The metonymic interpretation of Chinese antonym co-occurrence constructions: the case of you X you Y

•Metonymic inference triggered by co-occurring canonical antonym pairs is the basis of interpreting the you X you Y construction.•The flexibility of the semantics of you X you Y is attributed to two cognitive factors: metonymy and metonymy-based metaphor.•Relational coercion is the motivation for licensing non-canonical antonym pairs to co-occur in the construction.

Studies on antonym co-occurrence have mainly focused on its frequency, the lexico-grammatical patterns in which antonym pairs co-occur, its discourse functions and the preferred ordering of antonym pairs. The interpretation of antonym co-occurrence constructions has been understudied. This paper addresses the cognitive motivation underlying the interpretation of antonym co-occurrence constructions based on a detailed analysis of the Chinese construction you X you Y. This construction retains a literal meaning which stems from its juxtaposed syntax, but it also has non-compositional meanings. It can indicate exhaustiveness of the domain involved and express a sense of diversity. We argue that the semantic interpretation of the construction is rooted in metonymic inference triggered by the co-occurring antonym pairs. We also contend that the meaning derived via metonymic inference may exhibit further meaning extension by virtue of conceptual metaphor. Finally, we examine the non-canonical antonym pairs in the construction and propose that the motivation for licensing non-canonical antonym pairs to co-occur in the construction can be attributed to relational coercion exerted by the construction on the sense relation between lexical items.