figures of speech

Question 1

Metonymy

Answer 1

Metonymy (/mɨˈtɒnɨmi/ mi-TONN-ə-mee)[1] is a figure of speech in which a thing or concept is called not by its own name but rather by the name of something associated in meaning with that thing or concept.[2] The words “metonymy” and “metonym” come from the Greek: μετωνυμία, metōnymía, “a change of name”, from μετά, metá, “after, beyond” and -ωνυμία, -ōnymía, a suffix used to name figures of speech, from ὄνῠμα, ónyma or ὄνομα, ónoma, “name.”[3]

For instance, “Hollywood” is used as a metonym for the U.S. film industry because of the fame and cultural identity of Hollywood, a district of the city of Los Angeles, California, as the historical center of film studios and film stars.[4] The national capital is often used to represent the government of a country, such as “Westminster” for Parliament of the United Kingdom, “Ottawa” for Parliament of Canada, or “Washington” for United States government.[5]

Metonymy and related figures of speech are common in everyday talk and writing. Synecdoche and metalepsis are considered specific types of metonymy. Polysemy, multiple meanings of a single word or phrase, sometimes results from relations of metonymy. Both metonymy and metaphor involve the substitution of one term for another.[6] In metaphor, this substitution is based on some specific analogy between two things, whereas in metonymy the substitution is based on some understood association or contiguity.[7][8]

In addition to its use in everyday speech, metonymy is a figure of speech in some poetry and in much rhetoric. Greek and Latin scholars of rhetoric made significant contributions to the study of metonymy.

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metonym)