IV. ANALYSIS
4.2 Cases Involving Metonymy
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[CL-CL/MW-MW-Predicate], such as zied4-zied4 go1 (節節高) ‘getting higher one joint after another’, where the numeral and the noun are absent. However, the omitted noun can be represented by the classifier or the measure word, and the reduplication of the classifier or the measure word functions as the numeral, denoting multitudes of the nouns. The last type is the construction [Attribute-CL], such as tai7 de3 (大垤) ‘big chunk’, where the numeral and the noun are absent.
Similar to the case in the third type, the omitted noun can be represented by the classifier. However, in this construction, the quantity of the noun is not specified.
4.2 Cases Involving Metonymy
Metonymy has primarily a referential function, allowing us to use one entity to represent another and serving the function of providing understanding, which is pervasive in classifier/measure word proverbial expressions in Taiwanese Hakka.
For instance, a subevent involved with a classifier can activate the whole event through the SUBEVENT-FOR-COMPLEX EVENT metonymy within the complex event ICM. Examples to be discussed in this section are associated with the cognitive mechanism of metonymy and arranged according to different constructions.
Examples (1) and (2) display the construction [Numeral-CL], where the
FORM-FOR-CONCEPT metonymy is triggered in example (1) and the
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CATEGORY-FOR-MEMBER metonymy is triggered in both examples. Example (3) displays the construction [CL-CL/MW-MW-Predicate], activating the
CATEGORY-FOR-MEMBER metonymy. Examples (4) and (5) display the canonical construction [Numeral-CL/MW-Noun], where the PART-FOR-WHOLE metonymy and the INSTRUMENT-FOR-ACTION metonymy are activated in example (4) and the
OBJECT INVOLVED IN AN ACTION-FOR-THE ACTION metonymy is triggered in example (5). Example (6) displays the construction [Attribute-CL], where the metonymies CATEGORY-FOR-MEMBER, PART-FOR-WHOLE, and
SUBEVENT-FOR-COMPLEX EVENT are activated. To illustrate, let us begin with the following examples displaying the construction [Numeral-CL]:
(1) 講四句
gong2 si3 gi3
say four CL‘To say four sentences of words—to say blessing words’
(2) 一儕比得一儕，山歌比得採茶
rhid4 sa5 bi2-ded4 rhid4 sa5
a CL compare-POT a CL
san1go1 bi2-ded4 cai2 ca5
folk-song compare-POT picking tea‘If a person can be compared with one another, folk-songs can be compared with tea-picking—people should not compare with each other just as a folk-song is not comparable to tea-picking.’
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Both examples display the construction [Numeral-CL], as si3 gi3 (四句) ‘four sentences’ in example (1) and rhid4 sa5 (一儕) ‘a person’ in example (2), where the noun is omitted but represented by the classifier. In example (1), the noun, i.e., fa3 (話) ‘words’, is represented by the classifier gi3 (句) ‘sentence’ through the
CATEGORY-FOR-MEMBER metonymy within the category-and-member ICM. Literally, it refers to saying four sentences of words. Metonymically, si3 gi3 (四句) ‘four sentences’ stands for auspicious words through the FORM-FOR-CONCEPT metonymy within the sign and reference ICM. Specifically, si3 gi3 (四句) ‘four sentences’
refers to seven-word quatrains, where the conceptual content shown by the
expressions is about a person’s blessings.12 Furthermore, the CONDUIT metaphor is activated in this expression. First, the auspiciousness is seen as objects through the
MEANINGS ARE OBJECTS metaphor. Then, the speaker puts the auspiciousness into words through the LINGUISTIC EXPRESSIONS ARE CONTAINERS metaphor. Namely,
si3 gi3 (四句) ‘four sentences’ are containers for auspiciousness. Finally, conveying
the speaker’s auspiciousness contained in si3 gi3 (四句) ‘four sentences’ to a listener is viewed as sending good objects to the receiver through COMMUNICATION IS
SENDING metaphor. Taiwanese Hakka people highly value the ceremonies of the
occasions in one’s life, such as on one’s birthday, in a wedding, or on the day of
12 Most of si3 gi3 (四句) ‘four sentences’ are seven-word quatrains, where rhyme is required (Huang, 2004).
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housewarming.13 During these ceremonies, people are required to say four sentences of words with auspicious meanings since they believe that saying
auspicious words, like delivering good objects to a receiver, will bring good fortune to those who receive them.
With the identical construction, the classifier sa5 (儕) in example (2) represents the referential nominal ngin5 (人) ‘person’ through the CATEGORY-FOR-MEMBER
metonymy. This expression invites a conditional implicature: if a person can be compared with others, folk-songs can be compared with tea-picking. Actually, singing folk-songs and tea-picking are typical activities in early agricultural
Taiwanese Hakka society. Workers often sing folk-songs while picking tea leaves to entertain themselves. However, singing folk-songs and tea-picking are two different and independent events. Hence, this expression satirically indicates the inadequate comparison between people by the analogy of folk-songs with tea-picking. That is, just as it is absurd to compare singing folk-songs with tea-picking, it is equally absurd to compare one person with another presumably because every person is an independent individual who has his own merits. Therefore, the moral lesson carried over is: never try to compare people with each other.
13 For example, in order to bless a person for his birthday, one of the seven-word quatrains is diam2 hi2 shiu7 zhug4 zhau3 tang1 tong5, zhau3 do3 shiu7siang1 shiu7 rham5 gong1; fug4 rhi5 dung1hoi2 log8 teu3 ngien5, shiu7 bi2 nam5san1 van7 she3 fong1 (點起壽燭照廳堂，照到壽星壽顏光；福如 東海樂透年，壽比南山萬世芳), which blesses the person with boundless happiness and a long life (Huang, 2004).
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Next, consider example (3), where the classifier is reduplicated:
(3) 家無噥噥公，項項空；家無噥噥婆，樣樣無
ga1 mo5 nung5-nung3 gung1 hong3-hong3 kung1
home NEG muttering grandfather CL-CL emptyga1 mo5 nung5-nung3 po5 rhong7-rhong7 mo5
home NEG muttering grandmother CL-CL14 empty‘If there is no elder male muttering in a family, everything is empty; if there is no elder female muttering in a family, everything is vacant—the elders are very precious to a family.’
Example (3) displays the construction [CL-CL-Predicate], as in hong3-hong3
kung1(項項空) ‘every item of things being empty’ and rhong7-rhong7 mo5 (樣樣無)
‘every kind of things being empty’, where the noun, i.e., sii7 (事) ‘things’, is represented by the classifiers hong3 (項) and rhong7 (樣) ‘kind’ through the
CATEGORY-FOR-MEMBER metonymy. Moreover, the reduplication of hong3 (項) and
rhong7 (樣) in this construction, i.e., hong3-hong3 (項項) and rhong7-rhong7 (樣
樣), denotes every item of things and every kind of things, respectively. Hence, the
literal meaning of this expression is: if there is no elder male muttering in a family, every item of things is empty; likewise, if there is no elder female muttering in a family, every kind of things are vacant. Additionally, nung5-nung3 (噥噥)
‘muttering’ is used to evoke the negative characteristics of the elders through the
14 In terms of Her and Hsieh’s (2010) test, rhong7 (樣) ‘kind’ would be categorized as a measure word. However, we regard it as a kind classifier in that rhong7-rhong7 sii7 (樣樣事) ‘every kind of things’ are individualzied in this expression.
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DEFINING PROPERTY-FOR-CATEGORY metonymy within the category-and-property ICM in the sense that it is a stereotypical characteristic associated with the elders.
Although being complained about their muttering, the elders that are so experienced in handling various situations in life are still considered precious in a family in Chinese cultures.
Another example displaying the same construction [CL-CL-Predicate] is sang1
shid8 con1-con1 bau2, sang2 zhog4 ngid4-ngid4 sin1 (省食餐餐飽，省著日日新)
‘being economical of food presently makes a person full every meal in the future;
being economical of clothes presently makes a person be able to wear new clothes every day in the future’, where the reduplication of the classifier con1 (餐) ‘meal’
denotes every meal, and the reduplication of the classifier ngid4 (日) ‘day’ denotes every day. As an exhortation, this idiom urges people to be economical and thrifty for the time being with an aim of preventing shortage of food and clothes in the future.
Then, the following two examples to be discussed display the canonical construction [Numeral-CL/MW-Noun]:
(4) 嘴唇兩垤皮，好壞由在你
zhoi3shun5 liong2 de3 pi5 ho2 fai7 rhiu5cai7 ngi5
lip two CL skin good bad at one’s discretion you‘People like to talk, but it’s up to you to do good or bad.’
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‘To worship the souls of a person’s parents on bended knees and to fulfill a censer of incense sticks after their death is inferior to serve a bowl of soup to his parents during their lifetime—a person should show his love and respect for his parents when they are alive.’
Both examples display the canonical construction [Numeral-CL/ MW-Noun], where the numeral, the classifier or the measure word, and the noun coexist in a nominal phrase. In example (4), as in liong2 de3 pi5 (兩垤皮), the quantity of the noun is clearly specified, that is, two pieces of skin. Then, liong2 de3 pi5 (兩垤皮)
‘two pieces of skin’ displays triple metonymy as proposed by Gao (2005) in that it is used to stand for lips for a mouth and then for a person through the
PART-FOR-WHOLE metonymy within the thing-and-part ICM. The cognitive process is shown in Figure 5:
15 In terms of the test of numeral stacking, lu5 (爐) ‘censer’ is a measure word in that it is possible to say rhid4 lu5 shib8 gi1 hiong1 (一爐十枝香) ‘a censer of ten incense sticks’. By the same token, bun3gi1 (糞箕) ‘wicker scoop’ in exmaple (13) is a measure word.
16 In terms of the test of antonymous adjectives stacking, von2 (碗) ‘bowl’ is a measure word in that it is comprehensible to say rhid4 tai7 von2 se3 teu7 er5 (一大碗細豆仔) ‘a big bowl of small peas’.
In the same vein, von2gung1 (碗公) ‘big bowls’ in examples (7) and (8) and tong1shi5 (湯匙) ‘spoon’
in example (8) are measure words as well.
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Figure 5. Triple metonymy: liong2 de3 pi5 (兩垤皮) ‘two pieces of skin’ stands for lips for a mouth for a person
Furthermore, the mouth evokes the scenario of talking through the
INSTRUMENT-FOR-ACTION metonymy within the action ICM. Hence, the literal meaning is that people have a mouth with two lips to talk, but whether to behave aboveboard or unjustly is up to you. In this idiom, the social activity of talking is conceptualized via the concrete body part, i.e., the mouth. Alternatively, this expression indicates that regardless of what people’s opinions may be, as long as you behave righteously and uprightly, there is nothing you have to be concerned about.
In the same vein, example (5) displays the canonical construction
[Numeral-MW-Noun], as in rhid4 lu5 hiong1 (一爐香) ‘a censer of incense sticks’
and rhid4 von2 tong1 (一碗湯) ‘a bowl of soup’, where the former is used to stand for the action of censing and the latter is used to stand for the action of serving a
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bowl of soup to show a person’s filial piety via the OBJECT INVOLVED IN AN
ACTION-FOR-THE ACTION metonymy within the action ICM. Furthermore, censing and serving a bowl of soup are used to represent a person’s filial piety through the
PART-FOR-WHOLE metonymy, which is grounded in cultural models. According to Quinn and Holland (1987: 4), cultural models are defined as “presupposed,
taken-for-granted models of the world that are widely shared … by the members of a society and that play an enormous role in their understanding of that world and their behavior in it.” Essentially, filial piety plays a paramount role in Chinese cultures.
People have to respect their parents and worship their ancestors. When a person grows up, he has to acknowledge his parents’ love and care during their lifetime, such as serving, nursing, and pleasing their parents. On the other hand, after his parents pass away, he still has to fulfill filial duty, such as entombing his parents and censing to worship his parents’ souls. Therefore, a censer of incense sticks and a bowl of soup are complementary in that they will never occur at the same time.
Serving a bowl of soup symbolizes a person’s caring behavior toward their parents when they are alive whereas censing symbolizes a person’s worshipful feeling for his parents after they pass away. Cultural models provide the basis of this expression, hence allowing us to understand that both of them are reflections of people’s
behaviors to express their love and respect for their parents in Chinese cultures.
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In addition, a censer of incense sticks and a bowl of soup activate the
EFFECT-FOR-CAUSE metonymy in that a person who is motivated by filial piety serves his parents when they are alive and worships his parents after their death to express his love and respect for his parents. In other words, a person’s behaviors of censing and serving his parents are regarded as a result of his filial piety. Given that elaborated, this expression, however, carries a strong affective stance toward what people should do to show their love and respect for their parents. Even a simple act as serving a bowl of soup is worthy to please their parents during their lifetime. In contrast, the laborious acts of worshiping their parents on bended knees and fulfilling a censer of incense sticks after their death are not as worthy as serving a bowl of soup to express people’s love for their parents during their lifetime. Hence, it is advised that people should grasp the chances to show their love and respect to their parents whenever they can.
Finally, consider the following example displaying the construction [Attribute-Classifier]:
(6) 食大垤
shid8 tai7 de3
eat big CL‘To eat a big chunk of meat—to attend a funeral’
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The expression literally refers to eating a big chunk of meat. Metonymically, it is a euphemism for attending a funeral in Taiwanese Hakka culture. Triple metonymic mappings are triggered in this example. First, with the construction
[Attribute-Classifier], as in tai7 de3 (大垤) ‘big chunk’, the noun ngiug4 (肉) ‘meat’
is represented by the classifier de3 (垤) ‘chunk’ through the
CATEGORY-FOR-MEMBER metonymy, without specifying the quantity of the noun.
Next, through double PART-FOR-WHOLE metonymy, tai7 de3 (大垤) ‘big chunk’
stands for the meat eaten at the funeral, and then the funeral food stands for the funeral. The cognitive process of this example is captured in Figure 6:
Figure 6. Triple metonymy: the classifier de3 (垤) for meat for funeral food for funeral
The triple metonymic mappings of shid8 tai7de3 (食大垤) ‘to eat a big chunk of meat’ render Taiwanese Hakka people a euphemism to avoid expressing a taboo word, i.e., the funeral. Such a metonymy-based euphemism is a non-default case of
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metonymy, which violates the communicative principle CLEAR OVER LESS CLEAR. Kövecses and Radden (1998) indicate that social considerations in a communicative situation may require speakers to override some of the cognitive principles, so that its intended target is not clearly accessible. Moreover, specifying a less clear aspect of a taboo ICM achieves the effect of distracting from the intended target, which is exactly the communicative and social purpose of euphemisms.
In addition, this metonymy-based euphemism is prone to shade over into metaphor according to the literalness-metonymy-metaphor continuum proposed by Radden (2003). Specifically, ngiug4 (肉) ‘meat’ represented by the classifier de3 (垤) refers to pork belly, which is an obligatory dish at the funeral in the agricultural society in Taiwanese Hakka culture. For the time being, the subevent shid8 tai7 de3 (食大垤) ‘to eat a big chunk of meat’ activates the whole funeral ceremony through the SUBEVENT-FOR-COMPLEX EVENT metonymy within the complex event ICM.
However, with the simplification of the rituals and ceremonies in the modern society, the feast of funeral is likely to be simplified or even omitted in the future, let alone maintaining the dish pork belly at the funeral. Chances are the phenomenon of eating a big chuck of pork belly at the funeral would probably fade away in the future in Taiwanese Hakka culture. At that time, eating a big chuck of pork belly and attending a funeral would no longer belong to the identical conceptual domain;
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hence this situation can be seen purely metaphorically as ATTENDING A FUNERAL IS
EATING A BIG CHUNK OF MEAT. The opaqueness of this idiom will thus increase when it shades over from a metonymic expression into a metaphor.
In sum, the expressions discussed above demonstrate that classifiers and measure words in proverbial expressions in Taiwanese Hakka are found to manifest metonymically. Specifically, a classifier or measure word can be used to stand for its referential nominals through the CATEGORY-FOR-MEMBER metonymy within the category-and-member ICM. A noun involved with the classifier or a measure word can represent certain meanings through the FORM-FOR-CONCEPT metonymy within the sign and reference ICM, and activate particular actions through the metonymy
OBJECT INVOLVED IN AN ACTION-FOR-THE ACTION and the metonymy
INSTRUMENT-FOR-ACTION within the action ICM. Also, a noun involved with the classifier or a measure word can trigger the PART-FOR-WHOLE metonymy within the thing-and-part ICM and the EFFECT-FOR-CUASE metonymy within the causation ICM. Furthermore, an event involved with the classifier triggers the whole event via the SUBEVENT-FOR-COMPLEX EVENT metonymy within the complex event ICM. A summary of the classifiers and measure words associated with metonymy in proverbial expressions in Taiwanese Hakka is given in Table 3:
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Table 3. A summary of the classifiers and measure words in proverbial expressions in Taiwanese Hakka displaying metonymy
Conceptual
(iv) rhong7-rhong7 mo5 (樣樣 無) ‘every kind of things
metonymy
si3 gi3 (四句) ‘four sentences’
c.
OBJECT INVOLVED IN AN ACTION-FOR-THE ACTION
metonymy
(i) rhid4 lu5 hiong1 (一爐香)
‘a censer of incense sticks’
(ii) rhid4 von2 tong1 (一碗湯)
‘two pieces of skin’
(ii) rhid4 lu5 hiong1 (一爐香)
‘a censer of incense sticks’
(iii)rhid4 von2 tong1 (一碗湯)
‘a bowl of soup’
‘a censer of incense sticks’
(ii) rhid4 von2 tong1 (一碗湯)
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Based on the discussions so far, some generalizations can be drawn from the examples involving metonymy. First, the CATEGORY-FOR-MEMBER metonymy is activated in expressions which display the construction [Numeral-CL/MW]. For instance, the classifier gi3 (句) ‘sentence’ stands for words in example (1) and the classifier sa5 (儕) stands for a person in example (2) through the
CATEGORY-FOR-MEMBER metonymy. Other cases displaying [Numeral-CL/MW]
can be found in examples 9-14, 16, 17, and 18 listed in Part I in Appendix I.
Furthermore, the majority of the expressions are composed of two chunks with parallel structures. For instance, the case ga1 mo5 nung5-nung3 gung1,
hong3-hong3 kung1; ga1 mo5 nung5-nung3 po5, rhong7-rhong7 mo5 (家無噥噥公，
項項空；家無噥噥婆，樣樣無) ‘if there is no elder male muttering in a family,
everything is empty; if there is no elder female muttering in a family, everything is vacant’ displays parallelism, carrying the function of emphasis. Such a strategy of employing parallel linguistic structures for an emphatic function is indeed often found in proverbial expressions. Similar examples can be observed in cases 16, 17, and 20 listed in Part I in Appendix I.
Sometimes parallel structures are utilized to denote contrastive or concessive functions, however. For instance, the case cien1 kui2 van7 bai3 rhid4 lu5 hiong1,
m5 dong3 sen1 cien5 rhid4 von2 tong1 (千跪萬拜一爐香，毋當生前一碗湯) ‘it
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would be better to serve a bowl of soup to a person’s parents during their lifetime than to worship their souls on bended knees and to fulfill a censer of incense sticks after their death’ carries a contrastive fuction, where the laborious acts of worship on bended knees and the simple act of serving a bowl of soup are contrasted.
Simultaneously, this example also carries a concessive function: even with just a simple act of serving a bowl of soup to express love for parents when they are alive is superior to the laborious acts of worshiping on bended knees after parents pass away. Other cases with parallel sturctures but carrrying contrastive and concessive funcitons can be found in cases 2, 3, 10, 11, 12, and 13 listed in Part I in Appendix I.
Apart from carrying contrastive and concessive functions, some expressions with parallelism can give rise to a conditional implicature, as in the case rhid4 sa5
bi2-ded4 rhid4 sa5, san1go1 bi2-ded4 cai2 ca5 (一儕比得一儕，山歌比得採茶) ‘if
a person can be compared with one another, folk-songs can be compared with tea-picking’. Another example is example 15 listed in Part I in Appendix I.17
In addition to metonymy, the interaction between metaphor and metonymy is also found to manifest in the classifier/measure word proverbial expressions in Taiwanese Hakka. The following section will discuss cases involving the interaction
In addition to metonymy, the interaction between metaphor and metonymy is also found to manifest in the classifier/measure word proverbial expressions in Taiwanese Hakka. The following section will discuss cases involving the interaction