Talk:Literal and figurative language

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Rap Section[edit]

I think the rap is inappropriate for an encyclopedia. Entries should be written in prose in order to be concise. Mirage465 (talk) 05:12, 13 October 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Defintion[edit]

Great start Ryguasu. I'm a "newbie" (a.k.a.: F.N.G.) to Wikipedia, so bear with me. I'd be glad to communicate with you on this article/subject.

Here's why I've deleted/replaced a couple of your phrases/sentences: XD

"...figurative language uses more poetic senses."

Although it's used a lot in poetic senses, figurative language is used in a lot more contexts than just poetic-sounding language. When I shake my fist at someone on the freeway and call them an "a__hole," I'm using figurative language (the figure of speech is synecdoche) without being poetic sounding in any sense of the word.

"In literal language, truth conditions work out well, while in figurative language, they may not."

IMO the definition of terms in this sentence will be unclear to most general readers of an encyclopedia. What are "truth conditions"? If it's a technical term, we'd better define it.

Also, I moved the following to this page

  • Why would someone want to divide language into literal and figurative? What is gained thereby? (Lakoff provides some insight here.)d
  • Why would people prefer not to view language with this divide?
  • How does this connect to theories of truth?"

These are all needed additions. The last one, especially, shows the importance and relevance of this subject to a broad range of disciplines, including theories of knowledge, cognition, language development, etc., etc.

And now....here's an explanations for one of my suspect assertions :-)

"Some have boiled down the more than two hundred and fifty figures described in classical and traditional linguistics into two: metaphor and metonymy."

I know this from research, and my additions to Further Reading document reflect the "classical and traditional" end of this statement. But I need to go back and document specifically which modern analyses have done the boiling. jstanley01 Tuesday, July 8, 2003, 12:45 CDT.

Types of figurative language[edit]

Isn't it logical to add to this page a list of types of figurative langiage, such as metaphor, similie, etc.? Or is there such a list on some other term? 80.178.164.204 08:17, 10 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Moved to discussion[edit]

Don't converse in article...203.218.79.155 21:26, 31 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]

):):):)It is a very hard type of learning and it is very hard to learn the different things that it has in it because

life is not easy and that i guess is the way that life works!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! -CULOchi

Copyright problem removed[edit]

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Article in English split in two articles in Portuguese[edit]

Hi guys

Any suggestion on how to resolve an interwiki issue where the article in one language is split in two in a different language, none of the two being more important than the other? Best regards, Rui ''Gabriel'' Correia (talk) 18:15, 3 October 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Image caption error[edit]

The caption states:

"When "She is as pretty as a daisy" is used to describe the woman on the right, it is used in literal manner - she has the petals and leaves of a flower."

This is not what the phrase implies. It implies that the woman's level of prettiness matches that of a daisy. It is strictly a comment on how pretty she is, not whether she has petals and leaves. In the same way, the phrase "This coconut is as big as my head" does not imply that the coconut has eyes, a nose and a mouth, because it is only a comment on the size of the coconut, just as the sentence in the caption is only a comment on prettiness. The literal meaning of something matching one specified attribute of another thing is not that it shares all of its attributes. I am therefore removing the image and caption. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 180.216.33.109 (talk) 20:33, 15 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

What about metaphorical language?[edit]

Isn't it a particular case of figurative language? Perhaps both articles should be joined. At least they should link to each other. Now I know why we have so many "different" articles ;-) 85.193.216.88 (talk) 19:59, 18 April 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Did some change in hyperlink about "precise definition".[edit]

Before I've visited this page; it started as follows: 

   *Literal language uses words exactly according to their proper [[meaning 
  (linguistics)|meaning]]s or precise definitions.
   *Figurative (or non-literal) language uses words deviating from their proper 
   definitions in order to achieve a more complicated understanding or 
   heightened effect.

(Source code:) 

    
    *'''Literal language''' uses words exactly according to their proper [[meaning 
    (linguistics)|meaning]]s or [[denotation|precise definitions]].
    *'''Figurative''' (or '''non-literal''') '''language''' uses words deviating from their proper 
    definitions in order to achieve a more complicated understanding or 
    heightened effect.

(Permalink)

But the hyperlink on precise definition; which leads to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denotation and that though includes one meaning as "literal" definition; but have so many other meanings too; so the hyperlink was confusing. And the examples with images given there; is just the opposite of "literal meaning"

Such as 

     "The denotation of this example is a red rose with a green stem. The connotation is that it is a symbol of passion and love – this is what the rose represents."

So to avoid confusion, and reach accurate meaning; I made new hyperlink as follows: 

     *Literal language uses words exactly according to their proper meanings or precise definitions.
     *Figurative (or non-literal) language uses words deviating from their proper definitions in order to achieve a more complicated understanding or 
      heightened effect.


Source: 

      
      *'''Literal language''' uses words exactly according to their proper [[meaning (linguistics)|meaning]]s or [[Precising definition|precise]] [[Definition|definitions]].
      *'''Figurative''' (or '''non-literal''') '''language''' uses words deviating from their proper definitions in order to achieve a more complicated understanding or 
      heightened effect.

I. e. linked "precise" to Precising definition and definition to Definition.

Permalink: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Literal_and_figurative_language&oldid=803567380

If anyone thinks the previous one was more correct and mine one contains any mistake, then they may discuss and revert the edit.

I've placed the previous hyperlink about denotation to "See also section" ( Permalink: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Literal_and_figurative_language&oldid=803567460 , compare: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Literal_and_figurative_language&type=revision&diff=803567460&oldid=803567380 ) So no worry the link is still available within the page.

RIT RAJARSHI (talk) 08:52, 3 October 2017 (UTC)[reply]

External links modified[edit]

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Edit of definition of idiom[edit]

Idiomatic language may not be related, such as "raining cats and dogs" to express a heavy volume of precipitation, or it may be: for example, "keep your eye out for him" which expresses semantic contiguity since it expresses "be observant". In fact, many idioms have well established etymologies that show a relation between the non-literal and literal semantics of the phrase. For instance, "mind your p's and q's" derives from "mind your pints and quarts" expresses "mind your consumption of alcohol" expresses in a more specific sense the general activity of "behave appropriately". To say there is no connection between the lexemes "mind your p's and q's" and "behave appropriately" would be a clear falsity. From the idiom article in WP: "An idiom is a phrase or expression that typically presents a figurative, non-literal meaning attached to the phrase". This definition does not rule out semantic contiguity. jtvisona (talk) 17:51, 9 January 2023 (UTC)[reply]

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