Creative compounding in English : the semantics of metaphorical and metonymical noun-noun combinations / Reka Benczes.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Benczes, Réka.

Series:

Human cognitive processing ; v. 19.

Human cognitive processing, 1387-6724 ; v. 19

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

English language--Compound words.

English language.

English language--Noun phrase.

English language--Semantics.

Metaphor.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (223 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Amsterdam ; Philadelphia : John Benjamins Pub. Co., c2006.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Metaphorical and metonymical compounds - novel and lexicalised ones alike - are remarkably abundant in language. Yet how can we be sure that when using an expression such as land fishing in order to speak about metal detecting, the referent will be immediately understood even if the hearer had not been previously familiar with the compound? Accordingly, this book sets out to explore whether the semantics of metaphorical and metonymical noun-noun combinations can be systematically analysed within a theoretical framework, where systematicity pertains to regularities in both the cognitive processes and the products of these processes, that is, the compounds themselves. Backed up by recent psycholinguistic evidence, the book convincingly demonstrates that such compounds are not semantically opaque as it has been formerly claimed: they can in fact be analysed and accounted for within a cognitive linguistic framework, by the combined application of metaphor, metonymy, blending, profile determinacy and schema theory; and represent the creative and associative word formation processes that we regularly apply in everyday language.

Contents:

Creative Compounding in English

Editorial page

Title page

LCC data

dedication page

Contents

Acknowledgements

List of figures

List of tables

Notation

Abbreviations

1. Introduction and some basic concepts

1.1. Scope of this study

1.2. What is a compound?

1.3. Endocentric and exocentric compounds

1.4. Nonce words and neologisms

1.5. The data

1.6. Structure of the book

I. Theory and past approaches

2. Descriptivists, transformationalists and alternative theories

2.1. Descriptivist approaches

2.2. Analyses within the transformationalist/generativist framework

2.3. Alternative approaches

2.4. Summary

3. Cognitive linguistics

3.1. Establishing a new linguistic philosophy

3.2. The Langackerian system of grammar

3.3. Conceptual metaphor

3.4. Conceptual metonymy

3.5. Blending

3.6. Methodology

3.7. Summary

4. Compositionality and transparency

4.1. Contested concepts

4.2. Idiomaticity

4.3. Storage versus computation?

4.4. Summary

II. Analysing creative compounds

5. Metaphor-based compounds

5.1. Metaphor-based modifier

5.2. Metaphor-based profile determinant

5.3. Double metaphorical processing: metaphor-based modifier and profile determinant

5.4. Summary

6. Metaphor-based semantic relation between the constituents of the compound

6.1. Image metaphors

6.2. Monsters and zombies

6.3. Personification: bandit sign

6.4. Single-scope blends

6.5. Double-scope blends

6.6. Summary

7. Metonymy-based compounds

7.1. Metonymy-based modifier

7.2. Metonymy-based profile determinant

7.3. Double metonymical processing: metonymy-based modifier and profile determinant

7.4. The compound as a whole is metonymical

7.5. Metonymy-based relation between the two constituents of the compound

7.6. Summary.

8. Metaphor- and metonymy-based compounds

8.1. Metaphor-based semantic relationship between the constituents of the compound and metonymy-based modifier

8.2. Metaphor-based semantic relationship between the constituents of the compound and metonymy-based profile determinant

8.3. Metonymy-based modifier and metaphor based profile determinant

8.4. Metaphor-based modifier and metonymy-based profile determinant

8.5. Summary

9. A brief overview and the wider perspective

9.1. The results: systematic creativity

9.2. Alternative construal and motivation

9.3. The wider perspective

Appendix

References

General index

Metaphor and metonymy index

The series Human Cognitive Processing.

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9786612155307

9781282155305

128215530X

9789027293183

902729318X

OCLC:

427506770