The Art of Figurative Language: Metaphors to Metonymy

Figurative Language

Figurative language allows speakers and writers to communicate meanings that differ in various ways from what they literally say, especially to express ideas that are difficult to communicate using literal language and to express thoughts in a compact and vivid manner.

Most Common Forms of Figurative Language

• Metaphor: A comparison between ideas from different domains, which can be explicit, as in the case of a simile.
• Metonymy: A salient part of a single knowledge domain is used to represent or stand for the entire domain.
• Idioms: A speaker’s meaning cannot be derived from an analysis of the words’ typical meanings.
• Proverbs: Speakers express widely held moral beliefs or social norms.
• Irony: A speaker’s meaning is usually, but not always, the opposite of what is said.
• Hyperbole: A speaker exaggerates the reality of a situation.
• Understatement: A speaker says less than is actually the case.
• Oxymoron: Two contradictory ideas or concepts are fused.
• Indirect Requests: Speakers make requests of others in indirect ways, such as by asking questions or stating a simple fact.

Key Issues in Figurative Language

1. Some theories suggest that figurative language is deviant and requires special cognitive processes to be understood. This view posits that listeners must first recognize the deviant nature of a figurative utterance before determining its nonliteral meaning.
2. A related issue is that some figurative language is highly innovative, while other forms become conventionalized (or fossilized). Consequently, the cognitive processing effort required can vary significantly.
3. Figurative language is not an anomaly in human thinking. In fact, we use metaphors as a fundamental part of how we think about and conceptualize the world we live in.

Metaphors and Implicature

• Conventional Metaphors: These carry a strong implicature. The speaker is directly responsible for communicating this intended meaning.
• Innovative Metaphors: These carry a weak implicature. The hearer is largely responsible for interpreting the meaning from a range of possibilities.

Metaphor within Relevance Theory

1. The literal (explicit) meaning of the utterance is communicated but requires conceptual adjustment.
2. The literal (explicit) meaning is part of the speaker’s intended metaphoric interpretation.
3. The metaphoric interpretation is primarily communicated as a strong or weak implicature.

Analyzing Visual Metaphors

1. Stage 1: Identification of the images involved in the visual metaphor.
2. Stage 2: Identification of the referents involved in the visual metaphor.
3. Stage 3: Identification of the relationships existing between the referents.
4. Stage 4: Pragmatic interpretation of the visual metaphor.