Metaphor- and metonymy-based compounds in English: a cognitive linguistic approach
Metaphor- and metonymy-based compounds in English: a cognitive linguistic approach

Summary/Abstract: The paper makes the following novel claims: (1) the semantics of noun--noun compounds which is activated by metaphor and/or metonymy (often termed as "exocentric" compounds in linguistics and generally regarded as semantically opaque) can be accounted for with the help of conceptual metaphor and metonymy theory; (2) there are regular patterns of metaphor- and metonymy-based compounds, depending on which constituent is affected by conceptual metaphor and/or metonymy. In the second part of the paper I look at a subtype of metaphor- and metonymy-based noun--noun compounds, where the simultaneous activation of both metaphor and metonymy affects the meaning, and give an account of the productive patterns that underlie this type.

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