Chapter 2. Metonymic layers in proverbs

Abstract

Metonymy can be manifest at several levels in proverbs. In this chapter, we identify five such metonymic layers. We first examine whole proverbs as instances of the specific-for-generic metonymy. Secondly, proverbs can be seen as indirect speech acts in which an element of a speech act scenario can stand metonymically for the whole of the associated illocutionary category. Proverbs can also appear in reduced form, and the part that is retained is capable of metonymically evoking the whole. A phrase within a proverb can occasionally be interpreted as an instance of the metonymy participant for event. Finally, a part of a proverb can receive a non-event metonymic interpretation that may even happen systematically, as in the case of weather proverbs.