Connotation and Denotation

                             

Connotation and Denotation are two principal methods of describing the meanings of words. Connotation refers to the wide array of positive and negative associations that most words naturally carry with them, whereas denotation is the precise, literal definition of a word that might be found in a dictionary.

Connotation and denotation are not two separate things/signs. They are two aspects/elements of a sign, and the connotative meanings of a word exist together with the denotative meanings].

-      - Connotation represents the various social overtones, cultural implications, or emotional meanings associated with a sign.

-          - Denotation represents the explicit or referential meaning of a sign. Denotation refers to the literal meaning of a word, the ‘dictionary definition.’

For example, the name ‘Hollywood’ connotes such things as glitz, glamour, tinsel, celebrity, and dreams of stardom. In the same time, the name ‘Hollywood’ denotes an area of Los Angeles, worldwide known as the center of the American movie industry.

Diction, an element of style, refers to the words writers use to express ideas. Words convey more than exact, literal meanings, in which case they "connote" or suggest additional meanings and values not expressed in general dictionary definitions. Words that "denote" a core meaning are those that are generally used and understood by the users and the audience to represent an object or class of objects, an act, a quality, or an idea. However, because of usage over time, words that denote approximately the same thing may acquire additional meanings, or connotations, that are either positive (meliorative) or negative (pejorative). Consider the changes undergone by these words in the 20th century: liberal, diversity, team player, right wing, follower, gay, minority, feminist, left wing, abuse, conservative, motherhood, extremist, rights, relationship, harassment, family, propaganda, peacekeeper, and comrade.