Overlaps in metaphorical and metonymic communication

What is it about?

This article is about the blurs that exist between metaphor and metonymy. Metaphor is generally considered to be the phenomenon where we talk, and maybe even think, about something in terms of something else. For example, it would be metaphorical to talk about a negative experience in life, such as a long-term illness, as a “rough journey”. So, it would be metonymic to say, “you’ll find Jane Austen on the top shelf”, when what we actually mean to refer to are the novels by Jane Austen. Whilst usually analysed as two distinct things, there is also much evidence to show that metaphorical communication can also borderline metonymic communication, and vice versa. We also know that a metaphor can later become a metonymy in some discourses, and a metonymy can later become a metaphor. The boundaries between metaphor and metonymy are therefore sometimes very blurry. This article draws on previous research to argue that these blurs are highly interesting opportunities for analysis and to call for future research that gives as much importance to them as to analysing metaphor and metonymy separately.

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Photo by Jannes Glas on Unsplash

Photo by Jannes Glas on Unsplash

Why is it important?

Analysing metaphor and metonymy provides windows into the relationship between language and thought. The better we understand them, the better we understand how humans communicate, think, and behave. Research on metaphor and metonymy has been used to improve communication in many different sectors, including healthcare, psychotherapy, crisis communication, politics, advertising, and more.

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