Chapter 6. If -clauses and their figurative basis
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Angeliki Athanasiadou
Abstract
The objective of the chapter is to demonstrate that the cognitive processes of metaphor and metonymy may determine the form of grammatical constructions and may be responsible for the elaboration of their meaning. The positions that constitute the framework in the chapter are: (a) both cognitive processes interact and pave the ground for the semantic organization and the communicative effect of grammatical constructions; (b) metonymy, being subliminal, seems to be more ubiquitous than metaphor, the latter process being most of the times based on preexisting metonymy; (c) each of the two processes operates differently encouraging the use of lexical items from the domain of conditionality. Both figurative processes, it will be claimed, contribute to broadening our understanding of grammar.
Abstract
The objective of the chapter is to demonstrate that the cognitive processes of metaphor and metonymy may determine the form of grammatical constructions and may be responsible for the elaboration of their meaning. The positions that constitute the framework in the chapter are: (a) both cognitive processes interact and pave the ground for the semantic organization and the communicative effect of grammatical constructions; (b) metonymy, being subliminal, seems to be more ubiquitous than metaphor, the latter process being most of the times based on preexisting metonymy; (c) each of the two processes operates differently encouraging the use of lexical items from the domain of conditionality. Both figurative processes, it will be claimed, contribute to broadening our understanding of grammar.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Editor and contributors vii
- Foreword ix
- Introduction. Figurative thought, figurative language, figurative grammar? 1
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Part I. Figuration and grammar
- Chapter 1. Exploiting wh -questions for expressive purposes 17
- Chapter 2. Construing and constructing hyperbole 41
- Chapter 3. How to do things with metonymy in discourse 75
- Chapter 4. Cognitive motivation in the linguistic realization of requests in Modern Greek 105
- Chapter 5. How metonymy and grammar interact 125
- Chapter 6. If -clauses and their figurative basis 151
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Part II. Figuration and the lexicon
- Chapter 7. The hand in figurative thought and language 179
- Chapter 8. Shakespeare on the shelf, Blue Helmets on the move 199
- Chapter 9. Metaphor, conceptual archetypes and subjectification 231
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Part III. Figuration from a cultural-anthropological and psycholinguistic perspective
- Chapter 10. Metaphor and metonymy as fanciful “asymmetry” builders 253
- Chapter 11. Pragmatic effects in blended figures 273
- Chapter 12. The psychological reality of spatio-temporal metaphors 295
- Name index 323
- Subject index 325
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Editor and contributors vii
- Foreword ix
- Introduction. Figurative thought, figurative language, figurative grammar? 1
-
Part I. Figuration and grammar
- Chapter 1. Exploiting wh -questions for expressive purposes 17
- Chapter 2. Construing and constructing hyperbole 41
- Chapter 3. How to do things with metonymy in discourse 75
- Chapter 4. Cognitive motivation in the linguistic realization of requests in Modern Greek 105
- Chapter 5. How metonymy and grammar interact 125
- Chapter 6. If -clauses and their figurative basis 151
-
Part II. Figuration and the lexicon
- Chapter 7. The hand in figurative thought and language 179
- Chapter 8. Shakespeare on the shelf, Blue Helmets on the move 199
- Chapter 9. Metaphor, conceptual archetypes and subjectification 231
-
Part III. Figuration from a cultural-anthropological and psycholinguistic perspective
- Chapter 10. Metaphor and metonymy as fanciful “asymmetry” builders 253
- Chapter 11. Pragmatic effects in blended figures 273
- Chapter 12. The psychological reality of spatio-temporal metaphors 295
- Name index 323
- Subject index 325
