Chapter published in:
Changes in Meaning and Function: Studies in historical linguistics with a focus on SpanishEdited by Jorge Fernández Jaén and Herminia Provencio Garrigós
[IVITRA Research in Linguistics and Literature 25] 2020
► pp. 109–116
A note on the relative diachronic productivity of metaphor and metonymy
Dirk Geeraerts | University of Leuven
Lisbeth De Laet | University of Leuven
The assumption that the progress of culture is
characterized by an increase in abstract thinking (in terms of the
Vygotskyan model of cognitive development) suggests that the proportion of
productive metaphor compared to metonymy increases over time. However, a
large-scale investigation of metonymical and metaphoric shifts recorded in
Buck’s dictionary of Indo-European synonyms does not support that
suggestion.
Keywords: diachronic productivity, metaphor, metonymy, Indo-European, Vygotsky, synonymy
Published online: 02 April 2020
https://doi.org/10.1075/ivitra.25.05gee
https://doi.org/10.1075/ivitra.25.05gee
References
Buck, Carl Darling
De Laet, Lisbeth
Fabiszak, Magorzata, and Anna Hebda
Geeraerts, Dirk, and Grondelaers, Stefan
Glebkin, Vladimir V.
Pagán Cánovas, Cristóbal
Peirsman, Yves, and Geeraerts, Dirk
Tissari, Heli
Vygotsky, Lev