LessonsThree Types of Kināyah: Referent, Attribute, and AttributionQuiz

The earlier distinction continues to apply: in kināyah the literal sense remains permissible in principle, whereas majāz involves a contextual indication preventing the literal intended sense.

A generous person’s courtyard could literally contain ashes; that does not remove the rhetorical kināyah. But where context requires a transferred sense while excluding the literal one, the particular usage is analyzed under majāz.

The subtype of kināyah and the kināyah-versus-majāz distinction are separate questions.

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Maintaining the distinction from majāz

Three Types of Kināyah: Referent, Attribute, and Attribution

The earlier distinction continues to apply: in kināyah the literal sense remains permissible in principle, whereas majāz involves a contextual indication preventing the literal intended sense.

A generous person’s courtyard could literally contain ashes; that does not remove the rhetorical kināyah. But where context requires a transferred sense while excluding the literal one, the particular usage is analyzed under majāz.

The subtype of kināyah and the kināyah-versus-majāz distinction are separate questions.