Review of Cognitive Linguistics. Published under the auspices of the Spanish Cognitive Linguistics Association - Volume 20, Issue 1, 2022

Abstract

This article examines whether metaphorical experiences are better characterized in terms of contiguity or cross-domain mappings. My claim is that many facets of concrete experience are infused with metaphoricity as part of our ordinary understanding of these events. Many source domains in conceptual metaphors may also be interpreted via different metaphorical ideas. If both source and target domains in metaphorical concepts may be characterized in metaphorical terms, then the relationship between them may be related via contiguity or metonymy rather than cross-domain mappings. For this reason, metaphorical concepts and language may originate in the contiguous, and at times almost isomorphic, relationships between concrete actions and larger metaphorical ideas.

Abstract

I explore some relationships between metonymy and a special type of hyperbole that I call reflexive hyperbole. Reflexive hyperbole provides a unified, simple explanation of certain natural meanings of statements such as the following: Sailing is Mary’s life, The undersea sculptures became the ocean, When Sally watched the film she became James Bond, I am Charlie Hebdo, John is Hitler, The internet is cocaine and I am Amsterdam. The meanings, while of seemingly disparate types, are deeply united: they are all hyperbolic about some contextually salient relationship that has a special property that I call “broad reflexivity.” Although a few of the types of meaning of interest have metonymic aspects (or metaphorical aspects), reflexive hyperbole cannot just be explained by a straightforward application of metonymy theory (or metaphor theory). Indeed, I argue instead for a dependency in the converse direction: that much and perhaps even all metonymy is rooted – if sometimes slightly indirectly – in broadly reflexive relationships, though not usually in a hyperbolic way.

Abstract

If first-order empathy is the ability of Self to take into account Other’s point of view, then second-order empathy may be identified as the ability of Self to take into account Other’s point of view as including a view of Self. Considering that a hearer may choose between a first-order empathic and a second-order empathic interpretation of speaker utterances, second-order empathy introduces a pervasive indeterminacy in speaker-hearer interactions. The paper introduces this ambiguity potential in terms of the semiotics of face mask wearing during the corona pandemic, and then extrapolates the ensuing pattern of interpretative options to representative speech acts. The interaction between degree of empathy on one hand, and on the other the convergence or divergence of speaker and hearer beliefs is shown to yield six basic interpretative configurations: assertion, mistake, agreement, disagreement, irony, deception. Recognizing this ambiguity potential of second-order empathy is relevant for linguistic intersubjectivity research and post-Gricean pragmatics, and for the psychological theory of mind paradigm.

Abstract

Why should Jesus die? I attempt to investigate the symbolic roots and significance of the crucifixion by means of the conceptual tools and methodology of cognitive semantics. In particular, I propose that we approach the meaning of Jesus’ death on four symbolic levels:

• the level where Jesus is a sacrificial lamb;
• the level where Jesus is a scapegoat and a sufferer for people’s sins;
• the level where Jesus is a redeemer and a savior;
• the level where Jesus is bread and wine in the Holy Communion.

I suggest that all four levels prove distinct yet interdependent interpretations for the crucifixion. The different interpretations bring to the fore different aspects of the figure of Jesus and his death. While all of these aspects have been studied extensively by various authors from a cognitive linguistic perspective, my focus will be on the interrelations and interdependence of the four interpretations of Jesus’ figure and death.

Abstract

Antonio Barcelona’s work has advanced our understanding of the role played by pragmatics in the production and comprehension of metonymy. Much of his work has focused on playful uses of metonymy, which involve creative extensions of attested metonymic relationships, particularly in the pursuit of adversarial humour. Whilst there has been extensive work on the creative use of metaphor, very few studies have explored the range of ways in which metonymy is used creatively. In this article, I analyse creative uses of metonymy from a range of sources including film reviews, text messaging, art, advertising, cinema and literature in order to identify the different forms that creative uses of metonymy can take. In the process of analysing these different creative uses of metonymy, I address the following questions: What is the difference between ‘novelty’ and ‘creativity’ and what is the relationship between them, in the context of metaphor and metonymy? To what extent and in what ways are the principles underpinning the identification of creative metonymy, analogous to those used in the identification of creative metaphor? At what level of abstraction should the creativity be identified in each case? Can and should we distinguish between ‘creative metonymy per se, and creative uses of metonymy? At what point can we say that a new metonymic mapping has been created as opposed to a creative use of an existing mapping? What affordances does metonymy offer for creative use and how do these compare with the affordances that are offered by metaphor?

Abstract

The rhetorical trope hypallage, here called Attribute Transfer (AT), has been exploited artistically and creatively since antiquity in poetic and narrative discourse, but it is also used in ordinary language. This study focuses on modifier-noun constructions in which the prenominal modifier (attribute) is “shifted” from one position to another – a “transfer” that triggers metonymic interpretations. AT constitutes a violation of the iconically motivated proximity principle (Givón 2001) according to which the conceptual and functional closeness of linguistic units is mirrored in their morphosyntactic structure. The principle of proximity competes with metonymic motivation – the latter prevailing at the expense of the former. An interesting structural parallelism exists between AT and the shift of the negator not from its “logical” position to another syntactic slot (‘neg-transportation’), which again exhibits a violation of the proximity principle. The article concludes with some suggestions for further research, especially cross-linguistic and typological investigations.

Abstract

The chapter is concerned with the metonymic use of hit in expressions such as hit the road. The metonymic nature underlying these expressions has already been noticed by Ruhl (1989) and Hirtle (2013). The present study focuses on the mapping of the literal use of hit as the metonymic source to its target. The metonymic source is characterized by the use of hit as an Achievement verb in sentences such as The ball hit the window. The metonymic target in hit the road comprises two events, motion to a goal and a subsequent action. The relevant part of meaning resides in the unexpressed action. The action is inferred from the close relationship between a type of thing and potential actions afforded by the thing. In Let’s hit the road, the type noun road affords metonymic “routes” to three motivated kinds of actions: ‘travelling’, ‘beginning a journey’ and ‘leaving’.

Abstract

This study contributes to the existing body of research that aims at showing the impact of metonymy in grammar. In this case, new evidence will be provided by exploring the English pseudo-partitive construction of time measurement, illustrated by ten years of marriage. By using corpus data, it will be shown that metonymy is at work in many instantiations of this construction. The second noun in these expressions should prima facie be semantically eligible for time measurement, that is, a temporal entity or a second-order entity. However, this is not the only type of noun that appears in the second noun slot, which can also be occupied by first and third-order entities as well as places. The presence of an expression of time-measurement in the first part of the construction coerces different ontological categories into a second-order reading and can be regarded as a guide for the correct interpretation when the second noun includes several facets, illustrating the cognitive process of cueing.

Abstract

When it comes to onomatopoeia, it is often claimed that such words are the epitome of sound symbolism, as the link between form and meaning is felt to be “natural”. Yet, this is quite far from the case: onomatopoeic words do need to conform to the phonological and morphological restrictions of a respective language. Due to these restrictions, onomatopoeic forms can vary greatly with regard to the degree to which they are felt to be imitative of a particular sound, making it quite a challenge to succinctly delimit or define this category of words. Accordingly, the paper investigates the role of onomatopoeic formations in English and provides a novel definition of onomatopoeia that is able to encompass both novel and lexicalised examples. In order to do so, the paper advocates a metonymy-based approach to onomatopoeic forms.

While it is often stated within cognitive linguistics that metonymy is fundamental in language and cognition (see Barcelona, 2019 for a recent overview), few researchers have done so much to justify this claim as Antonio Barcelona. The present paper is in honour of this lifelong achievement.

Abstract

We investigate the figurative size (big or small) that more naturally fits the conceptual representation of the moral emotion concepts pride and shame. We hypothesize the pairings pride-big and shame-small to be more natural than their counterparts, because of the emotions’ expressive profile: pride’s expanded body posture makes us look big, while shame’s shrunk body posture makes us look small. These effects are part of the folk model of pride and shame observed in language and the mapping can be best described as metonymic. An Implicit Association Test is used to investigate the existence of these conceptual pairings in Spanish. Faster reaction times and fewer errors were observed for metonymy-congruent compared to incongruent pairs. These results provide the first empirical evidence of a cognitive association coherent with our hypothesized metonymic link and constitute an empirical psycholinguistic contribution to the study of conceptual metonymy.

Abstract

Among the linguistic consequences of the current pandemic, we focus on the usage of the lexeme Covid(-19) in Italian, both in the language of the daily press and in institutional/technical language. More specifically, we analyze the range of its polysemy and the role of metonymy in the semantic shifts that have produced it. The salience of the highly infectious pathogen, which also prompted its metaphorical reconceptualization, triggered the first extension of the term, originally denoting the disease, to predominantly denote the virus that causes it. This has also resulted in an almost complete shift of grammatical gender from feminine to masculine. Beside the primary metonymic shift, Covid(-19) developed a variety of further meanings which highlight different components of the emerging covid frame. The linguistic data are drawn from La Repubblica, a daily general-interest newspaper, and from a selection of texts by major governmental and health institutions.

Abstract

Cyclic repetition can be observed in the use of figurative elements in the conceptualization of the coronavirus crisis, involving visual intertextuality or intervisuality. An example is provided by Rosie the Riveter, an iconic image from WW2, which has become extremely popular in recent times. The image in question has undergone a number of changes over time. Initially it was used as a personification thereby becoming a feminist symbol (essentially a stereotype). Then, it continued as a paragon. More recently it has acquired new meanings and functions by dispensing with almost all paragon and stereotype elements. These changes have been driven or supported by metonymies. Some of these metonymies have had an intrinsic or constitutive role, while other have had an extrinsic or recontextualizing role. The effects of the latter can be appreciated in the light of exemplification theory, which we take here to be a special form of discourse framing that heavily relies on metonymy. The metonymic figurativity analyzed in this article is not purely referential. There is added attitudinal value that primarily arises from establishing social rapport, creating empathy, and mobilizing citizens for action, while criticizing certain behaviors.

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