On figurative ambiguity, marking, and low-salience meanings
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Shir Givoni
Abstract
This paper discusses the phenomenon of marked ambiguation, when more than one meaning of an ambiguity is simultaneously applicable, and outlines an account for such marking within the Low-Salience Marking Hypothesis. According to this hypothesis, ambiguity markers (e.g., double entendre, in the full sense of the word) boost meanings low on salience (Givoni, 2011; Givoni, Giora, and Bergerbest, 2013). Low-salience meanings are meanings less frequent, less familiar, less prototypical, and less conventional (Giora, 1997, 2003). Results from two experiments conducted in Hebrew support the hypothesis. They show that marking figurative polysemy results in higher preference and faster response times for less-salient meanings, challenging modular (Fodor, 1983), literal-first (Grice, 1975), and underspecification (Frisson and Pickering, 2001) accounts of lexical access.
Abstract
This paper discusses the phenomenon of marked ambiguation, when more than one meaning of an ambiguity is simultaneously applicable, and outlines an account for such marking within the Low-Salience Marking Hypothesis. According to this hypothesis, ambiguity markers (e.g., double entendre, in the full sense of the word) boost meanings low on salience (Givoni, 2011; Givoni, Giora, and Bergerbest, 2013). Low-salience meanings are meanings less frequent, less familiar, less prototypical, and less conventional (Giora, 1997, 2003). Results from two experiments conducted in Hebrew support the hypothesis. They show that marking figurative polysemy results in higher preference and faster response times for less-salient meanings, challenging modular (Fodor, 1983), literal-first (Grice, 1975), and underspecification (Frisson and Pickering, 2001) accounts of lexical access.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Acknowledgements vii
- List of contributors ix
- Introduction. Figurative language 1
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Part I. Intersubjectivity and interaction
- Second-order empathy, pragmatic ambiguity, and irony 19
- Desiderata for metaphor theory, the Motivation & Sedimentation Model and motion-emotion metaphoremes 41
- Evaluating metaphor accounts via their pragmatic effects 75
- The multimodal negotiation of irony and humor in interaction 109
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Part II. Mechanisms and processes
- Metaphor and irony 139
- Metonymic indeterminacy and metalepsis 175
- On verbal and situational irony 213
- On figurative ambiguity, marking, and low-salience meanings 241
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Part III. Usage and variation
- Metaphor, metonymy and polysemy 287
- Psycholinguistic approaches to figuration 307
- The fabric of metaphor in discourse 339
- Sources of verbal humor in the lexicon 357
- Measuring the impact of (non)figurativity in the cultural conceptualization of emotions in the two main national varieties of Portuguese 387
- Index 439
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Acknowledgements vii
- List of contributors ix
- Introduction. Figurative language 1
-
Part I. Intersubjectivity and interaction
- Second-order empathy, pragmatic ambiguity, and irony 19
- Desiderata for metaphor theory, the Motivation & Sedimentation Model and motion-emotion metaphoremes 41
- Evaluating metaphor accounts via their pragmatic effects 75
- The multimodal negotiation of irony and humor in interaction 109
-
Part II. Mechanisms and processes
- Metaphor and irony 139
- Metonymic indeterminacy and metalepsis 175
- On verbal and situational irony 213
- On figurative ambiguity, marking, and low-salience meanings 241
-
Part III. Usage and variation
- Metaphor, metonymy and polysemy 287
- Psycholinguistic approaches to figuration 307
- The fabric of metaphor in discourse 339
- Sources of verbal humor in the lexicon 357
- Measuring the impact of (non)figurativity in the cultural conceptualization of emotions in the two main national varieties of Portuguese 387
- Index 439
