Abstract
This paper explores the role of metonymy in determining a syntactic argument alternation (“conductor-vehicle alternation”) which occurs in English and Portuguese: o piloto acelerou a Ferrari “the driver speeded up the Ferrari”/a Ferrari acelerou “the Ferrari speeded up/sped away”. Since the verbs in the conductor-vehicle alternation have conductor and vehicle arguments (controller and controlled entities), a metonymic process can occur, allowing the vehicle expression to provide access to the conductor participant. To explain how metonymy allows a verb with two participants to be integrated into a construction with a single argument, we assume that metonymy gathers information about both entities involved; the vehicle expression provides mental access to both vehicle and conductor (“fusion”). We also discuss cognitive and pragmatic factors involving the choice of a construction over another. Constructions with vehicle expressions as subject are used when the vehicle is salient or the conductor is unknown. This also explains why dirigir “drive” does not alternate in Portuguese, contrarily to prediction and differently from English drive. We provide a comparative account of the behavior of this verb in both languages. Dirigir, differently from drive, conceptualizes semantic components incompatible with a situation in which the agent/conductor is not salient or is unknown. This research adds to the ongoing body of literature on the role of metonymy in grammar and is a contribution to the understanding of the metonymic process, as a fusion, and also to argument alternation processes and lexical-constructional integration.
Acknowledgements
We thank CAPES, CNPq, and FAPEMIG for their financial support. We also thank those colleagues who contributed to the development of this paper: Sérgio Menuzzi, Vander Viana, Ursula Stickler, Maureen Michael, Bárbara Orfanó, and Adriana Barbosa. And we thank the Cognitive Linguistics Reviewers and Editors for their insightful comments on the first submitted version. Any remaining mistakes are, of course, our own responsibility.
Appendix
Appendix A: Sample of PB data[12]
| Vehicle-subject sentences in Portuguese | Gloss/Translation in English |
|---|---|
| First group of vehicle verbs | |
| 1. arribar | “dock” |
| A traineira «Estrela Azul» foi buscar o haxixe ao largo de Larache, em Marrocos, onde arribou na madrugada de 14 de Novembro. | “The trawler «Blue Star» went to search for hashish off Larache, in Morocco, where he arrived in the early hours of November 14th.” |
| 2. aterrissar | “land” |
| O avião que trazia a carga um Air Bus 340 aterrissou dia 5 de dezembro no aeroporto Charles de Gaulle. | “The plane bringing the cargo, an Airbus 340, landed at Charles de Gaulle airport on December 5.” |
| 3. pousar | “land” |
| O helicóptero pousou fora do estádio. | “The helicopter landed outside of the stadium.” |
| 4. aportar | “dock” |
| […] a nau inglesa que aportou a Silves […] | “the British boat which docked at Silves” |
| 5. estacionar | “park” |
| O coupé estacionou na Praça da Constituição. | “The carriage parked in the Constitution Square.” |
| 6. encostar | “pull up” |
| o táxi encostou defronte ao cemitério de Irajá. | “the taxi pulled up in front of the Irajá cemetery.” |
| 7. ancorar | “anchor” |
| a nau ancorou na baía crespa de São Salvador. | “the ship anchored in the crinkle bay of São Salvador.” |
| 8. atracar | “dock” |
| o barco atracou em Molde | “the boat docked in Molde.” |
| 9. parar | “stop” |
| um carro ainda não identificado parou ao lado de seu veículo | “a yet unidentified car stopped next to his/her vehicle.” |
| Second group of vehicle verbs | |
| 10. virar | “turn” |
| […] a tenista americana cruzou o sinal com a luz verde, mas um outro carro virou a esquerda na frente dela. | “the American tennis player went through the green light, but another car turned left in front of her.” |
| (From: https://globoesporte.globo.com/tenis/noticia/policia-diz-que-venus-williams-nao-sera-acusada-por-acidente-de-carro-fatal.ghtml) | |
| 11. subir | “ascend/go up” |
| A carroça subiu [n]a calçada. | “The cart went up the sidewalk.” |
| 12. atravessar | “cross” |
| E a viúva chamou o primeiro carro que atravessou a rua e meteu-se dentro dele com Clorinda. | “And the widow called up the first car that crossed the street and got in with Clorinda.” |
| 13. descer | “descend/go down” |
| O avião […] sofreu um acidente […] quando desceu abruptamente dos 6900 para os 1200 metros de altitude em pleno voo devido a uma forte turbulência. | “The aircraft got into an accident when it abruptly descended from an altitude of 6900 m to 1200 m in mid-flight, due to strong turbulence.” |
| 14. arredar | “move” |
| 15. desviar | “divert” |
| Caminhão desviou de buraco e saiu da pista na ERS 207 | “Truck diverted from a hole and got out of the runway on ERS 207.” |
| (From: http://guiacrissiumal.com.br/noticias/10-09-2013-Caminhao-desviou-de-buraco-e-saiu-da-pista-na-ERS-207) | |
| Third group of vehicle verbs | |
| 16. acelerar | “speed up” |
| Os polícias abriram fogo contra o carro que, dizem, acelerava na direcção deles. | “The police shot the car, which they say speeded up in their direction.” |
| 17. brecar | “brake” |
| Uma caminhonete que vinha atrás brecou para evitar uma batida. | “A pickup truck that was coming from behind braked to avoid a crash.” |
| 18. desacelerar | “slow down” |
| […]o caminhão desacelerou para uma lombada[…] | “the truck slowed down to go over a speed bump.” |
| (From: https://planetacaminhao.com.br/coisas-que-irritam-quem-gosta-de-caminhao/) | |
| Third group of vehicle verbs | |
| 19. frear | “brake” |
| o carro freou | “the car braked.” |
| 20. arrancar | “start” |
| o carro arrancou | “the car started.” |
| 21. manobrar | “maneuver” |
| O avião, um Boeing 737–300 da Varig, manobrou na pista até parar a cinco metros do ônibus. | “The plane, a Varig’s Boeing 737–300, maneuvered on the runway until it stopped five meters away from the bus.” |
| Fourth group of vehicle verbs | |
| *non-alternating | |
| dirigir | “drive” |
| pilotar | “drive” |
| operar | “operate/drive” |
| guiar | “guide/drive” |
Appendix B: Sample of English data[13]
He drove the car to Bonnie DeLuca’s house.
The car drove slowly and via familiar roads in the direction of Vincent’s house.
A couple hours later, a town car drove them to CNN for a satellite interview with Larry King.
Right after the car drove away
The odd car drove round the truck.
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