Overview
Types of figurative language
 How do we understand figurative language?
 Literal vs. nonliteral?
 Other “nonserious” uses of language

Types of figurative language
Type
Definition
Metaphor
Implicit comparison
Simile
Explicit comparison
Idiom
Conventionalized expression
Verbal irony
Opposite meaning intended (usually)
Hyperbole
Deliberate exaggeration
Types of figurative language 2
Type
Definition
Understatement
(Meiosis)
Deliberate underemphasis
Rhetorical
questions
Assertions framed as questions
Indirect speech
Requests stated obliquely
acts (e.g., requests)
1
Comprehending figurative
language

Standard pragmatic model (Searle)
Evidence against the
standard pragmatic model

1. Compute literal meaning
– Glucksberg, Gildea, and Bookin (1982)
 “All robins are birds“
 ”Some robins are mammals”
 “All jobs are jails”
2. Decide whether literal meaning is defective,
given the context
3. If literal meaning inappropriate, seek
alternative meaning, relying on pragmatic
knowledge


e.g., Can you pass the salt?
e.g., Have you taken out the garbage?
Meanings of metaphors are automatically
activated

Indirect requests take no longer to
comprehend
– Gibbs (1979)
More evidence against the
standard pragmatic model
Gibbs (1979)



Mrs. Smith was watering her garden one afternoon.
She saw the housepainter was pushing a window open.
She didn’t understand why he needed to have it open.
A bit worried she went over and politely asked, “Must
you open the window?”
One morning John felt too sick to go to school. The
night before he and his friends got very drunk. Because
of this he caught a bad cold. He was lying in bed when
his mother stormed in. When she started to open the
window John groaned, “Must you open the window?”
Need you open the window? OR Do not open the
window.

Similar results for idioms (Gibbs, 1980)
– e.g., “He’s singing a different tune” in a literal-
biasing, idiom-biasing, or no context

And for irony (Gibbs, 1986)
– e.g., “You’re a big help” used ironically or
literally
2
Literal vs. nonliteral or
degrees of literalness?

The traditional view (Frege, 1892)
– Literal meaning=meaning independent of context

Katz & Fodor (1963)—anonymous letter situation…Whales eat
plankton
– Nonliteral meaning=modified meaning based on context

What is extralinguistic context?
– The cat is on the mat
– Sally cut the grass vs. Sally cut the cake

Inferences often made even outside of a supporting
context
Degrees of literalness?
Giora’s graded salience hypothesis
 Language exists on a continuum

– conventionalized <--------------> creative
– E.g., metaphor
 ‘arms’ & ‘legs’ of a chair <--------> Life's but a
walking shadow
– Harry tried to play the stock market.
– Can you shut the door?
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