Metaphor, metonymy and polysemy
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Kathryn Allan
Abstract
Polysemy is a basic principle of the lexis of English, but the full range of senses of a lexeme and the ways in which these interact are not often considered in accounts of metaphor and metonymy. This paper presents a case study of the lexeme dull, which develops multiple meanings that do not appear to represent the kind of straightforward concrete > abstract metaphorical mapping that might be assumed. Rather, the complex semantic history of the word reveals gradual shifts in meaning involving metonymy, and change motivated by analogy. I argue that ignoring word histories risks synchronic ‘misreading’ of the relationship between their senses (Geeraerts, 2015), and that polysemy should be acknowledged more prominently in standard accounts.
Abstract
Polysemy is a basic principle of the lexis of English, but the full range of senses of a lexeme and the ways in which these interact are not often considered in accounts of metaphor and metonymy. This paper presents a case study of the lexeme dull, which develops multiple meanings that do not appear to represent the kind of straightforward concrete > abstract metaphorical mapping that might be assumed. Rather, the complex semantic history of the word reveals gradual shifts in meaning involving metonymy, and change motivated by analogy. I argue that ignoring word histories risks synchronic ‘misreading’ of the relationship between their senses (Geeraerts, 2015), and that polysemy should be acknowledged more prominently in standard accounts.
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
