This chapter examines the relationship between metonymy and cases of category broadening and narrowing and the resulting state of vertical polysemy (e.g., cat ‘domestic cat’ > ‘any feline’ and drink ‘consume liquid’ > ‘consume alcohol’). Broadening and narrowing have been argued to be motivated by metonymic processes where a category member stands for the whole category or vice versa (Radden and Kövecses, 1999; cf. also Lakoff, 1987). Here, I show that there is a crucial difference between the domain structures involved in metonymy and in vertical polysemy. Unlike metonymies, broadening and narrowing do not involve a shift in the salience of domains (see Croft, 1993). Instead, I argue that there are four possible domain configurations that may underlie vertically related meanings.
SYLVESTER, LOUISE, MEGAN TIDDEMAN & RICHARD INGHAM
2022. Lexical borrowing in the Middle English period: a multi-domain analysis of semantic outcomes. English Language and Linguistics 26:2 ► pp. 237 ff.
Sylvester, Louise, Megan Tiddeman & Richard Ingham
2022. Semantic Shift in Middle English: Farming and Trade As Test Cases. Transactions of the Philological Society 120:3 ► pp. 427 ff.
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