in this paper, i look at four different aspects of metaphor research from a corpus linguistic perspective, namely: (1) the lexicogrammar of metaphors, which refers to the patterning of linguistic metaphor revealed by corpus analysis; (2) metaphor probabilities, which is a facet of metaphor that emerges from frequency-based studies of metaphor; (3) dimensions of metaphor variation, or the search for systematic parameters of variation in metaphor use across different registers; and (4) automated metaphor retrieval, which relates to the development of software to help identify metaphors in corpora. i argue that these four aspects are interrelated, and that advances in one of them can drive changes in the others.
