Abstract

Metaphor, understood as a cognitive, communicative, linguistic (Steen, 2013) and multimodal resource (Ojha & Indurkhya, 2016), can be considered a heuristic tool for science, since it is involved in the conceptualization of a new theory, in the semantic structuring of an area of knowledge and, besides, in the denomination of this new nomenclature. In this respect, one of its main functions is to provide a flexible system of knowledge for the understanding of a new phenomenon, acting as a cognitive model not only for the description but for the creation, development and evolution of a theory as well. However, the linguistic element cannot be, in itself, critical when analyzing the cognitive processes activated for the construction of knowledge. Taking into account the text in all its dimensions, which means to know the characteristics of the scientific genre, such as its forms of expression and materialization, and the influence of the different modes of signification inside the specialized text - such as images, tables and graphs - is vitally important for a broad understanding of a specialized discourse, especially those in developing stages, which rely heavily on metaphors to explain their concepts. In this work, we will approach the need to explore this relationship between terminological metaphors and multimodality, and the implications of this linkage for specialized translation.