Metonymy

А повз неї тупали тисячі ніг, дихали тисячі грудей, ревіли баси і танцювали, як божевільні, дзвони.

Сивиною?

Чого ти, чуєш, розсівся перед моїми літами, перед моїм смутком і

Нам треба більше робочих рук.

Язик до Києва доведе.

Молодий ентузіазм, так і на обачливу старість.

Окуляри сьогодні були дуже прискіпливі: на зборах дивилися суворо як на

• Metonymy can be seen as a specific kind of symbolism by which the most essential component of the subject is abstracted to represent it. This component acts as a single symbol for something larger and usually more complex.

• For instance, a crown is the most essential material component of the trappings of royalty, and so it serves well in representing the whole sys­tem of monarchy.

• Similarly, the stage is a material component of acting as a profession. This too serves to represent symbolically something abstract and dynamic.

• The 'cloth' symbolises the religious profession, and the 'bar' represents the legal profession. Both these items are essential material objects and are used to refer to the abstract concept of a profession.

• In a statement such as 'Shakespeare depicts monarchs as human' the name is actually symbolising the total collection of his works. This form of metonymy is useful as a very graphic kind of shorthand.

• This pragmatic explanation could also apply to the example of 'Whitehall announced today...', although we could ascribe more political and even ulterior functions to this usage. [Remember, 'Whitehall' represent the civil service in the UK.]

• To refer to Whitehall as having issued a statement is to generalise the source of the communication. This may be in the political interest of the Establishment. It is a form of social control to promote an image of a corporate mass of civil servants, rather than suggesting that one per­son or even a small hierarchical group makes significant and powerful decisions.

• Whitehall as a material location stands for something abstract, in this case an institution. This symbolic use depersonalises the source of the statement, perhaps thereby giving it more authority.

• This political interpretation is merely speculation, but the mechanical anal­ysis of metonymy as a symbolic device stands on firmer ground.

• [Pedants who collect terms enjoy distinguishing metonymy from synech-doche, which is its figurative bedfellow.]

SYNECDOCHE

This variety of metonymy is realized in two variants. The first variant is naming the whole object by mentioning part of it:

Caroline lives with Jack under the same roof (under the same roof =

in the same house).

The second variant of synecdoche is using the name of the whole ob­ject to denote a constituent part of this object:

The hall applauded (the hall = the people inside).

More examples:

The school went to the zoo.

Here comes another beard.

The blue suit bowed and left the room.

The museum spoke of the past.

It's October now. Rummer's rose no more.

Словом, він був надзвичайно розумною, талановитою людиною.

Його кров вас покарає.

Він мав свій куток, свій шматок хліба.

Уночі палало село.

Профспілки звикли до масовості, для них зайвий чоловік поряд – нормально!

Дата добавления: 2014-01-11