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“Word-Formation as Grammaticalized Metonymy: A Contrastive Study of Russian, Czech, and Norwegian” by Laura A. Janda, Universitetet i Tromsø
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Slide 2: Main Idea: Role of metonymy in grammar
Metonymy as the motivating force for word-formation
Metonymy is more diverse in grammar than in lexicon
1. The Big Picture: Why study metonymy in grammar?
Slide 7: Russian example of grammatical metonymy
vehicle / target / suffix / vehicle class / target class / vehicle ex / target expart / whole / (и)а/ян / noun / noun / брюхо belly / брюхан person with a large belly
Slide 8: Czech example of grammatical metonymy
vehicle / target / suffix / vehicle class / target class / vehicle ex / target excontained / container / áč-Ø / noun / noun / květina flower / květináč flower-pot
2. Relevant Previous Scholarship
Works on metonymy say little about word-formation
Works on word-formation say little about metonymy
3. Databases: Russian, Czech, Norwegian
Slide 19: Databases are inventories of types.
Type: unique combination of metonymy designation, word class designation, suffix
Slide 24: Types: 769 in Russian, 576 in Czech, 180 in Norwegian
Slide 25: Suffixes: 284 in Rusian, 208 in Czech, 59 in Norwegian
Slide 26: Metonymy designations: 112 in Russian, 109 in Czech, 61 in Norwegian
Slide 27: Top 13 Metonymy Designations, Items found on all 3 top 13 lists
abstraction-characteristic
language / suffix / vehicle class / target class / vehicle ex / target exRussian / енный / noun / rel adj / мысль thought / мысленный mental
Czech / av-ý / noun / qual adj / láska love / láskavý loving
Norwegian / som / noun / qual adj / gru 'horror' / grusom 'horrible'
action-abstraction
language / suffix / vehicle class / target class / vehicle ex / target exRussian / ство / verb / noun / расстроить disorder / расстройство confusion
Czech / enk-a / verb / noun / myslit think / myšlenka idea
Norwegian / sjon / verb / noun / emigrere 'emigrate' / emigrasjon 'emigration'
action-agent
language / suffix / vehicle class / target class / vehicle ex / target exRussian / арь / verb / noun / печь bake / пекарь baker
Czech / a/ář-Ø / verb / noun / péci bake / pekař baker
Norwegian / er / verb / noun / bake 'bake' / baker 'baker'
action-characteristic
language / suffix / vehicle class / target class / vehicle ex / target exRussian / ный / verb / qual adj / беречь guard / бережный careful
Czech / av-ý / verb / qual adj / váhat hesitate / váhavý hesitant
Norwegian / ende / verb / qual adj / avgjøre 'decide' / avgjørende 'decisive'
action-instrument
language / suffix / vehicle class / target class / vehicle ex / target exRussian / лка / verb / noun / зажигать light up / зажигалка lighter
Czech / ičk-a / verb / noun / sušit dry / sušička dryer
Norwegian / ert / verb / noun / kikke 'look, peep' / kikkert 'binoculars'
action-product
language / suffix / vehicle class / target class / vehicle ex / target exRussian / Ø fem / verb / noun / записать record / запись record
Czech / b-a / verb / noun / kreslit draw / kresba drawing
Norwegian / else / verb / noun / stifte 'establish' / stiftelse 'establishment'
characteristic-abstraction
language / suffix / vehicle class / target class / vehicle ex / target exRussian / ина / qual adj / noun / тихий quiet / тишина silence
Czech / ob-a / qual adj / noun / chudý poor / chudoba poverty
Norwegian / dom / qual adj / noun / fattig 'poor' / fattigdom 'poverty'
entity-characteristic
language / suffix / vehicle class / target class / vehicle ex / target exRussian / альный / noun / qual adj / гений genius / гениальный genius
Czech / ovsk-ý / noun / qual adj / Kafka / kafkovský Kafkaesque
Norwegian / isk / noun / rel adj / dyr 'animal' / dyrisk 'bestial'
characteristic-entity
language / suffix / vehicle class / target class / vehicle ex / target exRussian / а/як / qual adj / noun / толстый fat / толстяк fat man
Czech / áč-Ø / qual adj / noun / nahý naked / naháč naked person
Norwegian / ing / qual adj / noun / tøff 'tough' / tøffing 'tough guy'
action-event
language / suffix / vehicle class / target class / vehicle ex / target exRussian / ка / verb / noun / забастовать go on strike / забастовка strike
Czech / k-a / verb / noun / zkoušet test / zkouška test
Norwegian / else / verb / noun / begrave 'bury' / begravelse 'burial'
Slide 29: Word class designations: 33 in Russian, 24 in Czech, 12 in Norwegian
Slide 32: Suffixes with the most metonymy designations
Russian -ина: 15 metonymy designations (9 vehicles, 7 targets)
vehicle / target / vehicle ex / target excharacteristic / abstraction / тихий quiet / тишина silence
characteristic / entity / женский female / женщина woman
entity / abstraction / Достоевский Dostoevsky / достоевщина Dostoevskian style
action / product / царапать scratch / царапина scratch
group / entity / виноград grapes / виноградина grape
group / abstraction / полицейский police / полицейщина police repression
action / event / крестить christen / крестины christening
characteristic / material / пушной fur-bearing / пушнина furs (collect.)
characteristic / location / равный equal / равнина plain
characteristic / entity / рогатый horned / рогатина bear-spear
characteristic / group / общий common / община community
material / entity / лёд ice / льдина ice-floe
entity / material / конь horse / конина horse-meat
part / location / верх top / вершина summit
product / entity / масло oil / маслина olive-tree
Czech -ník: 16 metonymy designations (12 vehicles, 6 targets)
vehicle / target / vehicle ex / target exabstraction / entity / služba service / služebník servant
action / agent / pracovat work / pracovník worker
action / instrument / narazit collide with / nárazník bumper
action / location / chodit walk / chodník sidewalk
contained / container / čaj tea / čajník teapot
entity / entity / střevíček ladys shoe / střevíčník lady-slipper (a flower)
group / entity / družstvo collective / družstevník collective farmer
instrument / agent / soustruh lathe / soustružník lathe-worker
located / location / ryba fish / rybník fishpond
location / agent / knihovna library / knihovník librarian
location / located / skála cliff / skalník cotoneaster (a plant that grows on cliffs)
material / agent / zlatý gold / zlatník goldsmith
material / entity / pára steam / parník steamboat
patient / agent / papír paper / papírník seller of paper goods
product / agent / kouzlo magic / kouzelník magician
quantity / entity / pět five / pětník 5 crown piece
Norwegian -ing: 11 metonymy designations (5 vehicles, 9 targets)
vehicle / target / vehicle ex / target exaction / abstraction / bake 'bake' / baking 'baking'
action / event / trene 'train' / trening 'practice'
action / group / regjere 'govern' / regjerning 'government'
action / location / fylle 'fill' / fylling 'landfill'
action / material / male 'paint' / maling 'paint'
action / product / tegne 'draw' / tegning 'drawing'
characteristic / entity / tøff 'tough' / tøffing 'tough guy'
location / located / Vestlandet / vestlending 'person from Vestlandet'
state / abstraction / sone 'do timein jail' / soning 'incarceration'
state / location / skråne 'slant' / skråning 'slope'
whole / part / kveld 'evening' / kvelding 'dusk'
Slide 33: Average metonymies/suffix: Russian 2.6, Czech 2.7, Norwegian 3
Slide 34: Balance of vehicles and targets among suffixes
Russian -овый/евый: 10 vehicles, 1 target
vehicle / target / vehicle ex / target exabstraction / characteristic / вкус taste / вкусовой taste, gustatory
material / characteristic / бензин gasoline / бензиновый gasoline
entity / characteristic / слон elephant / слоновый elephant
time / characteristic / час hour / часовой hour-long
part / characteristic / горло throat / горловой throat
location / characteristic / край region / краевой regional
group / characteristic / оркестр orchestra / оркестровый orchestral
instrument / characteristic / щипцы tongs / щипцовый relating to tongs
action / characteristic / торговать trade / торговый trading
characteristic / characteristic / чёрный black / черновой (вариант) first draft
Czech -dlo: 2 vehicles, 7 targets
vehicle / target / vehicle ex / target exaction / agent / zlobit be naughty, annoy / zlobidlo naughty person
action / group / plavat swim / plavidlo all types of boats
action / instrument / létat fly / letadlo airplane
action / location / dívat se watch / divadlo theater
action / material / mýt wash / mýdlo soap
action / part / chodit walk / chodidlo sole of foot
action / patient / jíst eat / jídlo food
state / location / sedat, sedět sit / sedadlo seat
Slide 35: Average word classes/suffix: Russian 1.55, Czech 1.56, Norwegian 1.61
Slide 36: Suffixes: NOT specific for metonymy, but target specific for word class
4. Observations: Comparison with lexicon, directionality, cross-linguistic
Slide 38: Comparison with P&G’s inventory of metonymies
P&G identify 10 metonymy designations not attested in my databases:
action-time / agent-product / time-entity / antecedent-consequentsubevent-complex event / cause-effect / central factor-institution / potential-actual
hyponym-hypernym / hypernym-hyponym
P&G identify 36 (=26%) of the 137 metonymy designations found in my databases:
action-agent / action-instrument / action-location / action-materialaction-patient / action-product / agent-action / agent-patient
change state-event / characteristic-entity / contained-container / container-contained
entity-characteristic / entity-entity / entity-group / entity-material
entity-time / group-entity / instrument-action / located-location
location-product / material-entity / part-whole / patient-agent
possessed-possessor / possessor-possessed / product-agent / quantity-entity
state-event / state-instrument / state-location / time-event
whole-part / manner-action / location-action / location-located
My databases attest 101 metonymy designations not attested in P&G
29 of these are all 3 languages, and 5 (boldfaced) are in the top 13 for all 3
abstraction-characteristic / characteristic-abstraction / action-abstraction / action-characteristicaction-event / abstraction-action / abstraction-entity / abstraction-manner
action-group / agent-location / characteristic-action / characteristic-change state
characteristic-group / entity-abstraction / entity-female / event-characteristic
group-characteristic / instrument-agent / location-abstraction / time-characteristic
location-agent / location-characteristic / patient-action / material-action
material-characteristic / part-characteristic / abstraction-abstraction / product-action
state-abstraction
Slides 40-41: Bidirectional and unidirectional metonymy
Unidirectional metonymies that are strongly attested:
product-agentillustrative example
languages attested in / # of suffixes / vehicle / target
Russian / 12 / стол ‘desk’ / столяр ‘cabinet-maker’
Czech / 6 / socha ‘sculpture’ / sochař ‘sculptor’
Norwegian / 5 / musikk ‘music’ / musikant ‘musician’
instrument-agent
illustrative example
languages attested in / # of suffixes / vehicle / target
Russian / 8 / лыжи ‘skis’ / лыжник ‘skier’
Czech / 4 / soustruh ‘lathe’ / soustružník ‘lathe operator’
Norwegian / 1 / cello ‘cello’ / cellist ‘cellist’
state-location
illustrative example
languages attested in / # of suffixes / vehicle / target
Russian / 5 / жить ‘live’ / жилище ‘living quarters’
Czech / 4 / vězet ‘be stuck’ / vězení ‘prison’
Norwegian / 1 / skråne ‘slant’ / skråning ‘slope’
Balanced bi-directional metonymies: entity & characteristic, abstraction & characteristic, action & product
Skewed bi-directional metonymies: location-agent, patient-agent, action-agent, action-characteristic, action-instrument, action-abstraction, action-event, part-whole, contained-container, possessor-possessed, entity-female
Slides 42-46: Special investments
52 metonymies shared by all 3 languages, 37 shared by R & C, 2 shared by R & N, 2 shared by C & N, 21 only in R, 19 only in C, 5 only in N
Especially prominent metonymies:
Russian and Czechillustrative example
metonymy designations / # of suffixes / vehicle / target
location-characteristic / 22 (R), 14 (Cz) / центр ‘center’ / центральный ‘central’
possessor-possessed / 18 (R), 11 (Cz) / kráva ‘cow’ / kraví ‘cow’s’
state-characteristic / 12 (R), 10 (Cz) / желать ‘want’ / желательный ‘desirable’
characteristic-location / 11 (R), 6 (Cz) / сухой ‘dry’ / суша ‘dry land’
part-whole / 9 (R), 9 (Cz) / uši ‘ears’ / ušák ‘bunny’
characteristic-material / 9 (R), 3 (Cz) / густой ‘thick’ / гуща ‘dregs’
Russian
illustrative example
metonymy designations / # of suffixes / vehicle / target
entity-female / 18 / повар ‘cook’ / повариха ‘female cook’
instrument-characteristic / 4 / щипцы ‘tongs’ / щипцовый ‘relating to tongs’
characteristic-characteristic / 4 / великий ‘great’ / величавый‘stately, majestic’
Czech
illustrative example
metonymy designations / # of suffixes / vehicle / target
contained-container / 11 / písek ‘sand’ / pískoviště ‘sandbox’
product-location / 6 / mléko ‘milk’ / mlékárna ‘dairy’
quantity-entity / 6 / sedm ‘seven’ / sedmička ‘number 7 bus, highway, etc.’
Norwegian
illustrative example
metonymy designations / # of suffixes / vehicle / target
location-located / 8 / Strømmen / strømling ‘person from Strømmen’
product-agent / 5 / musikk ‘music’ / musikant ‘musician’
5. Conclusions
- The main purpose of word-formation is to signal metonymy
- Metonymy in word-formation is more diverse than in lexical use
- Different languages make different investments in word-formation to signal metonymy
- Compare lexical vs. grammatical systems of meaning (Talmy 2005)
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