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What's really going on with the ham sandwich?: An investigation into the nature of referential metonymy.

Authors :
Bowerman, Josephine
Source :
International Review of Pragmatics; 2019, Vol. 11 Issue 1, p22-55, 34p
Publication Year :
2019

Abstract

Working within the framework of Relevance Theory, I investigate the nature of referential metonymy (specifically, metonymically-used definite descriptions), aiming to elucidate (i) the pragmatic mechanisms involved in referential metonymy comprehension, and (ii) the contribution of a metonymically-used definite description to the explicitly communicated content of an utterance. I propose that, while the interpretation of referential metonymy is properly inferential in nature, it cannot be explained in terms of 'meaning modulation' (narrowing and broadening); rather, the literal meaning of a metonymically-used referring expression remains intact, and is used as evidence of the speaker's target referent. In addition, I argue that the referential/attributive distinction proposed by Donnellan (1966) for literally-used definite descriptions also applies to metonymically-used definite descriptions. Thus, the contribution of a metonymically-used definite description to explicit utterance content differs according to whether the definite description is used 'referentially' or 'attributively'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Subjects

Subjects :
METONYMS
RELEVANCE

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
18773095
Volume :
11
Issue :
1
Database :
Complementary Index
Journal :
International Review of Pragmatics
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
133953795
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.1163/18773109-201810012