Metonymy as a type of figurative language

1. Definition of Metonymy

The word «metonymy» comes from the Greek phrase metōnymía, meaning «a change of name».

Although metonymy has become an important focus for research in linguistics in the past decade, there is still a high level of disagreement about the nature of metonymy. Below we provide different explanations of this concept:

Gurevich: “Metonymy denotes a transference of meaning which is based on contiguity of notions, not on resemblance. In cases of metonymy, the name of one object is used instead of another, closely connected with it” [5, p. 29].

Galperin: “Metonymy is based on a different type of relation between the dictionary and contextual meanings, a relation based not on identification, but on some kind of association connecting the two concepts which these meanings represent. Thus, the word crown may stand for ‘king or queen’, cup or glass for ‘the drink it contains’” [3, p. 144].
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3. Classification of Metonymy

Metonymy, on the one hand — a way to form new words, and stylistic mean, on the other. Thus, metonymy is divided into language metonymy (or lexical) and speech metonymy (or contextual).

Lexical metonymy is a source of creating new words or new meanings: table’s leg, teapots nose, a hand (instead of a worker), the press (instead of people writing for newspapers), grave (instead of death), gray hairs instead of old age; etc. Such metonymic meanings are registered in dictionaries. It is obvious that lexical metonymy is devoid of stylistic information.

Contextual metonymy is the result of unexpected substitution of one word for another in speech. It is fresh and expressive: This pair of whiskers is a convinced scoundrel.
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4. Functions of Metonymy

Generally, metonymy is used in developing literary symbolism, meaning it gives more profound meanings to otherwise common ideas and objects.

For instance, a crown is the most essential material component of the trappings of royalty, and so it serves well in representing the whole system of monarchy. Similarly, the stage is a material component of acting as a profession. This too serves to represent symbolically something abstract and dynamic. The ‘cloth’ symbolises the religious profession, and the ‘bar’ represents the legal profession. Both these items are essential material objects and are used to refer to the abstract concept of a profession [2, p. 49].

The connection between the symbol and the thing it symbolizes is not an objective connection, but, according to Perelman and Olbrechts-Tyteca one ‘that is recognized only by the members of the group’.
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