Cognitive Bases Of Understanding Metonymy

Traditional rhetoric considers metonymy as a figure of speech in which the name of something is used to refer to something else that the name is closely related to. In 1980s, the publication of Metaphors We Live By written by Lakoff and Johnson serves as a revolution in the linguistic field. This book breaks through the limitations of traditional theory and considers that metonymy, together with metaphor, is thought of not only a figure of speech but also a linguistic phenomenon, the more important; it is a common cognitive model. In the past decades, metaphor has occupied an outstanding status. In contrast, metonymy has received far less attention, In fact, metonymy is more basic and common than metaphor, that is, metonymy is conceptual in nature. Cognitive theory regards metonymy as an essential means that human beings recognize the world of reality. Grounded in human experience, metonymies construct the ordinary, everyday way we think and act. A large number of metonymies in language reflect a common mode of thinking. Metonymic thought plays a crucial role in understanding utterances. Idealized cognitive model is an important notion in understanding metonymy, which not only stores information but also reconstructs the information input; ICM serves as an important role in the human communication with the world. Metonymy is a mapping that occurs within the same domain, that is, a category is used to stand for another (within the same cognitive domain).While metaphor is a mapping that occurs between different domains. The understanding of metonymy must mainly involve the recognition of the salient part of an object as a whole. During the process of recognizing the world, people tend to use the most salient, the well-understood or easy-to-perceive aspect of an object, namely, the salient aspect. Metonymy should be interpreted not as simply substituting one entity for another entity but as a cognitive process in which one more salient conceptual entity mentally accesses another entity. All in all, metonymy is not only a linguistic form but also a very powerful and efficient tool and a common mode of thinking.