Denotation & Connotation

Denotation and Connotation

1. Denotative and Connotative Meanings
 Although some words may be considered to have similar meanings, they cannot be substituted for one anothel without changing the message. Words with similar meanings have similar denotations . Often, however, words with a similar denotation do not have the same connotations. “Denote implies all that strictly belongs to the definition of the word, connote of the ideas that are suggested by the term; thus, ‘home’ denotes the place where one lives with one’s family, but it usually connotes comfort, intimacy, and privacy:. The same implications distinguish denotation and connotation . The denotation of a word is its dictionary definition, which is what the word “stands for.” A word’s connotation is what the word suggests, or what we associate the word with, that goes beyond its formal definitions. The word house and home both refer to a building or structure in which people live; these words have, then, the same denotation. But the word home , for most people, suggests or is associated with concepts and feelings of family and security. Thus, the word home has a strong, and generally positive, connotation. The word house though, has little, if any, connotative significance. House brings to mind a picture of a physical structure but little else because house does not carry any “emotional baggage.” House is likely to suggest only a residential structure or building, home to add connotations of the warmth of family life over a long period. The difference in meaning between these two words can be seen from the following lines:what he wants to suggest, which may actually be far more important than the superficial meaning.
A constant awareness of the connotative power of words is just as vital to the writer. His task is to select the word which will convey, not approximately, but exactly, what he wants to say. He must remember that two words may be “synonymous” in respect to denotation, that is, they mean the same thing. But to the practiced writer, as to the practiced reader, few if any words are exactly synonymous in connotation; in a given context one particular word will convey the precise implication the writer desires to communicate to his reader. Although by definition synonyms are words that have the same meaning or denotation, it is often said that no two synonyms are interchangeable. The denora&ion of a word is its limited, explicit meaning; the connotation of a word is the additional suggestion that it carries with it.

* From Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary, copyright, 1949,195 1, 1953, by G&C.MerriamCo.
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