Sometimes word meanings are somewhat like game trails. So we have a new word when one of the main processes will be applied commonly enough in a particular instance. This new process can originate in a real world a connotation or a denotation: the former refers to the further meanings that a certain word evokes while the latter refers to the basic, literal meaning of some word.
Therefore ‘denotation’ is the set of elements in the real world picked out by a linguistic expression ( the word ‘dog’ with all its relations); connotation, on the other hand, includes the set of associations (personal or communal) that are evoked by the use of a word (‘earth’ connotes safety, fertility, stability; ‘sea’ denotes a large body of water but connotes a sense of danger, instability etc).
When we analyse word meanings we should distinguish two separate concepts called ‘denotational and connotational meaning’. The denotational meaning gives us the basic meaning of a word on conceptual level (this is a dictionary definition). The connotational meanings can be created thanks to different factors and they turn out to be more problematic. One aspect concerning the connotational meanings is the social meaning which varies between age-groups sexes social classes and cultures. Dialect can be a good example.
Walking along the street you might listen to a conversation between two young boys or girls. ‘ Get’ut o’ere ‘andsome bloke’, ‘Get out of here handsome boy’. The dialects carry certain connotations and in these examples we can understand to what social status the speakers belong. In the first case the speaker is RP and well-educated; in the second case the speaker is low educated and he belongs to lower class.
Even affective meaning is in a close accordance with connotational meaning referring to attitudes that are reflected towards the hearer or the subject by speaker. Emotive overtones are important and can also be achieved by derivation (see the diminutive or argumentative suffixes which add an emotive effect to otherwise neutral word. This happens above all to Italian language or German language).
Moreover words can carry emotive meanings, for instance, the phonetic structure of a certain word can raise emotive effects (onomatopoeic words may strengthen the suggestive power). Connotations change and vary and can be simply classified in the same way as denotational meanings are classified in a dictionary. However they cause problems in cross cultural communication and our emotions as well as our culture will weld certain ideas and associations together with certain words. We must say that without connotational meaning communication would be quite impossible altogether.
he terms, denotation and connotation, are used to convey and distinguish between two different kinds of meanings or extensions of a word. A denotation is the strict, literal, definition of a word, devoid of any emotion, attitude, or color. The connotation of a word or term adds elements of emotion, attitude, or color. The meaning or use of denotation and connotation depends partly on the field of study.
Contents
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• 1 The meaning of denotation and connotation
• 2 Examples
• 3 Definition of Connotation
• 4 Usage
• 5 Logic
• 6 References
• 7 External links
o 7.1 General philosophy sources
• 8 Credits
The meaning of denotation and connotation
• In media-studies terminology, denotation is the first level of analysis: What the audience can visually see on a page. Denotation often refers to something literal, and avoids being a metaphor. Here it is usually coupled with connotation, which is the second level of analysis, being what the denotation represents.• In logic, linguistics, and semiotics, a denotation of a word or phrase is a part of its meaning; however, several parts of meaning may take this name, depending on the contrast being drawn:
• Denotation and connotation are either
o in basic semantics and literary theory, the literal and figurative meanings of a word, or,
o in philosophy, logic and parts of linguistics, the extension and intension of a word
• Denotation can be synonymous with reference, and connotation with sense, in the sense and reference distinction in philosophy of language.
• In Computer science, denotational semantics is contrasted with operational semantics.
• In Semiotics, denotation also has its own meaning.
In logic and semantics, denotational always attracts the extension, meaning "in the pair," but the other element genuinely varies.
The distinction between connotation and denotation corresponds roughly to Gottlob Frege's ground-breaking and much-studied distinction between Sinn (sense) and Bedeutung (reference).
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