High-level metaphor and metonymy in meaning construction

This chapter addresses the problem of meaning construction in grammar from the point of view of high-level metaphor and metonymy. We argue that meaning construction, in the sense given to this term by Panther (2005), is essentially an inferential activity whether at the level of so-called pragmatic meaning (e.g. implicature derivation, illocutionary meaning) or when dealing with core grammar phenomena, especially conversion processes and constructional alternation, which we explore within the domain of transitivity. In our study we are able to find high-level metaphor and metonymy at the basis of some of these grammatical processes. We also observe that the same principles and conceptual patterns (e.g. metaphor-metonymy interaction and metonymic chaining) that constrain metaphorical and metonymic activity at other levels of analysis are operational at the grammatical level too.