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In:New Vistas in Research on Metaphor and Metonymy: Their contexts and interaction across discourse types and modalities
Edited by Robert Kiełtyka, Mario Brdar, Marcin Kudła and Goran Milić
[Human Cognitive Processing 82] 2027
► pp. 44–78

Chapter 2
How to stomach the idea that an internal organ of the body can become an action

A cognitive semantic view of denominal verbs

 | University of Rzeszów
 | University of Rzeszów
This content is being prepared for publication; it may be subject to changes.
Abstract
This chapter investigates the diachronic semantic development of denominal verbs derived from English nouns referring to internal organs, focusing on the cognitive mechanisms underlying these morphological processes. Drawing on data from the history of English, the study demonstrates the central role of metonymy in verb formation, particularly through the patterns patient for action and instrument for action. Additionally, the analysis identifies complex metaphtonymic interactions, whereby metaphorically conceived containers of emotion are metonymically extended to encode actions or experiences. These findings illustrate how cultural conceptualizations of the body interact with embodied experience and linguistic creativity. Metaphtonymy emerges as a powerful explanatory framework for both the historical durability and semantic richness of certain verbs, additionally suggesting directions for cross-linguistic research on body-based verb formation.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Approaches to conversion
  • 3.Body part meronymy
  • 4.Methodology
  • 5.Literature review
  • 6.Analysis
    • 6.1Brain
    • 6.2Heart
    • 6.3Spleen
    • 6.4Stomach
    • 6.5Gut, bowel and entrail
    • 6.6Bladder
  • 7.Discussion
  • 8.Concluding remarks
  • Author queries
  • Notes
  • References
References (40)
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