Towards a classification of metaphor use

This paper presents an outline of a classification of metaphor use in text that can aid the interpretation of data obtained from corpora. The classification is exemplified on examples from a developing corpus of both public and academic discourse on educational change. The paper claims that it is necessary to distinguish between metaphor as an organizing principle of the conceptual system and its actual use as one of the mechanisms involved in the cohesion and coherence of a given text.