Metaphoric and Metonymic Operations for the Iron Expressions

Gao Jinlin

doi:10.22158/sll.v5n4p26

Abstract

This study uses the word iron as an example to analyze the phenomena of meaning extensions and function shifts from a cognitive semantic perspective. The analysis shows that the meaning extensions of iron, which are systematic and motivated, are present at three word class levels: nouns, adjectives and verbs. The nominal extensions are systematically connected to the parent noun by the metonymy of THE MATERIAL CONSTITUTING AN OBJECT FOR THE OBJECT. The adjectival extensions are motivated by the metonymy of CATEGORY FOR PROPERTY. The verbal extensions are mainly stemmed from the noun extensions and motivated by the metonymy chains of THE MATERIAL CONSTITUTING AN OBJECT FOR THE OBJECT and INSTRUMENT FOR ACTION. The extensions for the phrasal verb iron out are motivated by both the metonymy chains mentioned above and the metaphors of DIFFERENCES ARE WRINKLES, DIFFICULITIES ARE WRINKLES, and PLANS ARE WRINKLES.

Highlights

The element of iron forms much of Earth’s outer and inner core, and it plays an essential role in the biological functions of human beings
The analysis shows that the meaning extensions of iron, which are systematic and motivated, are present at three word class levels: nouns, adjectives and verbs
The verbal extensions are mainly stemmed from the noun extensions and motivated by the metonymy chains of THE MATERIAL CONSTITUTING AN OBJECT FOR THE OBJECT and INSTRUMENT FOR ACTION

Summary

Introduction

The element of iron forms much of Earth’s outer and inner core, and it plays an essential role in the biological functions of human beings. Iron has been variously employed for tools, implements, machinery, constructions, and many other applications. Lakoff (1987) claims that “meaning is characterized in terms of embodiment, i.e., in terms of our collective biological capacities and our physical and social experiences as beings functioning in our environment” The physical properties and functions of iron provide the experiential foundation for the meaning extensions of iron in English expressions. In the expressions like iron will, iron man, iron curtain, and iron law and so on, the extended meanings of iron are different but they are related to the physical properties and functions of iron. The recent studies of iron expressions apply the metaphorical usages of iron to some specific fields, which take iron metaphors as examples for the interpretation of some specific purposes. Gold and Segal (2017) analyzed the www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/sll

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Conclusion