Concept in Definition ABC

The concept of literal is applied in our language when we want to indicate that what someone says or reads, as well as its meaning, are totally faithful and exact to the words that appear in a text or document, or to what someone commented at some point and that later another reproduces exactly to another person or group that did not have the chance to listen to it.

Therefore, the literal word can be used as a synonym for terms such as exact, faithful, textual, precise and of the expression so popular at the foot of the lyrics.

In the literal there is no place for the figurative sense, the subjectivity, the symbolic or suggestion.

Let's think of a speech, will be considered as literal that translation of the same that strictly respects each of the words that the speaker in question has expressed, including the Order is fundamental in the literality or not of a text or speech since it must respect the order in which this or that thing was said to be considered effectively literal.

Changing the order of what has been said violates literality and could completely change the meaning or meaning of what was expressed, which is why it is so important to consider it.

For translations, the same applies that we just mentioned for the transcription of a speech, whoever performs the translation should not include his subjectivity in the work he performs, not even a opinion or modification, although with the same it corrects some mistake in which it was incurred, precisely because it would be violating the literality.

Translations into other languages ​​must respect the original literal meaning to be faithful

However, it is important to bear in mind that in the case of literal translations from one language to another, many times, the meaning of what is expressed is lost. For this reason, care must be taken in this case, since when translated literally, something may be manifesting that has nothing to do with the expression that originates the translation.

Nowadays, thanks to new technologies, word and phrase translators abound, but of course, they literally translate those words and many times that translation does not correspond to the meaning original.