Metonymy:借代与转喻

Non-figurative Referential Metonymy & Figurative Non-referential Metonymy

Metonymy在汉语中有两种译法:一是"借代",二是"转喻、换喻"。本文用认知语言学的观点探讨metonymy的译法问题,认为metonymy有的有"喻",有的无"喻;"有的有指代性,有的无指代性。因此,metonymy有的可译为"借代",有的则可译为"转喻、换喻"。我们试图得出这样的结论:无"喻"有"代"的metonymy(如"The pot is boiling)"是"借代",有"喻"无"代"的metonymy(如"Mary is just a pretty face)"是"转喻",有"喻"又有"代"的metonymy(如"The crown has notwithheld its assent to a Bill since 1707.)"则译为"借代"或"转喻"皆可。此外,从原意、非原意无喻借代、非原意有喻转喻到隐喻,实际上是一个连续体,它们定义清楚,但边界模糊,有许多问题还值得进一步深入探讨。

＂Metonymy＂ is rendered into Chinese either as ＂jiedai＂ （借代）, meaning ＂non-figurative referential metonymy＂, or ＂zhuanyu＂ （转喻） meaning ＂figurative（referential or non-referential）metonymy＂. In this paper, we shall discuss this issue from a cognitive linguistic view, and show that some metonymies are figurative, others are non-figurative; some are referential, others are non-referential. We are trying to find such a conclusion： non-figurative referential metonymies （e.g. ＂The pot is boiling＂） can be translated as ＂jiedai＂, figurative non-referential metonymies （e.g. ＂Mary is just a pretty face＂） can be translated as ＂zhuanyu＂, and figurative referential metonymies （e.g. ＂The crown has not withheld its assent to a Bill since 1707.＂） can be translated as either ＂jiedal＂ or ＂zhuanyu＂. Literalness, non-literal non-figurative metonymy, non-literal figurative metonymy, and metaphor form a continuum, which is a complicated issue, since the definition is clear while their borders are fuzzy.