CONCEPTUAL METONYMY IN THE MEANING OF ENGLISH AND BULGARIAN NOMINAL COMPOUNDS

Abstract

Cognitive linguists regard metonymy as a conceptual phenomenon, a mechanism which shapes both language and thought and plays a central role in ordinary meaning construction. This paper rests on the assumption that the semantics of compounds can be analysed within a cognitive linguistic framework. It addresses the ways in which conceptual metonymy participates in the meaning of English and Bulgarian nominal compounds, and attempts to outline and compare the patterns of its operation.