Olfaction: a Speechless Sense? - The Role of Literal and Figurative Language Olfaction is still the less investigated of the sensory modalities. This also reflects the fact that olfaction is the most subjective and emotional sensory modality and the one with the fewer relationships with verbal language. Since metaphors are cognitive bridges between perception and language, in principle they might be more effective in giving voice to olfaction, the "speechless sense". However, research in this fascinating field is still in its infancy, and the linguistic and psychological results are still scarce and contradicting. Key Words: Cross modal interactions, Language, Metaphor, Olfaction, Perception, Synaesthetic metaphors.
