Linguistic/ literal meaning

Q: Can anyone tell me what is literal meaning?

The term "literal meaning" tells us that all words are in strict accordance with their
original meanings. In other words, the literal meaning is the most obvious or non-
figurative sense of a word or words.
Example:
We are all in the same boat.
So, can anyone tell me the literal meaning of this sentence?
(We are standing on the same boat – the vehicle to travel on the sea). And the other
meaning of this sentence is we are facing the same problem.
Now I have a really simple exercise for you. We will have some sentences on the screen
and what you have to do is choose the literal meaning of each sentence. You only have 5
seconds for each sentence so please be ready.
1) This TV fell off the back of a lorry.
A. This TV is expensive.
B. This TV is stolen.
C. This TV is broken.
2) She powdered her nose.
A. She used the restroom.
B. She put makeup on her nose.
C. She lost a bet.
3) My friend is on the street.
A. My friend is homeless.
B. My friend is at home.
C. My friend is outside on the street.
Q: How many factors does the literal meaning of a sentence depend on? And what
are they?
The literal meaning of a sentence depends on 3 factors:
- The sum of meanings of constituent words (which is the dictionary meaning of
each word alone and the meaning of them together)
- The syntactic function (subject, object, predicate, complement)
- The semantic role
Now let’s look at the example on the screen. I have 3 sentences here:
 1) Last month, I gave my friend a cat for her birthday.
2) I gave a cat to my friend on her birthday last month.
3) I gave my friend to a cat last month as a birthday present.
You will have to identify which sentences have the same meaning and which sentences
have different meanings, and then try to explain the reason in your way.
(1) Last month, I gave my friend a cat for her birthday. # (3) I gave my friend to a cat
S IO DO S DO IO
last month as a birthday present.
(2) I gave a cat to my friend on her birthday last month. # (3) I gave my friend to a cat
S DO IO S DO IO
last month as a birthday present.
(1) Last month, I gave my friend a cat for her birthday. = (2) I gave a cat to my friend
S IO DO S DO IO
on her birthday last month.
And this is the end of my part. Next, Minh Nhật will be in charge of semantic roles, the
third factor making up the meaning of a sentence.