METONYMIES WITHIN INDIRECT SPEECH ACTS: THE CASE OF COMPLAINING AND APOLOGISING

Based on the theoretical background from pragmatics and cognitive linguistics, this paper describes the role of conceptual metonymy in the two linguistic branches mentioned. Within the mentioned theoretical frame of the two linguistic disciplines, the aim of this paper is to examine the way in which the two disciplines, via conceptual metonymy, overlap and the way in which this overlapping, i.e. interaction, leaves traces in discourse, namely the speech acts of complaining and apologising in the Croatian-BosnianSerbian, on one hand, and English language, on the other hand. Starting from the assumption that metonymy forms the basis for all indirect speech acts, the main goal of this paper is to, using the current pragmatics taxonomy of indirect strategies, show the extent to which the speech acts of complaining and apologising are realised in an indirect way in the Croatian-Bosnian-Serbian and English language, respectively, and, at the same time, how often metonymic relations are being used by interlocutors, with the aim of achieving successful communication flow. In order to answer the questions posed, the data was collected with the usage of a written Discourse Completion Test, composed of discourse scenarios formed to elicit the speech acts of complaining and apologising. Final results undoubtedly show the overlap between pragmatics and cognitive linguistics in the process of speech acts’ realisation, i.e. in the process of thinking and speaking. Keywords: pragmatics, cognitive linguistics, conceptual metonymy, complaints, apologie