engleski

Metonymic motivation in anaphoric reference

This paper addresses the issue of metonymic anaphora, i.e. the selection of anaphoric pronoun whenever the antecedent is metonymic. Although previous analyses have attempted to account for the principles that govern metonymic anaphora and for the existence of purported irregularities, a comprehensive and systematic solution to the problem has not yet been provided. Our starting point has been the basic assumption that the nature of the underlying mapping in a metonymic antecedent has an important role in determining the selection and behaviour of the adequate anaphoric device. With this in mind, we have provided a definition of metonymy which takes into account the nature of the inclusion relationship between source and target and have accounted for the cognitive principles which determine this relationship. We have further distinguished between single and double metonymic mappings. On the basis of this discussion, we have put forward a general constraint on metonymic anaphora and three principles, the Domain Availability Principle, the Domain Precedence Principle, and the Domain Combinability Principle. The interaction and/or tension between these principles, which are graded in terms of their relative strength, governs the selection of the relevant anaphoric pronoun. Finally, we have distinguished between reference to a metonymic noun and implicative reference. This distinction has proved useful in dealing with some apparently problematic examples.

anaphor; antecedent; deferred indexical reference; domain

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