Search results for "home-sign system"

Metaphors and metonymies understanding in sign systems

2013

The aim of this paper is to integrate the cognitive linguistic theory and the relevance theory to provide a comprehensive explanation of what metaphors and metonymies are and to explore their interaction. We approach this question through the analysis of metaphors and metonymies in homesign systems developed by deaf individuals who have no contact with the Deaf Community. We conclude that there is a complex interplay between metonymies and metaphors as a result of a process of representing the human experience by exploiting iconicity and contiguity relations between sign and referent. Speaking metaphorically and use metonymies is a complex ability that arises in two different steps. In our …