engleski

The multilevel operation of metonymy in grammar and discourse, with particular attention to metonymic chains

The present contribution is devoted to the detailed discussion of a number of case studies on the way metonymy functions in authentic texts. One of the findings of these case studies is the realization that two or more metonymies regularly occur at the same or different analytical levels in the same utterance, and that they tend to chain to each other. According to the author, metonymy can occur at all grammatical analytical levels. It is a major factor in the motivation of constructional form (especially nonprototypical constructional form) and constructional meaning. On the other hand, the regular co-occurrence and chaining of metonymy in utterances and texts plays a crucial role in pragmatic and discourse inferencing, which makes metonymy, particularly metonymic chaining, a key inferential mechanism in language use. The contribution provides evidence of the pervasiveness and frequency of metonymy in discourse. It is argued that discourse-pragmatic inferencing is often activated, or “ guided” (to use the author’ s own term), by chains of “ active” (as opposed to “ dormant” ) metonymies, which seem to constitute the “ backbone” of inferential chains. The author provides ample evidence for his claim that the inferential function of metonymy is its primary function, its motivational and referential functions being derived from this primary function. A further finding is that metonymic chains respond to a set of general patterns identified in terms of the criteria of function, directness and crossing of analytical level. Metonymic chains are normally mixed chains in terms of these criteria.

metonymy; metonymic chains; constructional meaning; inferencing

nije evidentirano