In:Figurative Language – Intersubjectivity and Usage
Edited by Augusto Soares da Silva
[Figurative Thought and Language 11] 2021
► pp. 287–306
Metaphor, metonymy and polysemy
A historical perspective
Published online: 19 May 2021
https://doi.org/10.1075/ftl.11.09all
https://doi.org/10.1075/ftl.11.09all
Abstract
Polysemy is a basic principle of the lexis of
English, but the full range of senses of a lexeme and the ways in
which these interact are not often considered in accounts of
metaphor and metonymy. This paper presents a case study of the
lexeme dull, which develops multiple meanings that
do not appear to represent the kind of straightforward concrete >
abstract metaphorical mapping that might be assumed. Rather, the
complex semantic history of the word reveals gradual shifts in
meaning involving metonymy, and change motivated by analogy. I argue
that ignoring word histories risks synchronic ‘misreading’ of the
relationship between their senses (Geeraerts, 2015), and that polysemy should
be acknowledged more prominently in standard accounts.
Keywords: historical semantics, lexical semantics, metaphor, metonymy, polysemy, semantic change, analogy, lexical gaps, antonymy
Article outline
- 1.Introduction
- 2.The semantic history of dull
- 3.The emergence of the sense ‘not bright’
- 4.Motivation for the meaning ‘not sharp’
- 5.Conclusion
Notes References Appendix
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