Conversion and figurative language

Abstract Drawing on the framework of Cognitive Semantics, this chapter considers conversion as primarily a semantic phenomenon that is brought about by a conceptual recategorization licensed by regular and systematic metonymical (and to a lesser extent metaphorical) meaning shifts. Yet linguistic knowledge alone is not enough to fully grasp the meaning of words formed via conversion; speakers also rely on their knowledge of the world. Accordingly, the chapter first investigates how our general knowledge about actions, in the form of the so-called action frame, licenses metonymically most of the noun-to-verb configurations in English, as in the case of to word (‘to express in or put into words’), where a component part of an entity stands for the action that creates the same entity. It then explores the role of the ‘people are animals’ metaphor, also a prominent cognitive strategy in English noun-to-verb conversions, such as to parrot (‘to chatter like a parrot; to talk incessantly’). In essence, the meanings of words created via conversion can be explained through systematic conceptual shifts, such as metonymy and metaphor, which are further supported by speakers’ encyclopedic knowledge. This underscores the importance of conceptual processes in grammar.