LessonsLiteral and Figurative Usage: Metonymy and Types of MetaphorQuiz

«الْحَقِيقَةُ: الْكَلِمَةُ الْمُسْتَعْمَلَةُ فِيمَا وُضِعَتْ لَهُ فِي اصْطِلَاحِ التَّخَاطُبِ»
A literal expression is a word used in the sense assigned to it by the relevant speech convention.

Waḍʿ (assignment) connects an expression with an established meaning. The operative convention determines what counts as literal; the same form may have one literal meaning in ordinary language and another in an established specialized vocabulary.

For example, ṣalāh has a lexical association with supplication, but in legal-religious usage it denotes a particular act of worship. That is a literal technical use within the relevant convention.

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The definition of literal usage and assignment

Literal and Figurative Usage: Metonymy and Types of Metaphor

«الْحَقِيقَةُ: الْكَلِمَةُ الْمُسْتَعْمَلَةُ فِيمَا وُضِعَتْ لَهُ فِي اصْطِلَاحِ التَّخَاطُبِ»
A literal expression is a word used in the sense assigned to it by the relevant speech convention.

Waḍʿ (assignment) connects an expression with an established meaning. The operative convention determines what counts as literal; the same form may have one literal meaning in ordinary language and another in an established specialized vocabulary.

For example, ṣalāh has a lexical association with supplication, but in legal-religious usage it denotes a particular act of worship. That is a literal technical use within the relevant convention.