Editing Literal and figurative language (section)

{{Short description|Distinction in certain fields of language analysis}}
{{linguistics}}
The distinction between '''literal''' and '''figurative language''' exists in all [[natural language]]s; the phenomenon is studied within certain areas of [[language]] analysis, in particular [[stylistics]], [[rhetoric]], and [[semantics]]. 
*'''Literal language''' is the usage of [[word]]s exactly according to their direct, straightforward, or conventionally accepted [[meaning (linguistics)|meaning]]s: their [[denotation]].
*'''Figurative''' (or '''non-literal''') '''language''' is the usage of words in addition to, or deviating beyond, their conventionally accepted definitions<ref>
{{cite book
 |last1                = Glucksberg
 |first1               = Sam
 |author-link1         = Sam Glucksberg
 |date                 = 26 July 2001
 |title                = Understanding Figurative Language: From Metaphor to Idioms
 |url                  = https://books.google.com/books?id=rKX7qcQerLcC
 |series               = Oxford Psychology Series
 |location             = New York
 |publisher            = Oxford University Press
 |page                 = v
 |isbn                 = 9780198027126
 |access-date          = 5 February 2025
 |quote                = In figurative language, the intended meaning does not coincide with the literal meanings of the words and sentences that are used.
}} 
</ref><ref>
[https://www.merriam-webster.com/grammar/figurative-language "''Figurative language'' refers to words or phrases that are meaningful, but not literally true."]
</ref> in order to convey a more complex meaning or achieve a heightened effect.<ref>"[http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/figure%20of%20speech Figure of speech]." ''Merriam-Webster Dictionary''. Merriam-Webster, Inc. 2015 "figure of speech [...]: a form of expression (such as a simile or metaphor) used to convey meaning or heighten effect often by comparing or identifying one thing with another that has a meaning or connotation familiar to the reader or listener".
</ref> This is done by language-users presenting words in such a way that their audience equates, compares, or associates the words with normally unrelated meanings. A common intended effect of figurative language is to elicit audience responses that are especially emotional (like excitement, shock, laughter, etc.), aesthetic, or intellectual.

The [[Ancient Greece|ancient Greek]] philosopher [[Aristotle]], and later the Roman rhetorician [[Quintilian]], were among the early documented language analysts who expounded on the differences between literal and figurative language.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SUEtEa9nUWQC&pg=PA129 |title=A Glossary of Literary Terms |publisher=Cengage Learning |year=2011 |isbn=978-0495898023 |edition=10 |author1=M.H. Abrams |author2=Geoffrey Harpham}}</ref> A comprehensive scholarly examination of metaphor in antiquity, and the way its use was fostered by [[Homer]]'s epic poems ''[[The Iliad]]'' and ''[[The Odyssey]]'', is provided by [[William Bedell Stanford]], ''Greek Metaphor'',<ref>W. Bedell Stanford, ''Greek Metaphor'' (Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1936)</ref>

[[Frances Brooke]]'s 1769 novel ''[[The History of Emily Montague]]'' was used in the earliest ''Oxford English Dictionary'' (OED) citation for the figurative sense of ''literally''; the sentence from the novel used was: "He is a fortunate man to be introduced to such a party of fine women at his arrival; it is literally ''to feed among the lilies''."<ref name="languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu">{{Cite web |url=http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=5914 |title = Language Log » Frances Brooke, destroyer of English (Not literally)}}</ref> This citation was also used in the OED's 2011 revision.<ref name="languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu"/>

Within [[literary analysis]], the terms "literal" and "figurative" are still used; but within the fields of cognition and linguistics, the basis for identifying such a distinction is no longer used.<ref name="BarberStainton2009">{{cite book |last1 = Nuessel
 |first1               = F.
 |chapter              = Figurative Language: Semiotics
 |editor-last1=Barber |editor-first1=Alex |editor-last2=Stainton |editor-first2=Robert J. |title=Concise Encyclopedia of Philosophy of Language and Linguistics |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2boGE2NKtpsC&pg=PA230 |access-date=23 December 2012 |year=2009 |publisher=Elsevier |isbn=978-0080965000 |pages=230–242 | quote = Traditional scholars maintain a strict dichotomy between figurative language and ordinary or literal language. This conventional aesthetic sense of figurative language no longer reflects current usage. Today, the term 'metaphor' has replace 'figurative language' with the special sense of a cognitive device used to explain how people categorize reality and store abstractions of that physical existence in their brain. [...] The essence of the literal-figurative debate revolves around whether or not metaphor is a deviation from some pristine ordinary language or whether it is a basic form of linguistic expression.
}}</ref>