Open AccessAspects of metonymy in language and thought
Author(s) -
Katarina Rasulić
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
theoria
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2406-081X
pISSN - 0351-2274
DOI - 10.2298/theo1003049r
Subject(s) - metonymy , conceptualization , meaning (existential) , linguistics , literal and figurative language , metaphor and metonymy , categorization , psychology , perspective (graphical) , metaphor , computer science , philosophy , artificial intelligence , psychotherapist
Based on the theoretical insights from cognitive linguistics, this paper aims to shed fresh light on certain aspects of metonymy as one of the basic mechanisms of conceptualsemantic organization. It is argued that the prototype model of categorization can provide substantial explanatory potential in the linguistic treatment of metonymy, that anthropocentricity is an important aspect of metonymic conceptualization, and that metonymy has multiple roles in the creation of meaning, including meaning extension, meaning construction and meaning imposition. The significance of investigating the multifaceted character of metonymic conceptualization (as well as of figurative language and thought in general) from an interdisciplinary perspective is highlighted as fundamental for a more comprehensive insight into the nature of meaning