Sample 1: “Quoting a Yoruba proverb which literarily translates: If you don’t want to get dirty, don’t wrestle with the pig.” (What Tinubu told new Olu, Opera News, 22 February, 2022)
Let’s pay attention to the adverb literarily which occurs in the following context: “a Yoruba proverb which literarily translates….” This word makes absolutely no sense in this context because the reference has nothing to do with literature, and the word is morphologically and semantically related to literature.
The adjective literary and the adverb literarily are related to the noun literature. If that is the case, as we are sure it is, it would mean that the reporter intends his statement to be taken in the sense in which words are taken in literature—figuratively, metaphorically. But that would be the exact opposite of what the writer intends.
In the light of this confusion, we need to clarify the usage and meanings of the following words: literal, literally; literary, literarily.
Please read the following sentences: 1) When the Ifa priest said the man was blind, he did not mean it in its literal sense. 2) The word ‘die’ is not to be taken in its literal sense in the sentence, ‘The man dies in every man who is silent in the face of tyranny.’ 3) In its literal sense, light is about physical illumination, something that prevents people from stumbling.
Those sentences illustrate the way the adjective literal is typically used. The word literal is the opposite of metaphorical or figurative. The literal sense of a word is its ordinary sense, the sense in which it is commonly used, without additional ‘colour’ or contextually acquired meaning. For example, if I say, ‘The boy picked up some stones and began to pelt me,’ I have used the word stone in its ordinary or literal or common sense. On the other hand, if I say, ‘The man has a heart of stone’, I have used the word stone not in its ordinary sense but in a figurative or metaphorical sense. The adjective literal invariably carries a sense of contrast whether in an explicit or implicit way with the idea of the figurative or metaphorical sense.
The adverb form of literal is literally. Please read the following sentences: 1) During the June 12 protests, all sectors of the Nigerian life literally came to a standstill. 2) The mountain involved in a volcano will be found to be boiling literally at the time the volcano occurs. 3) The congregation was made up of old men and women and the heads that I saw from the pulpit were literally white. 4) Morally bankrupt, his life almost literally stinks as much as would a septic tank. 5) The news literally broke his heart as he collapsed and died instantly. 6) Wherever he went and whatever he did, his wife was always literally behind him. 7) High blood pressure literally means that the blood is under an unusual pressure. 8) During the second half, their players were literally being tossed like kids. 9) By the age of over one hundred, an adult literally becomes a baby attitudinally. 10) In heaven, will the members of every family literally re-unite?
Whenever the context may tempt the reader to interpret a pivotal word in its figurative or metaphorical sense, the writer feels under obligation to qualify or define the word with the adjective literal or its adverb literally. For example, the compound word empty-headed is used in its figurative sense, rarely in its literal sense. The common interpretation is likely to be applied to the idea of head and empty in the sentence, ‘His head is almost literally empty.’ To guide the reader, we have brought in the adverb literally. The use of the adverb literally can be explained in this way in the ten sentences above.
Now read the following sentences: 1) What are the literary merits of that writing? 2) Some literary writers are also scientists. 3) That is the man who taught me literary appreciation. 4) Must literary style always be colourful or flowery? 5) You have not properly mastered literary language. 6) Some newspapers have sections for literary criticism.
The adjective literary is related to the nounsliterature and literacy. We use the adjective for writing in general and literature in particular. Literary artsrefers to poetry, drama and prose—those works of art we have in mind when literature is mentioned. In other words, literarymerits are qualities or values associated with literature; literary writers write poems, plays and novels; literaryappreciation is an effort at understanding and evaluating literature; literary language refers to the language associated with literature.
What we have said about the adjective literary is also applicable to the adverb literarily. You could say: ‘The writing is literarily deficient’, by which is meant that the writing does not possess some good qualities of literature.
Do not say: *He was literarily soaked in oil. Rather say: He was literally soaked in oil. Do not say: *The whole town literarily went up in smoke. You should say: The whole town literally went up in smoke. Do not say: *What is the literary meaning of the word? You should say: What is the literal meaning of the word?
Other expressions that may interest readers are: literal translation; literary language; literary scholars; literary language. At any rate, let the word literally replace literarily in the context under review.
Sample 2: “He allegedly said these five things were what made Tinubu won the election…” (Igbos were disastrous to Tinubu…Opera News, 10 April, 2023)
Let’s pay attention to the clause: “what made Tinubu won the election.” Please notice that the verbs “made” and “won “are in their respective past forms in consistency with the reportorial nature of the discourse. The first verb is expectedly and appropriately in its past form, but the second (won) is not correctly so. Actually, the second ought to be in its infinitive form: the basic uninflected form of the verb. This is what is referred to as the bare infinitive.
Please read the following sentences: 1) I saw him enter the house. (Not: *I saw him entered the house.) 2) I saw him wash the car. (Not: *I saw him washed the car.) 3) I saw him break the glass. (Not: *I saw him broke the glass.) 4) I saw him receive the award. (Not: *I saw him received the award.) 5) I saw him flirt with his friend’s wife. (Not: *I saw him flirted with his friend’s wife.) 6) I saw him drive out of the premises. (Not: *I saw him drove out of the premises.) 7) I saw him lock the door. (Not: *I saw him locked the door.) 8) I made him pay for his misdeeds. (Not: *I made him paid for his misdeeds.) 9) The British made us speak English. (Not: *The British made us spoke English.) 10) She made me pay through the nose. (Not: *She made me paid through the nose.) 11) Abraham saw Haggai mock Sarah. (Not: *Abraham saw Haggai mocked Sarah.) 12) God made Cain suffer for Abel’s murder. (Not: *God made Cain suffered for Abel’s murder.) 13) I heard him say it. (Not: *I heard him said it.) 14) I heard him mention it to his boss. (Not: *I heard him mentioned it to his boss.) 15) I heard him whisper it into her ears. (Not: *I heard him whispered it into his ears.)
In some of those sentences, it is possible to have the second verb in its present participle (or -ing) form: 1) I saw him entering the house. 2) I saw him washing the car. 3) I saw him breaking the glass. 4) I saw him receiving the award. 5) I saw him flirting with his friend’s wife. 6) I saw him driving out of the premises. 7) I saw him locking the door. 8) Abraham saw Haggai mocking Sarah. 9) I heard him saying it. 10) I heard him mentioning it to his boss. 11) I heard him whispering it into her ears.
At any rate, the construction should read: “what made Tinubu win the election.” Notice that while the past form of the first verb (made) is retained, the second one has been changed to its basic, uninflected form: win.
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