Metonymy in the media space of the Arab political discourse

Abstract

The paper presents the results of analysing metonymic transfers selected from the texts of speeches by Arab politicians. The mechanism of using metonymy and its motivation by functions in the speech of a politician are considered in the context of usage, which is a comment on the political reason for the speech. The study aims to propose a typology of metonymic transfers within the framework of analysing linguistic means presented in the texts of oral TV speeches by the leading Arab political figures. The study is novel in that it is the first to propose a typologization of metonymic transfers in connection with their functions in the Arab political discourse. The results showed that the frequency of the frame metonymic transfer, which takes precedence over the propositional and the scenario type of transfer and allows for the implementation of a predominantly agonal function, as well as the functions of power legitimization and social control in public speeches by Arab politicians, is characteristic of the Arab political discourse.