A cross-linguistic perspective on body-part terms: Chained metonymies in lexicon and grammar

Hilpert, Martin

doi:10.1075/z.136.07hil

In:Aspects of Meaning Construction
Edited by Günter Radden, Klaus-Michael Köpcke, Thomas Berg and Peter Siemund
[Not in series 136] 2007
► pp. 77–98

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Chained metonymies in lexicon and grammar

A cross-linguistic perspective on body-part terms

Martin Hilpert | Rice University

Published online: 11 April 2007

https://doi.org/10.1075/z.136.07hil

This chapter investigates chained metonymies, which are metonymies that involve multiple conceptual shifts. Drawing on a survey of body part terms in a large balanced sample of languages, it explores which types of conceptual shifts give rise to extended lexical meanings, and which types are involved in the development of more schematic, grammatical meaning. It is shown that for body part terms, chained metonymies mostly lead to lexical extensions, while serial extensions that are rooted in metaphor are cross-linguistically common in the development of grammatical meaning.

Keywords: body part terms, chained metonymies, cross-linguistic comparisons, grammaticalization, interaction of metaphor and metonymy, lexicalization, metaphor, metonymy

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