The Interaction of Metaphor and Metonymy in Constructing the Meaning of Idiomatic Expressions in Persian

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Ph.D. student in linguistics at the University of Isfahan

2 Associate Professor of Linguistics, Linguistics Department, University of Isfahan, Iran.

Abstract

This study examines the role of various types of metaphor and metonymy interaction (metaphtonymy) patterns in constructing the meaning of Persian idiomatic expressions. For this aim, idioms with animal names were extracted from Farhange-Kenayate-Sokhan and studied within the framework of various patterns of metaphtonymy introduced by Ruiz de Mendoza(2021). The results demonstrates that, firstly, the semantic opacity of these idioms largely results from metaphorical and metonymic operations in the form of repetitive patterns; in other words, about two-thirds of these idiomatic expressions were constructed using metaphtonymy, which demonstrates the important role of metaphor and metonymy interaction patterns in constructing idiomatic expressions. Secondly, it was observed that there are some different patterns in the Persian language compared to what was introduced in previous studies in other languages. Moreover, among the existing patterns, metonymic reduction in the source of the metaphor contributed the most, while none of the data demonstrated metonymic expansion in the target of the metaphor. This issue can reflect the facilitating function of metaphor in understanding and the referential role of metonymy.

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Linguistic Studies: Theory and Practice
Volume 3, Issue 2 - Serial Number 6
Summer 2024
September 2024

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History

  • Receive Date: 16 March 2024
  • Revise Date: 01 June 2024
  • Accept Date: 12 June 2024

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