Metonymic construal and vehicle selection

Abstract

The article investigates the process of the selection of vehicle concepts in Polish Sign Language (PJM). Why are certain contiguity relations chosen out of many potentially available candidates as the basis for metonymies and why do some other contiguity relations not make felicitous metonymies? The process is certainly influenced by many factors, but the article focuses on several factors related to the dimensions of construal of metonymic concepts (in Langacker’s understanding), including the scope of conception and aspects of perspective (the preference for the observable entities and the distinction between subjectively and objectively construed concepts). Vehicle selection is also constrained by the effective reference requirement and the subjectively perceived vitality of contiguity relations.