On figuration of gender in English

Abstract

The paper deals with figurative lexical resources of English in the conceptual domain of gender. The presentation and analysis are carried out in terms of the most productive cognitive processes of semantic extensions leading to gender senses of particular lexical units. These processes include various kinds of metaphor, e.g. objectification and zoometaphor, and metonymy, as well as a less familiar concept of syntaphor. Of particular importance are the cases of a new kind of metaphor, called “transgender metaphor” and an integration of metonymy with metaphor in the development of a taboo lexeme cunt used to refer to male referents.