The Pragmatic Functions Of Metonymy

This thesis is concerned with the pragmatic functions of metonymy and is an investigation into this issue within the framework of Verschueren's adaptation theory (AT) (1999).Metonymy was traditionally viewed as a figure of speech. It was often regarded as a referential phenomenon where a'stand for'relation is involved. In accordance with this view, the metonymic relationship is X STANDS FOR Y.However, recent work on metonymy has shown that the substitution view of metonymy is inadequate. A shared assumption among most cognitive linguists working on metonymy is that metonymy is a cognitive phenomenon where one entity provides mental access to another entity within the same idealized cognitive model (ICM) (Lakoff, 1987). This view suggests that metonymy is far from a linguistic phenomenon. The ubiquitousness of metonymy in languages is a reflection of its conceptual status. The view of metonymy as a conceptual phenomenon began with the publication of Lakoff & Johnson's (1980) influential book Metaphors We Live By. The significance of metonymy as a conceptual tool began to arouse the attention and interest of cognitive linguists. Their significant work on metonymy has contributed to a deeper understanding of the nature and function of metonymy.Metonymy performs various pragmatic functions. Panther & Radden (1999) have had a brief discussion on the functions of metonymy, claiming that Sperber & Wilson's (1995) principle of relevance may provide part of the answer to this issue. The relevance theory, however, falls short of adequacy in theoretical description in that it fails to offer an adequate description of the specific rules underlying the phenomenon.This thesis makes an attempt for a relatively more satisfactory answer to the issue of the pragmatic functions of metonymy within the framework of Verschueren's adaptation theory. Unlike the traditional pragmatic approaches, the adaptation theory takes a different perspective to language production and language interpretation, thus shedding new light on pragmatic study. It supplies a systematic and all-round interpretation from the angle of adaptation for the dynamic process of language use.With AT as a theoretical framework, this thesis investigates the pragmatic functions of...