Beginning with Michael Reddy`s work in his 1979 article “The Conduit Metaphor,” many linguists today reject that there is a valid way to distinguish between a “literal” and “figurative” mode of language. [29] The words you use in written and oral communications are a form of expression. The types of language you use often depend on what you want to convey. Sometimes the goal is to be direct and get straight to the point, to express exactly what you want to say. In other cases, the goal is to get the reader to think or draw a conclusion. It is important to distinguish what a sentence means (i.e. its literal meaning) and what the speaker means in the sentence utterance. We know the meaning of a sentence once we know the meaning of the elements and the rules for combining them. But of course, speakers often mean more or something else than what the actual sentences they speak mean.
That is, what the speaker means in the utterance of a sentence can deviate in various systematic ways from what the sentence literally means. In borderline cases, the speaker could pronounce a sentence and mean exactly and literally what he is saying. But there are all kinds of cases where speakers pronounce sentences and mean something else or even incompatible with the literal meaning of the sentence. Unlike figurative language, literal language means exactly what it says. No metaphors, no parables, nothing. Nada. Imagery can take various forms, such as allegory or metaphor. [9] Merriam-Webster`s Encyclopedia of Literature indicates that figurative language can be divided into five categories: similarity or relationship, emphasis or euphemism, sound figures, verbal games, and errors. [10] “When his wife asks him if he would like his bowling shoes to be laced over or laced, Archie Bunker answers with a question: `What`s the difference?` A reader of sublime simplicity, his wife responds by patiently explaining the difference between the strings and the strings underneath, whatever it is, but only provokes anger.
“What`s the difference” didn`t ask about the difference, but means, “I don`t care about the difference.” The same grammatical model produces two mutually exclusive meanings: the literal meaning questions the term (difference), whose existence is denied by the figurative meaning. (Paul de Man, Allegories of Reading: Pictorial Language in Rousseau, Nietzsche, Rilke and Proust. Yale University Press, 1979) How do we deal with metaphorical statements? The standard theory is that we deal with non-literal language in three steps. First, we get the literal meaning from what we hear. Second, we test the literal meaning in relation to the context to see if it fits it. Third, if the literal meaning does not make sense with the context, we look for an alternative, metaphorical meaning. Imagery uses words or phrases whose meaning is different from literal interpretation. In contrast, figurative language uses different linguistic figures to make content more persuasive or to achieve greater impact. Figurative language uses figures of language such as metaphors, parables, or an oxymoron to make the message more meaningful. A writer uses visual language to create more interesting and often colorful content. Literal language is often used in the fields of science and research. You might consider using literal language when writing a term paper on the flaws of alternative energy solutions.
If you are writing a paper in chemistry class, using precise and simple language would be the best option. Literary language should be used when the purpose is to give an explicit explanation. Authors use literal language when they want to convey their point of view directly. One prediction of this three-step model is that people should ignore the non-literal meanings of statements whenever the literal meaning makes sense, as they never have to move to the third step. There is evidence that humans are unable to ignore non-literal meanings. That is, the metaphorical meaning seems to be treated at the same time as the literal meaning. (Trevor Harley, The Psychology of Language. Taylor & Francis, 2001) “The sea, the great unifier, is man`s only hope. Today, the old phrase has a literal meaning like never before: we are all in this together. (Jacques Cousteau, National Geographic, 1981) Literal language expresses ideas in a simple and specific way. We are not dealing here with symbolism or metaphor, but only with a font that is presented objectively. Only the direct facts.
You`ll see literal language most often in journalism, news reporting, and history (although, of course, just because the information is presented in a literal and factual way doesn`t mean it`s necessarily true or objective). Literal language is used in both spoken and written language. To realize these forms of pictorial language, you can integrate different types of literary means. Literary means include parable, metaphor, personification, onomatopoeia, oxymoron, exaggeration, allusion, idiom, alliteration, irony, pun, and sarcasm. Illustrated and textual worksheets can be found online as PDF documents. Literal and figurative are two words that we often see in relation to language and writing. In linguistics, these words function as antonyms, that is, they have opposite meanings. Literal language says exactly what you want to say, while figurative language is more sophisticated, using literary techniques or figures of speech such as exaggeration, personification, metaphors, etc. In this article, we will take an in-depth look at the main difference between literal and figurative language. Literal language is often simple, straightforward and therefore readers find it easy to understand.
“It`s very helpful when you`re young to learn the difference between `literally and figuratively.` When something literally happens, it actually happens; When something happens figuratively, it feels like it`s happening. For example, if you literally jump for joy, it means that you are jumping in the air because you are very happy. If you are figuratively jumping for joy, it means that you are so happy that you could jump for joy, but save your energy for other things. The Baudelaire orphans return to Count Olaf`s neighborhood and stop at Judge Strauss, who welcomes them and lets them choose books from the library. Violet chose several on mechanical inventions, Klaus chose several on wolves, and Sunny found a book with many pictures of teeth in it. Then they went to his room and snuggled on a bed and read intensely and happily. Figuratively speaking, they escaped Count Olaf and their miserable existence. They did not literally escape, for they were still in his house and subject to Olaf`s evil in a loco parentis manner. But by immersing themselves in their favorite reading topics, they felt far removed from their predicament, as if they had escaped.
In the situation of orphans, of course, pictorial escape was not enough, but at the end of an exhausting and hopeless day, it had to be enough. Violet, Klaus and Sunny read their books and hoped in the back of their minds that their pictorial escape would soon become literal. (Lemony Snicket, The Bad Beginning or Orphans! HarperCollins, 2007) Imagery is often used in the literature. Literal and figurative language is a distinction in certain areas of language analysis, especially stylistics, rhetoric, and semantics. Gregory Currie observed that the “literal meaning of the literal meaning” is as vague as that of “hill.” But just as vagueness is not an objection to the claim that there are hills, it is not an objection to the claim that there are literal meanings. (Image and Spirit, 1995). On the other hand, figurative language may require interpretation on the part of the reader. This language tends to be more complex and not always very simple. Imagery often uses symbolism that asks the reader or listener to think beyond the written words. This type of language uses literary means instead of relying on the actual meaning of words or sentences.
The literal meaning is the most obvious or non-figurative meaning of a word or words. A language that is not perceived as metaphorical, ironic, hyperbolic or sarcastic. Contrast with the pictorial meaning or the non-literal meaning. Name: literal. “Dictionary definitions are written literally. For example, “It`s time to feed the cats and dogs.” This term “cats and dogs” is used literally, because animals are hungry and it`s time to eat. “Visual language paints images of words and allows us to `see` a point. For example: “It`s raining cats and dogs!” Cats and dogs don`t really fall from the sky like rain. This expression is a sentence. (Maryland High School Assessment Passed, 2006) Imagery can take shape in five specific ways: Literal language is used in documents that contain direct information.
(Examples; Before the 1980s, the standard “pragmatic” model of understanding was widely adopted. In this model, it was thought that the receiver would first try to understand meaning as literal, but if no adequate literal conclusions could be drawn, the receiver would seek a pictorial interpretation that would allow understanding. [27] Since then, research has raised doubts about the model. Tests have shown that figurative language is understood at the same speed as literal language; And so the premise that the recipient first tried to process a literal meaning and reject it before trying to process a figurative meaning seems wrong. [28] Imagery is more elaborate than literal language, and this type of writing is often used in literary works.