From Text to Culture: Metonymic Chains as a Tool for Functional Equivalence in Minority Language Bible Translation

Old Testament texts deploy metonymic expressions anchored in ancient Near Eastern idealized cognitive models: agricultural cycles, pastoral economies, and juridical procedures, whose logic remains invisible to standard translation approaches. This paper argues that metonymic chains (coordinated sequences of metonymic vehicles within a shared idealized cognitive model) constitute a distinct unit of meaning in OT literature and offer a path toward functional equivalence in minority language Bible translation. Drawing on Kövecses and Radden (1998) and Radden and Kövecses (2007), the paper proposes a three-type taxonomy: convergent (Type A), sequential (Type B), and systemic (Type C) chains, plus a four-phase identification protocol. Applied to a ninety-two-passage corpus from twenty-eight OT books, the protocol detected metonymic chains in eighty-four cases: fifty-seven Type A, twenty Type B, and seven Type C. Four case studies (Jer 1.11-12, Amos 8.1-2, Lev 16.6-22, Isa 5.1-7) show that each chain type requires distinct equivalence strategies, positioning chain analysis as a standard pre-translation procedure.