| ·Dictionary definitions | 第11-12页 |
| ·Studies on metaphor abroad and at home | 第12-20页 |
| ·Historical development of studies on metaphor abroad | 第12-18页 |
| ·Studies on metaphor at home | 第18-20页 |
| Chapter 3 Metaphor and the Speech Act Theory | 第20-25页 |
| ·Brief review of the speech act theory | 第20-21页 |
| ·Metaphor as an indirect speech act | 第21-25页 |
| ·Searle's approach to metaphor as an indirect speech act | 第21-23页 |
| ·Other Linguists' comments on metaphor as an indirect apeech act | 第23-25页 |
| Chapter 4 Metaphor and implicature | 第25-29页 |
| ·Grice's theory of conversational implicature | 第25-26页 |
| ·Metaphor as conversational implicature | 第26-29页 |
| Chapter 5 Relevance theory and metaphor | 第29-36页 |
| ·Some essential concepts of relevance theory | 第29-30页 |
| ·Metaphor as a descriptive use of language | 第30-33页 |
| ·Metaphor as effort-imposing loose talk | 第33-34页 |
| ·Metaphor as the optimal relevance | 第34-36页 |
| Chapter 6 Context in the metaphorical interpretation | 第36-44页 |
| ·Tentative definition of context | 第36-37页 |
| ·Importance of context in metaphorical interpretation | 第37-38页 |
| ·Classification of context | 第38-40页 |
| ·Metaphor in linguistic context | 第40-41页 |
| ·Metaphor in non-linguistic context | 第41-44页 |
| Chapter 7 Result | 第44-45页 |
| Chapter 8 Discussion | 第45-46页 |
| Chapter 9 Conclusion | 第46-48页 |
| Bibliography | 第48-51页 |
| Appendixes | 第51页 |
