COGNITIVE AND SEMANTIC ASPECTS OF METONYMY AND SYNONYMY IN RIDDLES

Abstract

This paper explores the linguistic and semantic significance of metonymy and synonymy in Uzbek and English riddles. As a folkloric genre, riddles employ figurative language to obscure meaning and engage the audience in cognitive reasoning. The findings reveal that metonymy acts as an indirect naming mechanism by linking objects to their functions, attributes, or contextual associations, while synonymy enhances the expressive depth of riddles through alternative lexical forms that preserve or slightly shift meaning.