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:[[Fr]]. ''[[{{Top}}métonymie]]''{{Bottom}}

=====Linguistic Definition=====[[Metonymy]] is usually defined as a [[trope ]] in which a term is used to denote an [[object]] which it does not literally refer to, but with which it is closely linked. This link may be one of [[physical]] contiguity, but not necessarily.

This link may be one ===Roman Jakobson===However, [[Lacan]]'s use of the term owes little to this definition apart from the [[notion]] of physical contiguity, but not necessarilysince it is inspired by the [[work]] of [[Roman Jakobson]], who established an opposition between [[metonymy]] and [[metaphor]].<ref>[[Roman Jakobson|Jakobson, Roman]]. "Two aspects of language and two types of aphasic disturbances," ''Selected Writings'', vol. II, ''[[Word]] and Language'', The [[Hague]]: Mouton, 1971 [1956]., p. 21.</ref>

=====Roman Jakobson==Metonymic Axis of Language===HoweverFollowing [[Jakobson]], [[Lacan]]'s use of the term owes little to this definition apart from the notion of contiguity, since it is inspired by the work of [[Roman Jakobsonlinks]], who established an opposition between [[metonymy]] and to the combinatorial axis of [[metaphorlanguage]].<ref>, as opposed to the [[Roman Jakobson|Jakobson, Romansubstitutive]]axis. (1956) "Two aspects of language and two types of aphasic disturbances," ''Selected Writings'', vol. II, ''Word and Language'', The Hague: Mouton, 1971, p. 21.</ref>

=====Metonymic Axis Diachronic Dimension of Language==Signifying Chain===Following In his most detailed work on the subject, [[JakobsonLacan]], defines [[metonymy]] as the [[diachrony|diachronic]] relation between one [[Lacansignifier]] links and [[metonymyanother]] to in the combinatorial axis of [[languagesignifying chain]], as opposed to the substitutive axis.

=====Diachronic Dimension of Signifying Chain==Metonymy Versus Metaphor===In his most detailed work on [[Metonymy]] thus concerns the subject, ways in which [[signifier]]s can be combined / linked in a single [[Lacansignifying chain]] defines ("horizontal" relations), whereas [[metonymymetaphor]] as concerns the ways in which a [[diachrony|diachronicsignifier]] relation between in one [[signifying chain]] may be substituted for a [[signifier]] in another [[chain]] ("vertical" relations). Together, [[metaphor]] and another [[metonymy]] constitute the way in the which [[signifying chainsignification]]is produced.

=====Metonymy Versus Metaphor=====[[Metonymy]] thus concerns the ways in which [[signifier]]s can be combined / linked in a single [[signifying chain]] ("horizontal" relations), whereas [[metaphor]] concerns the ways in which a [[signifier]] in one [[signifying chain]] may be substituted for a [[signifier]] in another [[chain]] ("vertical" relations). Together, [[metaphor]] and [[metonymy]] constitute the way in which [[signification]] is produced. =====Formula for Metonymy=====[[Lacan]] provides a [[formula ]] for [[metonymy]].<ref>{{E}} p.164</ref>

This formula is to be read as follows: On the lefthand side of the [[algebra|equation]], outside the brackets, [[Lacan]] writes '''<i>f</i>''' '''S''', the [[paternal function|signifying function]], which is to say the effect of [[signification]].

On the lefthand side of the [[algebra|equation]], [[outside]] the brackets, [[Lacan]] writes '''<i>f</i>''' '''S''', the [[paternal function|signifying function]], which is to say the effect of [[signification]]. [[Inside ]] the brackets he writes '''S . . . S'''', the link between one [[signifier]] and another in a [[signifying chain]].

On the righthand side of the [[algebra|equation]] there is '''S''', the [[signifier]], and ('''---'''), the [[bar]] of the [[Saussure]]ean [[sign|algorithm]]. The [[sign]] <b>=</b> is to be read "is congruent with."

The [[sign]] <b>=</b> is to be read "is congruent with." =====Formula for Metonymy - Summary=====Thus the [[whole ]] formula reads:

The formula is meant to illustrate [[Lacan]]'s [[thesis ]] that in [[metonymy]] the [[resistance]] of [[signification]] is maintained, the [[bar]] is not crossed, no new [[signified]] is produced.

=====Contexts=====[[Lacan]] puts his [[concept ]] of [[metonymy]] to use in a variety of contexts.

=====Metonymy and Desire=====

[[Desire]] is also characterized by exactly the same never-ending [[process ]] of continual [[deferred action|deferral]]; since [[desire]] is always "desire for something else,"<ref>{{E}} p.167</ref> as soon as the [[object]] of [[desire]] is attained, it is no longer desirable, and the [[subject]]'s [[desire]] fixes on another [[object]]. Thus [[Lacan]] writes that "desire ''is'' a metonymy."<ref>{{E}} p.175</ref> =====Metonymy and Displacement=====[[Lacan]] also follows [[Jakobson]] in linking the [[metaphor]]-[[metonymy]] distinction to the mechanisms of the [[dream work]] described by [[Freud]]. However, he differs from [[Jakobson]] over the precise nature of this link.

===Metonymy and Displacement===[[Lacan]] also follows [[Jakobson]] in linking the [[metaphor]]-[[metonymy]] [[distinction]] to the mechanisms of the [[dream work]] described by [[Freud]]. However, he differs from [[Jakobson]] over the precise [[nature]] of this link. Just as [[displacement]] is logically prior to [[condensation]], so [[metonymy]] is the condition for [[metaphor]], because "the coordination of [[signifiers ]] has to be possible before transferences of the signified are able to take [[place]]."<ref>{{S3}} p.229</ref>

== See Also =={{See}}* [[Bar]]