Oksana Kuntso
Kam’ianets-Podilsky Ivan Ogienko National University
Scientific supervisor: associate professor, candidate of science in philology Kryshtaliuk G.A.
METONIMICAL ABBREVIATION OF THE SCARLET LETTER BY NATHANIEL HAWTHORN
Linguistic metonymy is referential in nature and resides in schematized patterns of symbolical constructions. Metonymical constituent – grapheme “A”– refers to the following symbols of the novel: Adulteress, Able, Angel, Art and Arthur. The relation established between the main symbol – SCARLET LETTER, and the revealed metonymical models is characterized as metonymical abbreviation.
Keywords: linguistic metonymy, SCARLET LETTER, grapheme, metonymical abbreviation, constituent, constructions.
In symbol different kinds of information unite in one entity, evoking new, previously unpredictable associations [7, p. 437]. The complex of symbolic essences is determined by intricate interaction between the denotative meaning and the series of metaphorically or metonymically based connotations (associations) of the agent and referent [1]. At the level of cognition each symbol is based on the conceptual metonymy – the mental operation, in which the great role is assigned to the association by contiguity [2, p. 114-117].
Conceptual metonymy is a conceptual operation in which one entity, the vehicle, can be employed in order to identify another entity, the target, with which it is associated [3, p. 141-142].
The interpretation of the main Hawthorn’s symbol – SCARLET LETTER – as an “adultery” is not the only way, it also gains the interpretation of the “art”. The latter effect is achieved both due to the skilful embroidery of the letter by Hester and due to the even more skilful usage of the Present Imperfect form by Hawthorn: “Child, what art thou?” – cried the mother [4, с. 82]”.
Grammar is meaningful and, rather than being autonomous, it resides in schematized patterns of conceptual structuring and symbolization [5 , с. 27]. Most of the expressions we employ are symbolically complex, to some degree analyzable into smaller symbolic elements. Grammar consists of the patterns for constructing such expressions. Accordingly, the expressions and the patterns are referred to as constructions [5, с. 161]. That’s why the pattern mentioned above serves the example of the grammar construction, where the main metonymical function is assigned to the auxiliary “art”.
Antonio Barcelona, in his turn, investigates how metonymic reasoning shapes the meaning and form of a variety of constructions, including morphemes, lexical items, and syntactic constructions [6, с. 34]. In the Hawthorn’s novel the letter only serves the metonymical function of such a constituent. The grapheme “A”, representing the number of symbols in the text, is also an example of linguistic metonymy:“It is the great letter A. Thou hast taught it me in the horn–book [4, p. 152]”.
Linguistic metonymy is referential in nature: it relates to the use of expressions to ‘pinpoint’ entities in order to talk about them. Metonymy is the conceptual relation ‘X stands for Y’ [3, с. 141-142]. The “A” grapheme, introduced by the author of the novel to indicate the notion of “adultery”, pinpoints the reader to the row of different, initial meaning-opposed connotations.
In language such connotations are realized through the metonymical abbreviation. In the metonymical abbreviation the inductive method of word building takes place, whereas traditional linguistics prefers deductive one. Such cognitive oppression is possible according to the main metonymical principle (A. Barcelona) “result for action” [6, p.23].
The SCARLET LETTER realizes its symbolical function through the wide range of meanings of the A-words that are present in the novel. The initial “A”, being a determinant of such words is the metonymical abbreviation constituent.
So what does the letter mean? Metonymical constituent – capital letter “A” – gains the following connotations in the novel: Adulteress, Able, Angel, Art and also Arthur (Arthur Dimmesdale). The play on words or the play on letters, it’s better to say, serves an example of additional kind of metonymical abbreviation: AD – Adulterer – Arthur Dimmesdale.
Nevertheless the literary peculiarities of the period, Hawthorn holds a dialog with a reader. The author questioned himself what the letter means and invites the possibility of the reader’s interpretation simultaneously.
The possibility of interpretation is also opened before us, the same as the prospect of investigation, which consists in the specification of the cognitive mechanisms of symbol construction in the novel.
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