The Truth of Metonymy

In the present article, the truth of metonymy has been studied through the perspective of four theories. Sakaki – on the basis of its proper exposition – acknowledged the prevailing idea of using speech in the meaning of its relevant related subject, but in order to improve the rhetorical meaning of metonymy, he also relied on the theory of contention. On the other hand, Shaikh Mohammad Reza Isfahani and Mirza Qomi by relying on the usage of speech in its related subject in reality and in fiction, have searched for the differences between the two in the existence of contention in the meaning of metonymy. But they have different viewpoints about the kind of contention. Isfahani maintains that the criterion is “the contention of individuality of fictional meaning for real meaning”, while Qomi argues that the criterion is “the contention of objectivity of fictional and real meaning”. Imam Khomeini is inclined towards the viewpoint of his teacher Shaikh Mohammad Reza Isfahani and has improved upon it. The viewpoint of the author has been given in this research as well.