Metonymy at the crossroads
-
Tanja Gradečak-Erdeljić
Abstract
The chapter uses two small-scale studies to examine the effects of metonymy in political discourse. We re-examine some theoretical constructs proposed as definitional of metonymy, particularly pragmatic function (Barcelona, 2003a) and inclusion of the source and target in the same functional domain (ibid.). By analyzing the dysphemism chickenhawk as an instantiation of the metaphoric mapping humans are animals and the metonymic mapping part of a scenario for the whole scenario in the euphemism body count, we delineate the possibilities and limitations of metonymic inferencing (Panther and Thornburg, 2003). The observed differences in the pragmatic effect of euphemistic and dysphemistic expressions ascribed to metonymy reveal its differing foregrounding and backgrounding force.
Abstract
The chapter uses two small-scale studies to examine the effects of metonymy in political discourse. We re-examine some theoretical constructs proposed as definitional of metonymy, particularly pragmatic function (Barcelona, 2003a) and inclusion of the source and target in the same functional domain (ibid.). By analyzing the dysphemism chickenhawk as an instantiation of the metaphoric mapping humans are animals and the metonymic mapping part of a scenario for the whole scenario in the euphemism body count, we delineate the possibilities and limitations of metonymic inferencing (Panther and Thornburg, 2003). The observed differences in the pragmatic effect of euphemistic and dysphemistic expressions ascribed to metonymy reveal its differing foregrounding and backgrounding force.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- List of contributors vii
- Introduction 1
- Reviewing the properties and prototype structure of metonymy 7
-
Part I. Metonymy and related cognitive, semantic, and rhetorical phenomena
- Metonymization 61
- Zones, facets, and prototype-based metonymy 89
- Metonymy and cognitive operations 103
- Metonymy, category broadening and narrowing, and vertical polysemy 125
- Metonymy at the crossroads 147
- The role of metonymy in complex tropes 167
-
Part II. Metonymy and metonymic chains as mappings or processes within domain matrices/networks
- Putting the notion of “domain” back into metonymy 197
- What do metonymic chains reveal about the nature of metonymy? 217
- Metonymic matrix domains and multiple formations in indirect speech acts 249
- Authors’ biodata 269
- Metaphor and metonymy index 275
- Name index 277
- Subject index 281
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- List of contributors vii
- Introduction 1
- Reviewing the properties and prototype structure of metonymy 7
-
Part I. Metonymy and related cognitive, semantic, and rhetorical phenomena
- Metonymization 61
- Zones, facets, and prototype-based metonymy 89
- Metonymy and cognitive operations 103
- Metonymy, category broadening and narrowing, and vertical polysemy 125
- Metonymy at the crossroads 147
- The role of metonymy in complex tropes 167
-
Part II. Metonymy and metonymic chains as mappings or processes within domain matrices/networks
- Putting the notion of “domain” back into metonymy 197
- What do metonymic chains reveal about the nature of metonymy? 217
- Metonymic matrix domains and multiple formations in indirect speech acts 249
- Authors’ biodata 269
- Metaphor and metonymy index 275
- Name index 277
- Subject index 281
