metonymie

Metonymie is a figure of speech in which one word or expression is substituted for another with which it is closely associated. The relationship between the terms can be based on cause and effect, container and content, part and whole, or a spatial or temporal connection. Because the substitute is linked to the original concept by contiguity rather than similarity, metonymy differs from metaphor, which relies on an analogy.

The term originates from the Greek metónymia, meaning “change of name.” It appears in classical rhetoric and has been studied in linguistics, literary theory, and cognitive science. In everyday language, metonymic shifts are frequent: “the White House announced” uses the building to refer to the administration; “Hollywood" stands for the American film industry; “the crown" denotes monarchical authority; “sails" can mean a ship; and “the pen is mightier than the sword” employs “pen” for written word and “sword” for military force.

Metonymy functions as a pragmatic shortcut, allowing speakers to convey complex ideas succinctly. Cognitive linguists such as George Lakoff and Mark Johnson have argued that many conceptual metaphors are grounded in underlying metonymic mappings, reflecting how perception organizes the world through contiguous relationships. In discourse analysis, metonymic expressions can reveal social and cultural affiliations, as the choice of a particular source domain often carries connotations specific to a community.

In translation, metonymy poses challenges because the associative link may not be shared across languages. Translators must decide whether to preserve the source term, replace it with a target-language equivalent, or elaborate the reference. Overall, metonymie remains a fundamental mechanism by which language efficiently encodes and transmits meaning through contextually salient associations.