Contiguity of meaning, or metonymy is the semantic process of associating 2 referents, one of which makes part of the other or is closely connected with it.

In other wordsmetonymy is a transference of meanings on the basis of contiguity.

Contiguity is a more complex phenomenon as compared with similarity and it may be of different kinds. Eg.: the word "hand" besides the meaning "pointer of a clock" (Mt) also developed the meaning "worker". This meaning is based on another kind of association: hands are the most important feature that is required of a person engaged in physical labour (association of an object and the process).

The simplest cases of metonymy (Mty) are the following:

1) a part is made to stand for the whole (ABC - the alphabet);

2) the whole for the part (activity - exercises).

The other cases of metonymy:

1) the names of different animals are commonly used to mean their furs (sometime -meat): fox, rabbit, sable, tiger, etc.

2) the names of different organs can be used metonymically:

head - голова, начальник (Mty) brain - мозг, голова (ум) (Mty) a good eye for smith - наметанный глаз (Mty)

3) the names of different containers are used to denote things contained: the kettle is boiling; have another plate (glass)!

4) the names of the things contained are used instead of the containers: school-for school-building, university-for university-building

5) the names of places are used to denote what is going on in these places or people who are there: the whole street (village town) came to see him; Moscow, London, Washington = government

6) the names of the material may be used instead of the product: silver - серебро, серебро (деньги, посуда) (Mty)

iron - железо, утюг (Mty)

flax - лен, изделие из льна (Mty)

nickel - никель, монеты и др. предметы из никеля (Mty)

mahogany - красное дерево, мебель, краска (Mty)

7) the name of the author is used for his words: give me Pushkin, please

8) the names of the painters instead of their pictures: Levitan, Goya, Vasnetsov, etc.

9) the names of inventors, investigators - instead of what they have invented: mackintosh - a waterproof overcoat after Mackintosh (1766-1843) sandwich - бутерброд

mauser - a kind of weapon Farenheit- a Prussean scientist, 1736 whatman, colt, Pullman, etc.

10) the names of colours are used instead of clothes of these colours. She was dressed in brilliant red

11) geographical named are also used metonymically:

- the named of countries are used to denote products produced there:

China - porcelain (фарфор), morocco - сафьян

names of cities and towns:

 

roquefort (a village in France) —» сыр (Mty) magnesia (an ancient town in Asia) bordeaux (a tonw in France) —»red wine (Mty) havana - (a city in Cuba) —> cigar (Mty)

- the names of islands

Canary - 1) light sweet wine 2) a song bird found there

Sardine - a small fish found in the Mediterranean Sea about the island of

Sardinia

- names of mountains: Cheviot —> шевиот (cloth)

In all these cases the element of contiguity is evident. These cases are widely used in English and this metonymy is called trite,traditional. There are cases of usual, bright metonymies in fiction, invented by writers and poets; such cases of metonymy are called original.

Medical texts, articles also have cases of metonymy, though not very numerous and they all are trite.