4.3. THE SEMANTICS OF METONYMIC EXPRESSIONS IN
4.3.1. The basic conceptual functions of metonymy
Metonymy reflects an important part of the way people ordinarily conceptualize of themselves, events and the everyday world. In both English and Vietnamese we can see that there can be different kinds of relations between a metonymic expression and its basic sense. Places often associate with people living there; well-known institutions locate there, events which occur there, and goods produced from there. The villages, the towns or schools closely relate to the people who living or working there. These relations produce different types of metonymies in both English and Vietnamese.
(75) Our whole town went to her funeral. [63]
(76) Bản hoang vắng hẳn, không ai dám ra nương ra rẫy. Buổi tối, chân các cầu thang đựơc lấp rào gài gai kỹ lưỡng, các cửa nhà đóng chặt. Sáng sáng thấy vết chân hổ vòng quanh từng ngôi nhà một. Cả bản sống trong nơm
nớp lo âu. [34, p.198]
Consider the association between the author and his published work, we often find that it convenient to use the name of the author to refer to his published work. Not surprisingly, in their short stories, English and Vietnamese writers successfully use author-for-work metonymy as the example (31).
(77) Breathing laboriously she tried to explain to me what I should do
with the Mozart. [42, p.204]
The Mozart the Mozart’s work
(Linguistic expression) (Targeted referent)
The Mozart (the author himself)
Figure 4.1. The representation of the conceptual relation of author-for-work metonymy.
(78) “Are you from the press?” [62]
In order to interpret the implied meaning of (78) we consider the relations between the printing press and the journalists who work for the newspapers. It is noted that the printing press produces newspapers; hence
“the press” is often used for the news media. Moreover, the journalist’s work closely relates to news media. Thus, “Are you from the press?” could refer
specifically to a journalist, or more generally to an edition of the publication or to the publishing organization itself.
(79) She wore Levi's and a tee shirt that said Phi Zappa Krappa.
[44, p.21]
The conceptual relation that is the basis for the metonymic extension in (79) is the relation between the name of producer and the product that is manufactured there. In this case, the name of the commercial firm Levi is used to stand for their well-known product: a pair of jeans. It is clearly that metonymy is produced through our cognitive process. This is a referential process and is conceived via a referential approach where the metonymic expression is used to refer to an abstract semantic entity that is related to real object in the world originally.
With the same analogue, this world denoting function of metonymic expression can also been seen in example (80) below
(80) They told me that until recently you’d driven a green Ford. [12, p.40]
It is reasonable to suggest that the noun phrase “a green Ford” was used metonymically to refer to a green car which was assigned a famous brand name in Automobile Industry. Again, the interpretation of this referring expression can only be achieved with the recall of encyclopedic knowledge about makes of car.
Pustejovsky (1995) [65], developed an interesting model for sense selection in context. According to him, conceptual relation that permits metonymy is that between a document and the content of the document. Thus the word book refers to a physical object: a collection of sheets with printing or pictures on them that is bound together. But we can also use the word to
refer to the information content of the physical book. Compare the uses of the word in following sentence.
(81) He was sitting in a corner reading a book, and when he saw Gillian approaching, he unwillingly put down his book and took off his
glasses. [43, p.401]
- Y đang ngồi đọc sách ở một góc và khi thấy Gillian tiến lại, y miễn cưỡng đặt sách xuống và lấy kính đeo mắt ra.
In the second clause “He unwillingly put down his book”, the writer is clearly referred to the physical object. However, in the first clause “He was sitting in a corner reading a book”, the metonymy “a book” referred to the information contained in the physical object. In the case like this, conceptual metonymic relation allows a noun referring to a physical object to refer to something more abstract.
In some cases, the conceptual process seems to be more pragmatically and culturally. Let have a look at the following sentence.
(82) As they had their bourbons he doubted whether she could cook on campfires. He thought about what they could salvage to eat. [45, p.67]
(83) Chị uống đi. Nếp đó. [19, p.67]
Obviously, in (82) and (83), the speaker does not refer to a place name where maize is grown or type of rice. It is a case of the material-for-product metonymy. In (82) bourbons refer to a type of whisky distilled in the US chiefly from maize and in (83) the noun “nếp” (sticky rice) stands for a kind of wine made of sticky rice. The wine is very popular in Vietnam. In order to interpret the metonymic relation, we figure the close relationship between the
material “nếp” (stick rice) and the wine. It can be said that the meaning of metonymic expression in this case is fairly context-dependent.
Let’s go on with the following examples
(84) Đơn vị chúng tôi đóng trong một doanh trại sát sân bay. Từng đoàn phi cơ cất cánh, hạ cánh, ngày lẫn đêm, đinh tai nhức óc, làm chúng tôi không ngủ được. [41, p.75]
(Our unit is stationed next to the airport. Daily, nightly, airplanes are taking off, landing. It is too much noise. We can not get any sleep.)
We hear “Từng đoàn phi cơ cất cánh, hạ cánh” when we know it is the pilots who actually control the airplanes to take off and land. Basing on the conceptual relationship which holds between the controller and the thing controlled, we can identify the non-literal meaning of the sentence.
(85) Hôm qua tôi uống nhiều quá. Có lẽ gần chai rôm. [40, p.121]
(Yesterday I must have drunk nearly a bottle. It was too much.)
This is the cognitive relation between a container and its contents on the basis of the spatial contiguity.