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Created page with 'File:lightestill.jpg '''Literal''' and figurative language is a distinction in traditional systems for analyzing language. Literal language refers to words t...'
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'''Literal''' and figurative [[language]] is a distinction in [[traditional]] [[systems]] for analyzing language. Literal language refers to [[words]] that do not deviate from their defined [[meaning]]. Figurative language refers to words, and [[groups]] of words, that exaggerate or alter the usual meanings of the component words. Figurative language may involve [[analogy]] to similar [[concepts]] or other [[contexts]], and may involve exaggerations. These alterations result in figures of speech.
==Details and examples==
In traditional [[analysis]], words in literal [[expressions]] denote what they mean according to common or dictionary usage, while the words in figurative expressions connote—they add layers of [[meaning]]. To convert an [[utterance]] into meaning, the human [[mind]] requires a [[cognitive]] [[Frame of Reference|framework]], made up of [[memories]] of all the possible meanings that might be available to apply to the particular words in their context. This set of memories will give prominence to the most common or literal meanings, but also suggest reasons for attributing different meanings, e.g., the [[reader]] understands that the [[author]] intended it to mean something different.
For example, the sentence, "The Ground is thirsty", is partly figurative. "Ground" has a literal meaning, but the ground is not alive and therefore neither needs to drink nor feels thirst. Readers immediately reject a literal [[interpretation]] and confidently interpret the words to mean "The ground is dry," an [[analogy]] to the condition that would trigger thirst in an [[animal]]. However, the statement, "When I first saw her, my [[soul]] began to quiver," is harder to interpret. It could describe infatuation, panic, or something else entirely. The context a [[person]] requires to interpret this statement is familiarity with the speaker's [[feelings]]. Other people can give a few [[words]] a provisional set of meanings, but cannot understand the figurative utterance until acquiring more [[information]].
Figurative language departs from literal meaning to achieve a special effect or meaning. [[Techniques]] for doing so are listed in an article on [http://humanities.byu.edu/rhetoric/Figures/Figures-Overview.htm Figures of speech].
[[Category: Languages and Literature]]
'''Literal''' and figurative [[language]] is a distinction in [[traditional]] [[systems]] for analyzing language. Literal language refers to [[words]] that do not deviate from their defined [[meaning]]. Figurative language refers to words, and [[groups]] of words, that exaggerate or alter the usual meanings of the component words. Figurative language may involve [[analogy]] to similar [[concepts]] or other [[contexts]], and may involve exaggerations. These alterations result in figures of speech.
==Details and examples==
In traditional [[analysis]], words in literal [[expressions]] denote what they mean according to common or dictionary usage, while the words in figurative expressions connote—they add layers of [[meaning]]. To convert an [[utterance]] into meaning, the human [[mind]] requires a [[cognitive]] [[Frame of Reference|framework]], made up of [[memories]] of all the possible meanings that might be available to apply to the particular words in their context. This set of memories will give prominence to the most common or literal meanings, but also suggest reasons for attributing different meanings, e.g., the [[reader]] understands that the [[author]] intended it to mean something different.
For example, the sentence, "The Ground is thirsty", is partly figurative. "Ground" has a literal meaning, but the ground is not alive and therefore neither needs to drink nor feels thirst. Readers immediately reject a literal [[interpretation]] and confidently interpret the words to mean "The ground is dry," an [[analogy]] to the condition that would trigger thirst in an [[animal]]. However, the statement, "When I first saw her, my [[soul]] began to quiver," is harder to interpret. It could describe infatuation, panic, or something else entirely. The context a [[person]] requires to interpret this statement is familiarity with the speaker's [[feelings]]. Other people can give a few [[words]] a provisional set of meanings, but cannot understand the figurative utterance until acquiring more [[information]].
Figurative language departs from literal meaning to achieve a special effect or meaning. [[Techniques]] for doing so are listed in an article on [http://humanities.byu.edu/rhetoric/Figures/Figures-Overview.htm Figures of speech].
[[Category: Languages and Literature]]