Connotations and denotations of terms Logical Reasoning Ugc Net Paper-1

Connotation Definition

A rich vocabulary enables you to choose the right words to express yourself. Choosing the right words is important because although two words may have the same meaning, their connotations may differ.

So, what are connotations? Connotations are perceptions or feelings a word conveys, which are distinct from the actual meaning of the words. For instance, there may be words that have the same meaning, but different perceptions. Let us understand this further.

Connotation and Denotation

To understand connotations completely, you should first understand the term denotation. Denotation simple refers to the meaning of a word.

That is, denotation is the actual meaning of a word without any reference to any associations or emotions of the word. For example, the denotation of word red is just colour red but its connotation is danger or blood is, Here again you should be careful because, in some instances, the dictionary lists several denotations for a single word. Read more about Denotation here.

This usually happens when people use a word in different contexts. For example, the word “high” has several denotations.

As an adjective, the word “high” means “of great vertical extent” or “greater than normal in quantity or size”. As a noun, the word “high” means “a high point, level, or figure” or a “successful moment”.

Connotations, on the other hand, are the feelings or emotions associated with a word. It goes beyond the actual meaning of the word and paints a picture or invokes a feeling.

Examples of Connotation

For example, the words “house” and “home” have the same meaning—a place meant for human habitation. However, the feelings or emotions associated with these two words are different.

While the word “house,” indicates a neutral feeling of just a place of inhabitation, the word “home” gives a feeling of warmth and love.

Importance of Connotations

Connotations are important when you communicate with people. A language, in itself, is subjective in nature and it can evoke different psychological reactions from different people. That is why using the wrong words can totally ruin communication even if your intent and ideas were correct and trustworthy.

The words you choose can significantly change the meaning of a sentence. Hence, you should completely understand both the literal and suggestive meaning of different words before using them.

As connotations express feelings, they may be positive, negative, or neutral depending on the context. A positive connotation makes people feel good.

Negative connotations evoke a sad or negative psychological feeling. Finally, neutral connotations have no emotional reactions. The use of certain connotations depends on the context or type of communication. A writer may use a word with a negative connotation purposely to create the desired impact.

Connotations can also be formal or informal. With friends or close relatives, you can use informal words or words that do not have a formal connotation. Business communication, on the other hand, should always be formal and neutral.

Consider the words “young”, “youthful”, and “childish”. The word “young” is neutral. It has no associated emotion. It just means a person who is young in age. The word “youthful”, on the other hand, has a positive connotation.

It refers to a person who may not be young but has the exuberance of youth. Finally, the word “childish” has a negative connotation referring to a person who behaves like a child.

Now, look at the words “proud”, “confident”, and “conceited”. The word “proud” has a neutral connotation as it does not have an emotional aspect.

The word “confident” is a connotation with a positive feeling as it projects belief and self-confidence. Lastly, the word “conceited” has a negative connotation as it evokes a feeling of being too self-absorbed.

Solved Examples For You

Q. Give examples of words and their associated connotations.

Answer: To begin with, the words “aroma” and “stench” both refer to smell or scent. However, while the word “stench” indicates a bad odor or smell, the word “aroma” evokes a pleasant smell or feeling. Hence, you will see that the connotation”aroma” expresses positivity while the word “stench” has a negative connotation.

Similarly, the words “cheap” and “thrifty” also have different connotations. The word “cheap” has a negative connotation. It refers to a person who hates spending money. On the other hand, the word “thrifty” has a positive expression in the sense that it refers to a person who is careful with money.

What is Denotation?

Denotation (pronounced dee-noh-tey-shuh n) is a word’ or thing’s literal or main definition. The term comes from the late Latin Latin denotationem meaning “indication,” and is contrasted with connotation. A word’s denotation is completely absent of emotion, so it is defined as distinguished from its connotation (its associated meaning). In other words, denotation is a word’s “dictionary definition” rather than its associated emotion or definition.

II. Examples of Denotation

As mentioned above, a word’s denotation is understood as in contrast with its connotation.

Example 1

For example, denotation of the word “blue” is the color blue, but its connotation is “sad”—read the following sentence:

The blueberry is very blue.

We understand this sentence by its denotative meaning—it describes the literal color of the fruit. In contrast, read the next sentence:

Susie is very blue.

If we understand this second sentence by its denotative meaning, it would mean that Susie is literally the color blue. However, we understand this sentence by its connotative meaning, which is that Susie is sad.

Example 2

In another example, imagine a drawing with two trees—in one tree is a cat, and at the bottom of the other tree is a dog barking. The caption reads: You are barking up the wrong tree, Buddy! Here, the joke lies in the phrase’s denotative meaning—the dog is literally barking up the wrong tree, because the cat is in the other tree. However, without the picture, we would understand this phrase by its connotative meaning, which is to mistakenly pursue the wrong thing.

Denotation vs. Connotation

The denotation of a word or phrase is its explicit or direct meaning. Another way to think of it is as the associations that a word usually elicits for most speakers of a language, as distinguished from those elicited for any individual speaker because of personal experience.

The connotation of a word or phrase is the associated or secondary meaning; it can be something suggested or implied by a word or thing, rather than being explicitly named or described.

For example, the words home and house have similar denotations or primary meanings: a home is “a shelter that is the usual residence of a person, family, or household,” and a house is “a building in which people live.” However, for many, these terms carry different associations or secondary meanings, also known as connotations. Many people would agree that home connotes a sense of belonging and comfort, whereas house conveys little more than a structure.

The connotation of a word depends on cultural context and personal associations, but the denotation of a word is its standardized meaning within the English language. One way to remember the difference between the terms is to take a hint from the prefixes: con– comes from Latin and means “together; with,” reminding us that the connotation of a word works with or alongside its more explicit meaning or denotation.