Abstract:

Within the cognitive linguistic rationale of metonymy and metaphor，this paper presents a statistical analysis of the
variational collocation of measure words (hereafter VCMW) in Chinese data from the dimensions of rhetoric，lexicogrammar，
semantics and pragmatics. We find that VCMW in Chinese，although appearing complicated，has its inherent causes，structural
formula and laws. From the metonymy perspective，is formed in four structures. From the metaphorical perspective，there are
also four structures of VCMW. Based on the above analysis we construct the metonymy and metaphor patterns of VCMW，
which we wish can facilitate better understanding and research of this linguistic phenomenon.

Key words: cognitive linguistics, conventional measure words, variational collocation, metaphor, metonymy