Figurative Language and Cognition

Abstract

The distinction between literal and figurative (nonliteral) language reflects a traditional understanding in linguistics and rhetoric of what constitutes the nature of meaning in language. Thus, it is commonly assumed that the literal meanings of words or sentences are somehow fixed, direct, and do not deviate from their respective dictionary meanings. Figurative meanings, on the other hand, involve indirectness and require further interpretation. There are several forms of figurative language (also known as figures of speech) such as metaphor, metonymy, simile, irony, idiom, and proverb. Some scholars include also oxymoron, hyperbole, and zeugma, among others. While providing a brief description of each major form of figurative language, this entry concentrates on theories and psychological data on metaphor as a main exemplar of the general human ability to speak and think figuratively. It summarizes the vast number of theoretical and experimental approaches to this most creative and intriguing human ability, namely the faculty to think and speak figuratively. In the rest of this entry, unless specifically stated otherwise, metaphor, figurality, and figurative language and meaning are used interchangeably.