On Senin, 28 Maret 2016
Connotation Definition
Connotation refers to a meaning that is
implied by a word apart from the thing which it describes explicitly. Words
carry cultural and emotional associations or meanings in addition to their
literal meanings or denotations.
For instance, “Wall Street” literally
means a street situated in Lower Manhattan but connotatively it refers to
“wealth” and “power”.
Positive and
Negative Connotations
Words may have positive or negative
connotations that depend upon the social, cultural and personal experiences of
individuals. For example, the words childish, childlike and youthful have the
same denotative but different connotative meanings. Childish and childlike have
a negative connotation as they refer to immature behavior of a person. Whereas,
youthful implies that a person is lively and energetic.
Common
Connotation Examples
Below are a few connotation examples.
Their suggested meanings are shaped by cultural and emotional associations:
- A dog connotes shamelessness or an ugly face.
- A dove implies peace or gentility.
- Home suggests family, comfort and security.
- Politician has a negative connotation of wickedness and insincerity while statesperson connotes sincerity.
- Pushy refers to someone loud-mouthed and irritating.
- Mom and Dad when used in place of mother and father connote loving parents.
Examples of
Connotation in Literature
In literature, it is a common practice
among writers to deviate from the literal meanings of words in order to create
novel ideas. Figures of speech frequently employed by writers are examples of
such deviations.
Example 1
Metaphors are words that connote
meanings that go beyond their literal meanings. Shakespeare in his Sonnet 18 says:
“Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer’s
Day”
Here, the phrase “a Summer’s Day”
implies the fairness of his beloved. Similarly, John Donne says in his poem
“The Sun Rising”:
“She is all states, and all princes,
I.”
This line suggests the speaker’s belief
that he and his beloved are wealthier than all the states, kingdoms, and rulers
in the whole world because of their love.
Example 2
Irony and satire exhibit connotative
meanings, as the intended meanings of words are opposite to their literal
meanings. For example, we see a sarcastic remark passed by Antonio on Shylock,
the Jew, in William Shakespeare’s play “The Merchant of
Venice”:
“Hie thee, gentle Jew.
The Hebrew will turn Christian: he
grows kind.”
The word “Jew” has a negative
connotation of wickedness, while “Christian” demonstrates positive connotations
of kindness.
reference:
Denotation Definition
Denotation
is generally defined as literal or dictionary meanings of a word in contrast to its
connotative or associated meanings.
Let
us try to understand this term with the help of an example. If you search for
meaning of the word “dove” in a dictionary, you will see that its meaning is “a
type of pigeon, a wild and domesticated bird having a heavy body and short
legs.” In literature, however, you frequently see “dove” referred to as a symbol of peace.
Denotation
and Connotation
In
literary works, we find it a common practice with writers to deviate from the
dictionary meanings of words to create fresher ideas and images. Such
deviations from the literal meanings are called the use of figurative language or literary devices e.g.
metaphors, similes, personifications, hyperboles, understatements, paradoxes,
and puns etc. Even in our daily conversation, we diverge from the dictionary
meanings of words and prefer connotative or associated meanings of words in
order to accurately convey our message. Below is a list of some common deviations
from denotative meanings of words that we experience in our day to day life:
- A dog is used to suggest shamelessness or an ugly face.
- A dove is used to suggest peace or gentility.
- Home is used to suggest family, comfort and security.
- Politician has a negative connotation of wicked and insincere person
- Pushy refers to someone loud-mouthed and irritating.
- Mom and Dad when used instead of mother and father suggest loving parents.
Denotation
Examples in Literature
Let
us analyze a few examples from literature:
1.
An example of denotation literary term can be found in the poetic work of Robert Frost’s “Mending
Wall”:
“And
on a day we meet to walk the line
And
set the wall between us once again.
We
keep the wall between us as we go.
To
each the boulders that have fallen to each.”
In
the above lines, the word “wall” is used to suggest a physical boundary which
is its denotative meaning but it also implies the idea of “emotional barrier”.
2.
William Wordsworth in his poem “A Slumber Did My Spirit Seal” says:
“A
slumber did my spirit seal;
I
had no human fears–
She
seemed a thing that could not feel
The
touch of earthly years.
No
motion has she now, no force;
She
neither hears nor sees;
Roll’d
round in earth’s diurnal course
With
rocks, and stones, and trees.”
Wordsworth
makes a contrast between a living girl and a dead girl in the first and second stanza respectively. We
are familiar to the meanings of the words used in the last line of the second
stanza; rock, stone and tree but the poet uses them connotatively where rock
and stone imply cold and inanimate object and the tree suggests dirt and thus
the burial of that dead girl.
reference:
Implication definition
Logic
§ Logical consequence (also entailment or logical
implication), the relationship between statements that holds true when one
logically "follows from" one or more others
§ Material conditional (also material
implication, material consequence, or implication), a logical connective and
binary truth function typically interpreted as "If p, then q"
§ Implicational propositional calculus,
a version of classical propositional calculus which uses only the material
conditional connective
§ Strict conditional or strict implication, a
connective of modal logic that expresses necessity
§ Implication elimination or modus ponens,
a simple argument form and rule of inference summarized as "p
implies q; p is asserted to be true, so therefore q must
be true"
Reference:
