The sunrise in the context of the literal-versus-nonliteral dilemma in metaphor and metonymy

Abstract

The article relates to the problem of the literal-versus-nonliteral nature of the symbolization processes, such as metaphor and metonymy. It is assumed that both are an expression of people’s tendency to symbolize what is more complex and distant for human experience by what is simpler and closer. A selective analysis of the data collected in SSiSL (1996) in relation to the entry wschód słońca ‘sunrise’ reveals a number of methodological issues: (i) metaphor and metonymy differ not only in the number (one or two) of cognitive domains involved in the process of symbolization, but also whether the expression refers to be the beginning or the end of this process (Part 2); (ii) the relationship between space, movement and color may have a metaphorical and metonymic orientation, which probably relativizes the relationships also between other cognitive domains (Part 3); (iii) the folk worldview shows that expressions considered literal today (such as wschód słońca ‘sunrise’) are, in the perspective of their semantic development, symbolic expressions and as such contain fixed valuations of previous generations and their judgments about the world (Part 4). It is postulated that Langacker's (1999) distinction between actuality and virtuality should be adopted in order to avoid some of the above problems and dilemmas (Part 5).