LessonsImplicit and Imaginative Metaphor: Definitions, Core Examples, and AnalysisQuiz

Not every step in the figurative process appears as a separate word. “Death” and “claws” are stated, but the comparison source — the predator — is unspoken, as is the explicit comparative particle.

The number of visible words must not be equated with the number of acts in the construction of meaning. Two stated nouns may lead the mind to a third image whose name does not occur in the sentence.

This matters because the imagined attribution discussed under takhyīliyyah is not necessarily identical with an independently stated word. One must keep the level of wording distinct from the level of mental analysis.

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Why a mental act need not correspond to a separate word

Implicit and Imaginative Metaphor: Definitions, Core Examples, and Analysis

Not every step in the figurative process appears as a separate word. “Death” and “claws” are stated, but the comparison source — the predator — is unspoken, as is the explicit comparative particle.

The number of visible words must not be equated with the number of acts in the construction of meaning. Two stated nouns may lead the mind to a third image whose name does not occur in the sentence.

This matters because the imagined attribution discussed under takhyīliyyah is not necessarily identical with an independently stated word. One must keep the level of wording distinct from the level of mental analysis.