The Michael Jackson of two or three noses ago and the Michael Jackson of today – multiple personalities or conceptual metonymy?

Abstract: The paper deals with the construction of the figurative meaning of personal names in expressions of the type the X of Y, in which X is a personal name designating humans and Y designates a temporal period. Such expressions, used in connection with the original bearer of the name, are considered to be instances of partitive restrictive modification. Applying the findings of Barcelona (2003, 2004) and Brdar and Brdar-Szabó (2007) concerning the figurative meaning of personal names, the paper illustrates that the ENTITY FOR ACTIVE ZONE metonymy is an essential tool in explaining how the figurative meaning of personal names arises in expressions of this type. As a result of partitive restrictive modification, the original bearer of the personal name is figuratively split into distinct individuals due to the ENTITY FOR ACTIVE ZONE metonymy.