Lithuanian nicknames: metaphorization

Abstract

The article analyses primary nicknames recorded in the region of Veliuona in central Lithuania as a part of the project Modern Geolinguistic Research in Lithuania: Optimization of Network Points and the Interactive Spread of Dialectal Information, conducted by the Institute of the Lithuanian Language. The aim of the article is to analyse characteristic semantic features of appellative nicknames. These are usually tropical (metaphorical or metonymic), therefore it is important to define the connection between metaphors and metonyms. Scientific research reveals the characteristics shared by a person and a mammal (or a bird), as preconceived by the nickname user.