“给予”双及物结构中的转喻

Metonymy in the Ditransitive Construction of “Giving”

“给予”事件可以是一个复杂事件。在英汉语表“给予”意义的双及物结构中,有许多动词原本没有与“给予”有关的“转移”意义,只是表述“给予”的分事件,即前因、后果、方式、途径、目的等。然而这些分事件与整个“给予”事件关系密切,转喻使这些动词得以表述“给予”事件的整体。这种转喻现象在英汉语中都有体现,在英语中尤为明显。

The ＂giving＂ event is a complex event. In the English and Chinese ditransitive constructions that represent ＂intended transfer of patient from the agent to the recipient＂, many of the verbs do not have the meaning of ＂transfer＂ outside the construction. They originally represent various sub - events of the complex event of ＂giving＂ , e. g. , the antecedent, consequence, manner, medium or purpose of the main event of ＂giving＂. The ＂transfer＂ sense posited for those verbs in the ditransitive construction is attributed to the ＂contiguity＂ of the sub - events to the main event. Thus, it is the mechanism of metonymy that has licensed them to be used in the ditransitive construction. This phenomenon exists in both English and Chinese, but is more notable in English.