Metaphor - A Key to Extensible Semantic Analysis 
 
 Interpreting metaphors is an integral and inescapable process in human understanding of natural language . This paper discusses a method of analyzing metaphors based on the existence of a small number of generalized metaphor mappings . Each generalized metaphor contains a recognition network , a basic mapping , additional transfer mappings , and an implicit intention component . It is argued that the method reduces metaphor interpretation from a reconstruction to a recognition task . Implications towards automating certain aspects of language learning are also discussed. 