The Role of Metonymy and Metaphor in Grammaticalization: The Expression of Aspect

Abstract

In this paper, I discuss the operation of metonymy and the interaction of metaphor and metonymy in the grammaticalization of prepositions into prefixes. The metonymic shift that allows the integration of the prefix with the base can take place directly in cases in which both elements share the same domain. When two different domains are involved, the previous operation of a metaphor that neutralizes ontological differences between domains is required. To examine the metonymic and metaphoric operations, I take two Polish prepositions (na ‘on’ and do ‘to’) that have become prefixes and have changed the meaning of two specific verbs to which they have been attached, pakować ‘put things into a container’ and myśleć ‘think’, respectively. The first verb belongs to the domain of physical space, while the second does not. The analysis is conducted within the framework of Cognitive Grammar, which takes the view that all grammatical elements in language are meaningful and that they impose and symbolize particular ways of construing conceptual content. This paper shows that this is particularly evident in processes of grammaticalization of prepositions into prefixes.