LessonsDefinitions of Literal and Figurative Use and the Technical Divisions of MetaphorQuiz

The objections can be grouped into three questions:
1. Scope: Is the statement about all figurative speech or only a specified subdivision?
2. Form: Is one lexical expression transferred, or does the entire configuration matter?
3. Semantic operation: Is there lexical transference, imagined predication, or transfer of a representative scene?

Once these questions are separated, apparently absolute claims such as “metaphor must always be a single word” can be replaced by carefully delimited principles that correctly fit the examples.

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A synthesis of the classification objections

Definitions of Literal and Figurative Use and the Technical Divisions of Metaphor

The objections can be grouped into three questions:
1. Scope: Is the statement about all figurative speech or only a specified subdivision?
2. Form: Is one lexical expression transferred, or does the entire configuration matter?
3. Semantic operation: Is there lexical transference, imagined predication, or transfer of a representative scene?

Once these questions are separated, apparently absolute claims such as “metaphor must always be a single word” can be replaced by carefully delimited principles that correctly fit the examples.