37.3068, Calls: Lingvisticae Investigationes - "Special Issue: Metaphor and Binominal Phrases Across Languages: A Syntax-semantics Perspective" (Jrnl)

Fri Sep 25 00:05:02 UTC 2026

LINGUIST List: Vol-37-3068. Fri Sep 25 2026. ISSN: 1069 - 4875.

Subject: 37.3068, Calls: Lingvisticae Investigationes - "Special Issue: Metaphor and Binominal Phrases Across Languages: A Syntax-semantics Perspective" (Jrnl)

Moderator: Steven Moran (linguist at linguistlist.org)
Managing Editor: Valeriia Vyshnevetska
Team: Helen Aristar-Dry, Daniel Swanson
Jobs: jobs at linguistlist.org | Conferences: callconf at linguistlist.org | Pubs: pubs at linguistlist.org

Homepage: http://linguistlist.org

Editor for this issue: Valeriia Vyshnevetska <valeriia at linguistlist.org>

================================================================

Date: 24-Sep-2026
From: Manon Philippe [manon.philippe at univ-rennes2.fr]
Subject: Lingvisticae Investigationes - "Special Issue: Metaphor and Binominal Phrases Across Languages: A Syntax-semantics Perspective" (Jrnl)

Journal: Lingvisticae Investigationes
Issue: Metaphor and Binominal Phrases Across Languages: A
Syntax-semantics Perspective
Call Deadline: 24-Mar-2027

This issue explores the expression of a metaphorical meaning in
binominal noun phrases following a DET N1 PREP (DET) N2 pattern across
languages, N1 and N2 being nominal elements (common nouns, proper
nouns/names) linked by a preposition.
Examples are:
an army of robots, the Harvard of nursery schools, an ocean of time,
the height of his playing career, the king of pop, a wow of a show, a
gem of a construction (Eng.); ce chien de Roger, une forêt de mâts, le
sommet de la gloire, le Tom Cruise du cinéma français, une avalanche
de courrier (Fr.); qué pedazo de gol, un montón de problemas, la
primavera de su vida, el reloj de sangre (Spa.); legionarul de
Georgescu (Rom.); een pracht van een kerstkaart, een boom van een
kerel (Dutch); una montagna di debiti (It.); …
A number of studies mention the possibility of metaphorical uses of
nouns in binominal NPs. In the case of nominal quantifiers of the form
[Det N1 PREP] (“quantifieurs nominaux”, Izert, 2019, also known as
“pseudo-partitives”), such as [a sea of] stars or [hordes of]
troubles, N1 no longer functions as an autonomous referential noun but
as a figurative marker of quantity. In these phrases, the metaphorical
expression emerges from the “unnatural” association between N1 and N2.
In such examples, the metaphor may trigger a quantificational reading
when N1 is a collective noun (eg. a flood of questions) (Lammert,
2010; Lecolle, 2019), or simply “renew quantificational meaning
through deviant associations” when N1 is already quantifying (“un
renouveau dans la quantification, par le biais d’associations
déviantes entre les quantifieurs et les quantifiés” Benninger, 2001:
33) (e.g. a handful of doubts). Other metaphorical effects depend on
the choice of nouns (Leroy, 2005 : 55-56): some of-constructions
glossable with be are more predicative and filter the existence of N2
through that of N1 (this pool of blood ≈ “the blood is a pool”);
others with a deverbal N1, with inherited verbal traits, retain an
event-like structure (an irruption of bees ≈ “the bees make an
irruption”). Some N1 also specialize in providing a vague
categorization (or quantification) of N2 (“approximateurs
quantitatifs”: aux alentours de…, “catégorisation de détresse”: une
espèce de …, Mihatsch 2009, 2010). Metaphor occurs as well in
binominals of the form [Det N1 of a N2], called Evaluative Binominal
Noun Phrases, or EBNPs (ten Wolde, 2023). For example, in a butcher of
a surgeon, N2 is compared to N1 in that the surgeon features some
characteristics of a butcher. According to Foolen (2004), those are
not conceptual metaphors per se but are better interpreted in terms of
blending, as only a few semantic traits of N1 are “mapped onto the
target” (ibid : 94). While some authors consider that EBNPs come into
two types (the “literal or category” type, eg. that clever little
wretch of a Rebecca, and the “figurative” type, eg. a Methuselah of a
pear tree, see Austin, 1980: 359), for others EBNPs are inherently
metaphorical (see Cotte, 2025). The possible combinations and
constraints on syntax and interpretation are not fully understood
today. Neither are differences in productivity and degree of
conventionalisation, within and across languages.
Furthermore, the analysis of of-binominals questions the potential
role of the preposition in the construction of the metaphor and in the
binominal noun phrase as a whole. Indeed, the literature considers it
alternatively as a formally meaningless linker (eg. Kim & Sells, 2015,
in their study of EBNPs) or, on the contrary, as a relation-encoding
marker that participates directly in shaping the metaphorical
interpretation (eg. Cotte, 1983, 1985). What all these studies
highlight is that metaphor in binominal constructions can have
tangible grammatical consequences: not only does it enable expressive
extensions of quantification (eg. a sea of N2), but it may also give
rise to syntactic and or semantic reanalyses, for instance in modifier
constructions (eg. a helluva N) or in complex quantifiers (eg. a lot
of N, bunches of N) (Gardelle, 2019). The focus of these studies,
however, is typically restricted to one type of of-binominal. The aim
of this issue is to take metaphor as the starting-point, and bring
together experts of of-binominals in order to foster new thoughts on
how metaphors interact with the grammar of binominals, at the
syntax/semantics interface.
We welcome submissions which discuss how metaphor is created in
binominal phrases, where metaphor lies and what is meant exactly,
depending on the type of N or the link between N1 and N2 are welcome.
More specifically, and non exclusively, submissions could deal with:
The type of metaphor found in binominal phrases:
 - Is the metaphor conceptual or stylistic? Which (types of) traits,
and how many, are attributed to the target referent?
 - Metaphor and comparison: is the metaphor expressed (always)
comparable to N2 is (like) a N1? Is there a specificity of metaphors
in binominals, compared with other uses of metaphor?
 - The origin of the metaphorical meaning : where does the
metaphorical meaning come from? N1, N2 (are there Ns that are more
likely to bring about this metaphorical meaning?), the co-occurrence
of the N1-N2 pair, the preposition? How is metaphor achieved?
 - The comparison between metaphorical and non-metaphorical DET N1
PREP (DET) N2: can they share the same N, same determiners, etc.? Are
there contexts favouring a metaphorical interpretation or a literal
one? Can metaphor be only one part of the overall meaning expressed,
as in an ocean of time, in which metaphor combines with
quantification?
 - The relationship (and order) between the categories represented by
N1 and N2 in metaphorical binominals: how is it that pop does not do
for king in the king of pop what wow does to show in a wow of a show,
or that ocean does for time in an ocean of time, and yet all express
metaphors?
 - The parallels or differences between binominals using common nouns
and binominals using proper names: are common nouns and proper names
equally licensed in metaphorical binominals? Do they specialise in
certain metaphorical meanings?
 - The comparison with neighbouring constructions with a metaphorical
or literal interpretation: what kind of meaning is added, or lost, or
changed, in a binominal phrase with a preposition such as a mystery of
a man, compared with a binominal phrase without a preposition, like a
mystery man, and with a simple noun phrase containing a noun and its
modifier, as in a very mysterious man? Does the abstract meaning
attached to parts of speech play a role in the creation of metaphor in
the noun phrase?
 - The role of the preposition in bringing about the metaphorical
meaning: is there a constraint on the preposition? How does its use in
metaphorical binominals relate to its other uses? How are metaphors
managed in languages which do not have prepositions?
 - The potential for crosslinguistic comparisons: are there
cross-linguistic regularities? Are cross-linguistic differences
random, or partly motivated?
Selected References:
Austin, F. (1980). A crescent-shaped jewel of an island: appositive
nouns in phrases separated by of. English Studies, 61, 357–366.
Benninger, C. (2001), Une meute de loups / une brassée de questions :
collection, quantification et métaphore. Langue française, 129, 21–34.
Brdar-Szabó, R. &, Brdar, M. (2020).The Bruce Willis Of Sandwiches:
The Y Of X is Y Of Z Construction on its Journey towards a Paragon
Model, As One Way Of Achieving Intersubjectivity. Diadorim, Rio de
Janeiro, 22 (2), 277–302.
Cotte, P. (1983). Of et la modification. Sigma, 7, Publication du
CELAM, Montpellier, Université Paul-Valéry,  95–113.
Cotte, P. (1985). A Fine figure of a man, un amour de petite fille,
essai d'analyse. Sigma, 9, 73–107.
Cotte, P. (2025). Quelles métaphores pour les structures binominales
en of ?. Journée d’études “Constructions binominales en OF et
métaphores”, 21 May 2025, Université Grenoble-Alpes & Université
Rennes 2, online.
Foolen, A. (2004). Expressive binominal NPs in Germanic and Romance
languages. In Radden, G. & Panther, K.-U. (eds.), Studies in
Linguistic Motivation (pp 76–100.). Berlin - New York: Mouton de
Gruyter.
De Mattia-Viviès, M. (2019). Leçons de grammaire anglaise. Groupe
Nominal, Aix en Provence: Presses Universitaires de Provence.
Gardelle, L. (2019). Semantic Plurality: English Collective Nouns and
Other Ways of Denoting Pluralities of Entities. John Benjamins.
Gardelle, L. (2024). A Swarm of Helicopters, the Last Couple of Weeks:
A Constructional Analysis of the Syntax/Semantics Interface for the
Classification of N1 as “Collective” or “Quantificational”. In L.
Gardelle, E. Mignot & J. Neveux (eds.), Nouns and the Morphosyntax /
Semantics Interface (pp 209–232). Palgrave MacMillan.
Gauthier, A. (1995). Délimitation et modulation qualitative dans
quelques emplois de of. Cahiers Charles V, 19, 93–109.
Huddleston, R. & Pullum, G., et al. (2002). The Cambridge Grammar of
the English Language, Chapter 5, Nouns and noun phrases. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press.
Izert, M. (2019). D’une horde de barbares à une horde de pensées – à
propos de quelques quantifieurs nominaux figuratifs d’origine
militaire en français et en polonais. Białostockie Archiwum Językowe,
19, 125–139.
Jonasson, K. (1991). Les noms propres métaphoriques : construction et
interprétation. Langue française, 92, Marie-Noëlle Gary-Prieur (dir.),
Syntaxe et sémantique des noms propres, 64–81.
Keizer, E. (2007). The English Noun Phrase: The nature of linguistic
categorization. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Lakoff, G. & Johnson, M. (1980). Metaphors We Live By. Chicago:
Chicago University Press.
Lammert, M. (2010). Sémantique et cognition. Genève: Droz.
Lecolle, M. (2019). Les noms collectifs humains en français. Enjeux
sémantiques, lexicaux et discursifs. Limoges: Lambert-Lucas.
Leroy, S. (2005). Autour de cette mare de sang. Déterminants nominaux
et noms déterminés dans Tête d'or. L'information grammaticale, 107,
53–56.
Mihatsch, W. (2009). L’approximation entre sens et signification: un
tour d’horizon. In D. Verbeken (ed.), Entre sens et signification.
Constitution du sens: points de vue sur l’articulation
sémantique-pragmatique (pp 125–144). Paris: L’Harmattan.
Mihatsch, W. (2010). Les approximateurs quantitatifs entre scalarité
et non-scalarité. Langue française, 165 (1), 125–153.
Quirk, R. (1985). A Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language,
Chapter 5. Nouns and Determiners, Chapter 17. The Noun phrase. London,
Longman.
ten Wolde, E. (2023). The English binominal noun phrase: A
Cognitive-Functional approach (Studies in English Language).
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Scientific Board:
Mario Brdar, University of Osijek
Rita Brdar-Szabó, Eötvös Loránd University
Ann Coady, Université Paul Valéry Montpellier 3
Laure Gardelle, Grenoble Alpes University
Evelien Keizer, University of Vienna
Elise Mignot, Sorbonne University
Wiltrud Mihatsch, University of Tübingen
Agnieszka Mykowiecka, Institute of Computer Science, Polish Academy of
Sciences
Elnora ten Wolde, University of Gratz
The colleagues who spoke at the workshop on Metaphor and binominal
phrases in May 2025 as well as the members of the scientific board
have been invited to submit a paper for review, but the call is open
to all colleagues.
Format:
The studies may bear on any language, but the papers should be written
in English or in French. They should not exceed 15 pages in total,
bibliography included, Times 12 1,5, regular margins. Submissions must
be sent to felix.anthony at univ-grenoble-alpes.fr and
manon.philippe at univ-rennes2.fr by March 24th 2027 at the latest.
Calendar:
Call for Papers : 24 September 2026
Submission of papers by : 24 March 2027 at the latest
Notification to authors : end of April 2027
Final version of papers : end of May 2027
Publication: end of August – September 2027

Linguistic Field(s): Semantics
                     Syntax

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

********************** LINGUIST List Support ***********************
Please consider donating to the Linguist List, a U.S. 501(c)(3) not for profit organization:

https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=87C2AXTVC4PP8

LINGUIST List is supported by the following publishers:

Australian Linguistics Society https://als.asn.au/Home

Bloomsbury Publishing http://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/

Cambridge University Press http://www.cambridge.org/linguistics

Cascadilla Press http://www.cascadilla.com/

De Gruyter Brill https://www.degruyterbrill.com/?changeLang=en

Edinburgh University Press http://www.edinburghuniversitypress.com

European Language Resources Association (ELRA) http://www.elra.info

John Benjamins http://www.benjamins.com/

Language Science Press http://langsci-press.org

Lincom GmbH https://lincom-shop.eu/

MDPI Languages https://www.mdpi.com/journal/languages

MIT Press http://mitpress.mit.edu/

Multilingual Matters http://www.multilingual-matters.com/

Narr Francke Attempto Verlag GmbH + Co. KG http://www.narr.de/

Netherlands Graduate School of Linguistics / Landelijke (LOT) http://www.lotpublications.nl/

Peter Lang AG http://www.peterlang.com

SIL International Publications http://www.sil.org/resources/publications

----------------------------------------------------------
LINGUIST List: Vol-37-3068
----------------------------------------------------------