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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Psychol.
Sec. Psychology of Language
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1499563
This article is part of the Research Topic Reviews in Psychology of Language View all 10 articles

A Bibliometric Analysis of Metonymy in SSCI-indexed Research (2000-2023): Retrospect and Prospect

Provisionally accepted
Yi Sun Yi Sun Mocheng Lin Mocheng Lin *
  • Fuzhou University of International Studies and Trade, Fuzhou, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    This study conducts a comprehensive bibliometric analysis of metonymy research from 2000 to 2023, exploring research trends, emerging themes, and evolving patterns within the field. Using advanced clustering techniques, including co-citation and co-word analysis, this research uncovers distinct areas of focus within metonymy studies, highlighting the interdisciplinary nature of the field. The findings reveal that cognitive and conceptual linguistics remain central to metonymy research, with a strong emphasis on understanding the cognitive mechanisms underlying figurative language. The study also emphasizes the importance of semantic and pragmatic dimensions, particularly in exploring semantic complexity and lexical ambiguity. Additionally, the research identifies a growing interest in multimodal and visual contexts, as well as the application of metonymy theory in social and cultural domains. Predictive modeling using ARIMA provides insights into potential future trends, suggesting new areas of inquiry, including the interaction between metonymy and discourse and the exploration of cognitive and emotional processes. This analysis not only maps the intellectual landscape of metonymy research but also provides a roadmap for future studies, encouraging further exploration and discovery within this dynamic and multifaceted field.

    Keywords: metonymy, bibliometric analysis, python, metaphor, figurative language

    Received: 21 Sep 2024; Accepted: 07 Jan 2025.

    Copyright: © 2025 Sun and Lin. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Mocheng Lin, Fuzhou University of International Studies and Trade, Fuzhou, China

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.