Publications

Publication details [#8603]

Panther, Klaus-Uwe. 2003. Review of Ruiz de Mendoza, Francisco Josè and Josè Luis Otal Campo. (2002). 'Metonymy, Grammar, and Communication' (Colección Estudios de Lengua Inglesa 7). Albolote: Editorial Comares. Annual Review of Cognitive Linguistics I : 269–288.

Abstract

(From Introduction) The book under review presents, to my knowledge, the first monograph in a cognitive-linguistic framework that is (almost) exclusively dedicated to the conceptual, pragmatic, and grammatical role of metonymy. At the end of the book (p. 160) the authors express their hope that "they have offered the reader enough food for reflection", and indeed they have. They present a rich array of linguistic data that demonstrate the ubiquity of conceptual metonymy. As the authors (henceforth: R & O) point out in their introduction, in the relatively short history of cognitive linguistics, metonymy has been recognized as a fundamental cognitive process; notwithstanding, the emphasis of most researchers has been, and continues to be, on metaphor. Slowly, however, the study of metonymy as a cognitive and a linguistic phenomenon is gaining ground, as evidenced in a number of recent publications, workshops and theme sessions at pragmatic and cognitive-linguistic conferences that have focused partially or completely on metonymy- see e.g. the volumes edited by Panther and Radden (1999), Barcelona (2000), Dirven and Pörings (2002), Panther and Thornburg (2003). The research presented in these volumes presents a variety of different, though not necessarily compatible, views on metonymy. There is thus a desideratum for a book that provides a state-of-the-art account of the work done in this field, evaluates its originality and internal coherence, develops a set of criteria for conceptual metonymy, and offers perspectives for future research. (Klaus-Uwe Panther)