The role of metonymy in meaning construction at discourse level
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Antonio Barcelona
Abstract
The process of meaning construction, as understood by Panther and Thornburg(Panther 2005), namely the determination of both explicit and implicit meaning, is to a large extent guided or facilitated by conceptual metonymy. The previously published research of the author of this chapter on the function of metonymy in guiding text-level implicatures has been mostly confined to the study of brief written dialogues. The present chapter reports on a case study dealing with this function of metonymy in a relatively extended portion of a narrative text. The findings in the study confirm the hypothesis that metonymy is also the main conceptual mechanism guiding the implicatures invited by this type of text. The study also shows that the metonymies guiding the implicatures respond to a finite set of generic types.
Abstract
The process of meaning construction, as understood by Panther and Thornburg(Panther 2005), namely the determination of both explicit and implicit meaning, is to a large extent guided or facilitated by conceptual metonymy. The previously published research of the author of this chapter on the function of metonymy in guiding text-level implicatures has been mostly confined to the study of brief written dialogues. The present chapter reports on a case study dealing with this function of metonymy in a relatively extended portion of a narrative text. The findings in the study confirm the hypothesis that metonymy is also the main conceptual mechanism guiding the implicatures invited by this type of text. The study also shows that the metonymies guiding the implicatures respond to a finite set of generic types.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- List of contributors ix
- Introduction. The construction of meaning in language 1
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Part I: Metonymy and metaphor
- Experiential tests of figurative meaning construction 19
- High-level metaphor and metonymy in meaning construction 33
- The role of metonymy in meaning construction at discourse level 51
- Chained metonymies in lexicon and grammar 77
- Arguing the case against coercion 99
- When Zidane is not simply Zidane, and Bill Gates is not just Bill Gates 125
- Collocational overlap can guide metaphor interpretation 143
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Part II: Mental spaces and conceptual blending
- Constructing the meanings of personal pronouns 171
- The construction of meaning in relative clauses 189
- Constraints on inferential constructions 207
- The construction of vagueness 225
- Communication or memory mismatch? 247
- Brutal Brits and persuasive Americans 265
- Index of authors 283
- Index of subjects 285
- Index of metonymies and metaphors 289
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- List of contributors ix
- Introduction. The construction of meaning in language 1
-
Part I: Metonymy and metaphor
- Experiential tests of figurative meaning construction 19
- High-level metaphor and metonymy in meaning construction 33
- The role of metonymy in meaning construction at discourse level 51
- Chained metonymies in lexicon and grammar 77
- Arguing the case against coercion 99
- When Zidane is not simply Zidane, and Bill Gates is not just Bill Gates 125
- Collocational overlap can guide metaphor interpretation 143
-
Part II: Mental spaces and conceptual blending
- Constructing the meanings of personal pronouns 171
- The construction of meaning in relative clauses 189
- Constraints on inferential constructions 207
- The construction of vagueness 225
- Communication or memory mismatch? 247
- Brutal Brits and persuasive Americans 265
- Index of authors 283
- Index of subjects 285
- Index of metonymies and metaphors 289
