METONYMIES AND METAPHORS: IMAGES OF THE SEAT BELT AND NUMBER PLATE

Abstract

Cognitive linguists argue that many metaphors have a metonymic basis, and frequently it is not easy to tell them apart [see Gibbs [1994] 2002: 449–451, Barcelona 2003: 8–12, Semino 2008: 20]. The aim of this article is to examine this claim on the material of advertisements in Latvian. The paper gives an insight into the history of seat belt development and analyses particular instances in advertising and other visual material, and their stylistic development in discourse. Development means not only interaction of the image with the text (visual and verbal) and its interpretation in one context, but also cases of use when the image exceeds the borders of one advertisement and is employed in several advertisements either in the same (discoursal use), or another advertising campaign (interdiscoursal use). My aim is to establish whether metonymic images are sustainable and whether they can be used for other purposes by employing allusion to the original advertisements. When analysing the material of social campaigns, it is important to reveal the development of figurative thought in verbal and visual discourse in order to reveal the role of metonymy in thinking and conceptualisation of human experience.