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Language: Dictionary definitions Communication between people, usually using words The origins of language; Language is constantly evolving. ○ A system of communication in speech and writing (by spoken or written words), used by the people of a particular country or area (English, Spanish, Arabic, native language, foreign language) How many languages do you speak? ○ Words of a particular type, especially the words used in connection with a particular subject by people of a particular social group or in a particular job (youth language, the language of politicians, legal language, medical language, the language of business, the language of advertising) ○ Language: Dictionary definitions . Signs, movements, sounds and other methods of communicating information, feelings, or ideas (body language, sign language, the language of dance, the language of music, the language of animals)
- A particular style of speaking or writing, the style in which a piece of writing or speech is written or spoken (spoken/written language, literary language, poetic language, formal/informal language, bad/strong language) (computing) A system of instructions for operating a computer, that is used to write computer programs Language: Polysemy Different criteria are used to define and explain 'language', including: ○ Geographical criteria: language as a system of communication used by the people who live in a particular country, region or area (national languages, regional varieties, dialects, English as a global language, a language of international communication) ○ Contextual and textual criteria: language as the system of communication of/in a particular social group/job and/or about a particular subject (specialized languages or languages for special purposes, such as military language, medical language, legal language, etc.) English as a system of communication English Language Studies or English linguistics:
- Language, that is English, as a system of communication, as a method of communication, which consists of sounds and written symbols, which consists of spoken and written words, and which is used by a speech community, that is the English-speaking community, in different areas of the world, to communicate Language as a system (of communication) Dictionary definitions A set of connected things or devices that operate together (Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary) A way of working, organizing, or doing something which follows a fixed plan or set of rules (Collins Cobuild Advanced Learner's Dictionary) A group of related parts that work together as a whole for a particular purpose (Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English) A method of organizing or doing things (MacMillan Dictionary for
Advanced Learners) An organized set of ideas or theories; a group of things that are connected or work together (Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary) Language as a system of communication
- Share information with others by speaking, writing, moving your body, or using other signals (Cambridge)
- Share or exchange information, for example by speaking, writing, or using equipment (Collins Cobuild)
- The process by which people exchange information or express their thoughts and feelings (Longman) The process of giving information or of making emotions or ideas known to someone (MacMillan)
- The activity or process of expressing ideas and feelings or of giving people information (Oxford) ○ Communication as the act or process of communicating ○ Communicate means to share or exchange information with others, to express thoughts, feelings, ideas, emotions by speaking or writing ○ The English-speaking community adopts a system, a method, made of connected parts and mechanisms (spoken and written words), which follow specific rules (grammar), to communicate, that is to share or exchange information, by using those parts and mechanisms which constitute their language Communication is the basic function or purpose of a language ○ Languages allow people to satisfy their communication needs (informing, asking for information, requesting, promising, persuading, etc.) ○ Languages are complex and dynamic systems, made of different subsystems (phonetics, morphology, lexis, syntax, semantics and pragmatics) whose components interact with one another and with different contexts in order to convey meanings and finally perform different communicative functions Languages are macrosystems composed of many microsystems which combine, work together, influence and constrain one another for the purposes of communication The global dimension of English ○ A native language (ENL or LI) by people who live in countries like the United Kingdom of Great Britain (England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland), Ireland, the USA, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand; ○ A second language (ESL or L2) or additional intra-national language or used as the language of government, education, media in many African or Asian countries (India, Kenya, Malaysia, Nigeria, the Philippines, Singapore, etc.) ○ Learned and used as a foreign language (EFL) for international communication, by people whose native language is not English, especially in the fields of diplomacy, scientific research, business negotiation and international organizations
- A lingua franca (ELF), a form of communicative practice Present-day English is not an isolated, closed, self-defined or fixed entity
You can't tie a bow with the rope in the bow of a boat.
- Can't is not one single word but the joining of two words can and not, it is an abbreviation (apostrophe) Similar doubts may arise in the case of spelling variations: ○ Differences due to the spelling conventions of BrE and AmE and also differences within one standard variety of English, ex. medieval and mediaeval, judgement and judgment, etc. ○ Differences due to hyphenation in compound words, ex. weekend, week-end or week end. Compounding ○ Compounds are words that form a unit made up of two or more single words, like travel ogency, timekeeper, ice cream ○ Compounding is an extremely productive word-formation process in ○ English, meaning that many words are created through compounding Orthographical criteria: Word boundaries You can't tie a bow with the rope in the bow of a boat.
- Words occurring more than once (a, the, b+o+w): do they count as separate words or as instances of the same word? Dictionary: A (indefinite article) and the (definite article) are instances of the same word
- One single entry for 'a' and one single entry for 'the' (same spelling, same pronunciation, same meaning) The sequence bro+w represents two instances of the same orthographic word, BUT different pronunciation and different meaning
- Two different entries for b+o+was a noun, whose relevant meanings are: bow /bau/: A knot with two loops and two loose ends which is used for decoration on clothes, in hair, etc. or for tying shoes (IT nodo a fiocco) 2 bow /bau/: The front part of a boat or ship (IT prua) You can't tie a bow (/bau/, a type of knot) with the rope in the bow (baul, the front part of a boat) of a boat. ○ They are the same word orthographically ○ They are not the same word phonologically (pronunciation) and semantically (meaning) ○ The relationship between spelling, pronunciation and meaning produces different types of words Word types: Homographs Spelling
Pronunciation Meaning Homograph
- Words which are spelt the same, but have different pronunciations and meanings Dictionaries record them as separate numbered entries (ex. bow', bow?)
○ Stotw or 'sow': I./sau/ (noun, a female pig), 2. /sau/ (verb, to plant seeds into the ground) ○ Rtetfutste or 'refuse': I. /' refus/ (noun, rubbish), 2. /rI'fju:z/ (verb, to say that one is not willing to do something, such as declining an offer or a request) Word: Phonological criteria A word is a linguistic unit surrounded by pauses and having only one main stress
- Stress is the relative prominence given to a syllable in a word
- Compound words (travel agency, drop box, ice cream, etc.) which orthographically consist of two words, should be considered as one word because they normally have one main stress The use of phonological criteria may be problematic when applied to unstressed words, ex. the so-called grammatical or function words (pronouns, articles, prepositions, etc.), Lexical vs grammatical words ○ Lexical or content words are the main carriers of (referential) meaning, they are essential to the basic interpretation of the sentence (nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs) ○ Grammatical or function words do not carry lexical meaning, but signal the links between different words (pronouns, articles, prepositions, etc.), they make the sentence grammatically complete and help to make the sentence's meaning explicit Word: Semantic criteria
- In terms of meaning, a word is defined as a linguistic unit which expresses one single concept, which designates one single referent "Table" (single word): A piece of furniture that consists of a flat top supported by legs "Travel agency" (compound): A company that arranges travel and/or accommodation for people going on a holiday or journey. ○ The man who came to the office an hour ago (a long string of words, one referent) ○ Problems arise with linguistic items which do not carry referential meaning, they do not refer to one specific concept/content (articles, prepositions, conjunctions, etc.) Word: Different criteria A linguistic item can be defined as a word according to orthographical, phonological and semantic criteria
- Delimitations and limitations show how the use of "word" in linguistics can be problematic due to its ambiguity ○ The importance and the influence of spelling, pronunciation and meaning on the study of words ○ The way these three aspects interact defines some types of words ○ homographs (same spelling, different pronunciations and meanings) ○ homophones (same pronunciation, different spellings, meanings) ○ homonyms (same spelling, same pronunciation, but different meanings) Homonymy vs Polysemy Spelling
Preliminary notion: Language as communication ● Language as a system of communication A system which allows communication between people speaking the same language ● A system which allows people to communicate, to share or exchange information, to express thoughts, feelings, ideas, emotions with other people ● Thanks to language, people communicate with each other to convey meanings ● People make meaningful utterances to be understood by other people The content of communication ● What people communicate, talk and/or write about ● The world in which they live, themselves, their thoughts and feelings, what happens / happened or what they would like to happen ● No matter the content, language IS the primary means by which people communicate Language translates the content of communication into sounds and written symbols, spoken and written words Language as encoding/decoding
- Language as a code people share . Language is a code people use to share meaning, based on continuous encoding and decoding Speakers and writers 'encode' the content or meaning of their communication into spoken and written symbols by following specific principles of grammar ● Listeners and readers 'decode those spoken and written symbols by following the same principles of grammar to understand the content and meaning of communication ● Language is meaningful, it is a meaningful code shared by the people involved in communication ● Each element in a language (sounds, words, grammar, etc.) serves the purpose of communicating meaning What is meaning? Dictionary definitions (I)
- The meaning of words, signs, or actions is what they express or represent (Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary);
- The meaning of a word, expression, or gesture is the thing or idea that it refers to or represents and which can be explained using other words (Collins Cobuild Advanced Learner's Dictionary); (= PARAPHRASE: express the meaning of something using different words)
- The thing or idea that a word, expression, or sign represents; the thoughts or ideas that someone wants you to understand from what they say, do, write, etc. (Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English);
- The thing, action, feeling, idea, etc. that a word or words represent (MacMillan English Dictionary for Advanced Learners):
- The thing or idea that a sound, word, sign, etc. represents (Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary). What is meaning? Dictionary definitions (2) " 'Meaning' is deeply linked to the notion of language as communication Meaning can be communicated through words and expressions (verbal language, spoken and written words) Meaning can be communicated through signs and gestures (non-verbal language) All these means of meaning expression (esp. words), represent, or are linguistic representations of things, ideas, actions, feelings BUT the linguistic representation of the meanings of things may be extremely different from the linguistic representation of the meaning of ideas and feelings The way the meaning of things and objects can be defined can greatly differ from the way the meaning of ideas and feelings can be defined The linguistic representation of meaning is a complex phenomenon Word and meaning Focus on word How language is meaningful thanks to words How words communicate meaning The meaning of words, the semantics of words 'Meaning is often used as a general term to refer to (lexical) semantics Semantics is the study of word meaning Focus on one particular aspect of word semantics: the relation between words and the world, the meaning relation between words and the extra-linguistic reality referred to as the world Reference or denotation (I) How words relate to the world / world entities The relation between words and the world Words refer to / denote something/someone in the world The real existing world and an imaginary world (fictional) ● The meaning of a word, based on this relation, is called referential or denotative meaning ● Cognitive, descriptive, conceptual, factual, objective The meaning typically recorded in dictionaries . The meaning which arises from the relation between a word and its referent (thing, property, action, state, concept that a word refers to) ● ● It is not the only link between a word and the world This meaning relation, the relation of reference (between a word and its referent) is not simple ● Based on reference/denotation:
Ex. Butterfly: 'farfalla' (IT), 'papillon' (FR), 'mariposa' (SP), etc. Exceptions " The large majority of words have an arbitrary relation to their referents BUT there are some words whose reference relation is motivated, in terms of: ● Sound, words presenting phonological motivations (imitative words) ● Meaning, words presenting semantic motivations (proper names) Imitative words (I) Grunt (verb): (of animals, especially pigs) to make a short, low sound in the throat; (of people) to make a short, low sound in your throat, especially to show that you are in pain, annoyed or not interested; to say something using this sound. Plod (verb): to walk slowly with heavy steps, especially because you are tired. Swish (verb): to move quickly through the air in a way that makes a soft sound. Imitative words (2) Grunt (verb): (of animals, especially pigs) to make a short, low sound in the throat: (of people) to make a short. low sound in your throat, especially to show that you are in pain. annoyed or not interested: to say something using this sound. Plod (verb): to walk slowly with heavy steps, especially because you are tired. Swish (verb): to move quickly through the air in a way that makes a soft sound Definitions show that these verbs include some reference to sound The relation between these words and their referent is motivated by the sound that the referent makes, it is phonologically motivated 'Imitative words, because the sound of the word is assumed to be imitative of the sound associated with the referent (mostly an action and so mostly verbs) A small group of verbs in the vocabulary of a language Proper nouns or proper names (1) ● A group of words whose relation to their referent in the world is not arbitrary but motivated Names of people, places, institutions, etc. They present an intended unique referent They are created to refer to / denote one unique referent Ex. Mount Everest: the highest mountain in the world Ex. Nelson Mandela: South-African leader (Nobel Peace Prize) ● Also when the same proper name denotes different referents Ex. Rome: (a) the capital of Italy, (b) small town in the USA (Georgia) ● ● They are often semantically motivated ● A proper name is often related to or derives from a (common) word whose meaning characterizes the unique referent of the name ● •Proper names are chosen because of the supposed meaning of the name ● Ex. 'Jennifer: 'the fair one' or 'fair lady'
● Ex. 'Chester': a city in north-western England, whose name derives from the Latin word 'castra', which means 'camp' and indeed Chester was an important military center in Roman Britain ● Proper names, like imitative words, represent a small group of words in the whole vocabulary of a language ● = The large majority of words present an arbitrary relation to their referents Common nouns ● They do not have a unique referent They do not denote unique entities ● They refer to classes or categories of things The description of the reference relation of common nouns is more difficult and complex Ex. window How might we describe 'window' in terms of reference/denotation? How many referents of window do we know? Window: Dictionary definitions I. An opening in the wall or roof of a building, car, etc., usually covered with glass, that allows light and air to come in and people to see out; Ex. She looked out of the window; He saw her through the car window.
- The glass at the front of a shop and the area behind it where goods are shown to the public; Ex. I saw the dress I wanted in the window.
- A small area of something that you can see through, for example to talk to somebody or read something on the other side; Ex. There was a long line of people at the box-office window; The address must be clearly visible through the window of the envelope.
- (computing) An area within a frame on a computer screen, in which a particular program is operating or in which information of a particular type is shown; Ex. Click on the window to make it active.
- (figurative) A way of seeing and learning about something, Ex. Television is a window on the world. Common nouns: Window •It refers to / denotes different entities (things, objects) in the world The reference relation of a common noun is not unique BUT dictionary definitions: some essential properties in most of the entities referred to /denoted by 'window A whole class or category of referents of different shapes, sizes, purposes can be referred to / denoted by the same word thanks to the essential properties they have in common Ex: windows are usually capable of opening and/or closing, made of glass or other transparent material which aim to let the light or the air in, to allow people to look through These essential properties characterize the entities defined as windows These essential properties also motivate the extended meanings of window: the specialized sense in computing language and the figurative or literary sense
● In terms of reference/denotation, some words refer generically, while other words refer specifically A lexical or meaning relation between these words ● The words with more general references are called hypernyms ● The words with more specific references are called hyponyms Hypernyms are words with a general meaning that includes the meanings of other particular words, they represent a sort of category names Ex. 'fruit' is the hypernym of 'apple, 'orange, 'lemon', etc. Hyponyms are words with a particular and specific meaning that is included in the meaning of a more general word, of a hypernym Ex. 'dog, cat', 'rabbit', etc. are hyponyms of 'animal' The relation of reference Focus on the actual nature of the meaning relation involved in the concept of reference Reference is the relation between an entity in the world and a word in a language, the relation between an entity and the linguistic representation of it Except for proper names (unique reference), the relation between the large majority of words and their referents is not direct and unique, but arbitrary and generic We can refer to different entities with the same word Limited analysis: only common nouns and, particularly, concrete nouns They refer to concrete, observable, tangible entities in the world (window, car, warship, cutlery, fruit, animals) What about abstract nouns? Can we identify the referents of abstract words like 'love' or 'faith'? What about other lexical word classes like lexical verbs, adjectives and adverbs? Is the nature of the reference relation between these words and the world simple/complex, similar/different? If reference/denotation is defined only as the relation between a word in a language and an entity in the world, it's difficult to describe this relation for types of words other than (concrete) nouns The nature of the reference relation is not exactly the same for all word classes The abstract nature of reference ● To better understand the phenomenon of reference/denotation Reference is not only the relation between a word in a language and an entity in the world Reference is also the relation between a word and the (our) concept of an entity ● The reference of some words is an abstraction, an idea, a mental image ● It is based on the general image we conceive in our mind of what is denoted ● It is based on our experience, our conceptualization of what referred to
abstract nature of reference: Abstract nouns •How might we define abstract words like favor', 'obligation' or 'purpose'? How might we explain their meaning? Is their referent clear (unique, direct, specific)? Usually, to describe the meaning of something difficult, people tend to use synonyms and paraphrase To explain the denotation of abstract nouns, dictionaries tend to use synonyms and paraphrase Ex. 'Favor', synonym of 'help, defined as "a thing that you do to help somebody" Ex. 'Obligation', synonym of 'commitment', defined as "something which you must do because you have promised, because of a law, etc." Ex. 'Purpose, synonym of 'intention', 'aim', function', defined as "the thing that something or somebody is supposed to achieve" The concrete/abstract nature of reference: Verbs The concrete/abstract nature of reference influences the definition of concepts related to actions, i.e., lexical verbs ● The definition of activity verbs (eat, run, go) is easier, the actions they denote are more observable and the mental image in our mind is more precise ● The definition of cognitive verbs (believe, remember, understand) is more difficult Ex. 'Eat': "to put food in your mouth, bite it and swallow it" Ex. 'Understand: "to know or realize the meaning of something, to know or realize how or why something happens, how it works or why it is important", etc. ● In dictionaries, synonyms and paraphrase are commonly used to describe abstract concepts The concrete/abstract nature of reference: Adjectives and adverbs Similar mechanisms can be observed in the definition/description of the reference relation of other lexical word classes Some adjectives can be described quite precisely they relate to words of other classes (rainy, freckled, childish) they refer to observable or even measurable qualities (yellow, tall, long) Other adiectives denote relative or more abstract qualities, which are more difficult to be described in terms of denotation (true, brave, furious) Similarly, adverbs can have a more or less abstract reference and their meaning is usually defined by paraphrase or synonyms, generally using the words from which they derive Ex. 'Rapidly: "very quickly; at a great rate" Ex. 'Luckily: "by good luck" Summary: Lexical vs grammatical words The nature of reference or denotation, that is the nature of the reference relation varies depending on words (differences between word classes and within word classes themselves)
The nature of definitions varies depending on the type of reference relation linking a word to the world, which in turn depends on the type of word (within word classes, across word classes) Concrete noun: its definition is a description of the thing or entity denoted by that word (lexeme) Ex. 'Salt': "a white substance that is added to food to make it taste better or to preserve it. Salt is obtained from mines and is also found in seawater. Its chemical name is sodium chloride" = The dictionary describes what salt is, its use and its purpose, it gives information about its origin to finally provide the chemical name, which is unlikely to be known by the average dictionary user, but the referent of the lexeme 'salt' is clear Reference and denotation in dictionaries (2) Activity verb (quite concrete): its definition is a description of the action denoted by that verb (lexeme) Ex. 'Decorate: "to put paint, wallpaper, etc. on the walls and ceilings of a room or house" or "to make something look more attractive by putting things on it"
- More abstract lexeres (cognitive verbs, adjectives, and adverbs): dictionary definitions are less descriptive and analytical, they rely more on paraphrase and synonyms Ex. 'Believe: "to feel certain that something is true or that somebody is telling you the truth", or "to think that something is true or possible, although you are not completely certain" or also "to have the opinion that something is right or true", , etc. Ex. 'Astute "very clever and quick at sceing what to do in a particular situation, especially how to get an advantage" Proper names (names of people and places are not usually recorded in print dictionaries (due to space limitations), buy they are found in encyclopedias or in online dictionaries Words relate to the world The first aspect concerning word meaning in lexical semantics The relation between words and the world The meaning relation between words as linguistic signs and the world (extra-linguistic reality) Reference or denotation: words refer to or denote entities in the world Based on this relation, "referential" or "denotative" meaning (also "cognitive", "descriptive"." conceptual", "factual" or "objective" The meaning recorded in dictionaries The meaning which arises from the relation between a word and its referent (thing. property, quality, action, state, feeling, concept that it refers to I denotes) Reference is complex BUT reference or denotation is not the only link between a word and the world BUT reference or denotation is not a simple relation, especially in meaning definition or description on the basis of reference Some aspects of word semantics clearly show why this reference relation is NOT always direct, clear, unique or motivated Genericness
- The generic nature of reference Except for the small group of proper nouns or proper names For the large majority of nouns (common nouns), this meaning relation is not only arbitrary but also generic ● Unlike proper nouns (an Intended unique referent, a one-to-one correspondence between a word and its referent) ● Common nouns denote classes or categories of entities in the world (one-to-many correspondence) Reference is indirect and unspecific Lexical sense relations Hyperonymy or hyponymy, depending on which words I focus on: The words with more general reference are called hypernyms The words with more specific reference are called hyponyms Hyparnyms are words with a general meaning that includes the meanings of other particular words (hyponyms), they represent category names
- Hyponyins are words with a particular and specific meaning that is Included in the meaning of a more general word (hypernym) 'Fruit (hypertym): 'apple'", orange, lemon', etc. (hyponyms) Animal (hyparnym): "dog';'cat, rabbit* (hyponyms) Concreteness / abstractness J. The abstract nature of reference Reference or denotation can be also the relation between a word and the concept, the idea of an entity in the world Reference can be an abstraction, based on the general image we concelve in our mind of what is denoted, based on our experience of what is referred to Words which do not refer to concrete, observable, tangible objects (unlike concrete nouns and activity verbs) Words which denote concepts which are more difficult to be defined In terms of reference (abstract nouns and cognitive verbs) Differences concerning other word classes, like adjectives and adverbs The nature of reference
- The nature of the reference relation changes depending on referents and words (motivated or arbitrary, direct or indirect, unique or generic, generic or specific, concrete or abstract) It varies across word classes and also within the same word class •In dictionaries, it is the concrete/abstract nature of the reference relation what Influences the way word meaning is defined when words denote more concrete or observable entities, definitions are descriptive and analytical when words denote more abstract entitles, definitions tend to rely more on the use of paraphrase and synonyms Lobster: Dictionary definitions
● Their denotational meaning is different ● Their connotational meaning is similar ● They all connote luxury, richness, high living, special and expensive food or drink Dictionaries do not always record this additional level of meaning
- BUT sometimes dictionaries offer connotational information, ex. CHAMPAGNE, CAVIAR ("special" and 'very""expensive", "celebrate special occasions", "rich people"? Connotation From the perspective of word semantics, another aspect to analyze is the distinction between denotation and connotation Reference or denotation is not the only link between words and the world Connotation is another type of relation between the two *It relates to the meaning that a word may have in addition to its denotation " A word may suggest some semantic associations in addition to its denotative meaning A word may evoke ideas or feelings in addition to its literal or primary meaning Connotation can be of different types (positive or negative, specific to lifestyle, aspects of human experience, feelings, etc.) Connotation: examples ● Lion:"A large, powerful animal of the cat family that hunts in groups and lives in parts of Africa and southern Asia. Lions have yellow-brown fur and the male has a mane (= long, thick hair round its neck)" ● 'Tion" typically connotes bravery, strength, or ferociousness ● (figurative/metaphorical) "A brave, strong, or fierce person" ● Pig: "An animal with pink, black or brown skin, short legs, a broad nose and a short curly tall. Pigs are kept on farms for their meat (called pork) or live in the wild" 'pig' typically connotes uncleanness and unpleasant smells ● (informal, disapproving. figurative/metaphorical) "A person who is dirty or greedy; an unpleasant or offensive person" Connotation: examples Candle:"A round stick of wax with a piece of string (called a wick) through the middle that is lit to give light as it burns"
- religious connotations (used in churches, religious ceremonies) romantic connotations (candle as lighting for a romantic meal) Faraway "Distant in space or time" (denotationally synonyms)
- romantic connotations (metaphorically distant) synonyms: dreamy, absent-minded, distracted, preoccupied, lost in thought, somewhere else, with one's head in the clouds), ex. There was a faraway look in her eyes. Denotation vs. connotation (I)
The nature of the denotational meaning differs from the nature of connotational meaning. If any Connotations are rather indeterminate, not exactly established, defined and fixed Connotations are much vaguer and unclear
- Connotations are more variable, they can change and are subject to variables
- Connotations are more language-specific and culture-specific Connotations can be subject to variation in time (from one generation to another) Example: food words like 'milk' or 'meat In the past, associated with health and strength (positive connotation) ● Today, with many vegetarian or even vegan people, associated also with health risks, environmental issues, etc. (negative connotation) ● Sociocultural variables influence word connotation Connotation can change depending on sociocultural factors and values Connotation can change across societies and cultures Connotations can be subjective, not shared in the same way by the whole speech community The experience of language and the way it is used in relation to the world is individual, to some extent it can be unique and very personal belief-system By choosing a word, we transfer the associations of that entity stored in our mind to that word ● ● Connotation relates to the "emotive" meaning of words, also called "affective", "attitudinal" or "expressive" ● A meaning that expresses a person's feelings rather than being neutrally descriptive A meaning that expresses the way of thinking or feeling about the referent of a word ● Words often have personal and/or sociocultural associations which contribute to their denotative meaning Connotations are additional components of meaning Connotation: examples Man: (denotation) "Adult male human being": (connotation) "A person with the qualities traditionally associated with males, such as virility, bravery, spirit, or toughness", ex. That's what I call a man!; Act like a man!
- A word may present connotations in language to a greater or lesser extent depending on the society in which that word is used (ex. 'man' in more or less androcentric/patriarchal societies) Word connotations may differ significantly according to who uses them in the same society Police: (denotation) "An official organization whose job is to make people obey the law and to prevent and solve crime": (connotation): reliability, helpfulness, friendliness, protection, etc. (conservative people) intimidation, pressure, aggression, injustice, etc. (more rebellious people)
