DENOTATION AND CONNOTATION

The concepts denotation and connotation are two of the most important in semiotics analysis (although they are not exclusive to semiotics). Roughly speaking, denotation and connotation refer to the first and second levels of meaning in a sign. The term denotation refers to the literal meaning of a sign; to what is objectively present and easily recognized or indentified. Connotation is a term used to refer to meanings which lie beyond denotation but are dependent on it. In Elements of Semiology, Roland Barthes says the first system (denotation) becomes the plane of expression or signifier of the second system (connotation). The signifiers of connotation are made up of signs (signifiers and signifieds united) of the denoted system. While the distinction between literal and figurative language operates at the level of the signifier, that between denotation and connotation operates at the level of the signified. We all know that beyond its literal meaning (its denotation), a particular word may have connotations: for instance, sexual connotations. In semiotics, denotation and connotation are terms describing the relationship between the signifier and its signified, and an analytic distinction is made between two types of signifieds: a denotative signified and a connotative signified. Meaning includes both, denotation and connotation. For the art historian Erwin Panofsky, the denotation of a representational visual image is what all viewers from any culture and at any time would recognize the image as depicting (Panofsky 1970, 51-3). Denotation tends to be described as the definitional, literal, obvious or common-sense meaning of a sign. In the case of linguistic signs, the denotative meaning is what the dictionary attempts to provide. The term connotation is used to refer to the socio-cultural and personal associations (ideological, emotional, etc.) of the sign. These are typically related to the interpreter`s class,

age, gender, ethnicity, and so on. Connotation is thus context-dependent. Signs are more polysemic- more open to interpretation- in their connotations than their denotations. Denotation is sometimes regarded as a digital code and connotation as an analogue code. (Wilden 1987, 224). Denotation is the literal usage of words, while connotation is the use of language which has a high degree of emotion, either positive or negative. Compare the denotation of the word police with several words which denote police, but also connote positive or negative feelings: -denotation: police; -connotation: officer, cop, pig. The word police is neutral in connotation, but officer is positive, cop neutral and pig very negative in connotation. Thus, all of these words denote police, but ones at right connote either positive, neutral or negative feelings. If you`re getting a ticket, you`d better say officer. In common speech, we might call a policeman a cop, but if you call him a pig you`ve really said something nasty! Here`s a similar list: -denotation: thin; -connotation: svelte, skinny, slinky, anorexic. If someone calls a woman svelte, she`s received a compliment meaning she`s thin and chic, like a model. But call a woman skinny and she`s not very pretty. Call her slinky, and she might be a bad girl, but call her anorexic and she should be hospitalized! All of these words denote thin but each has a very different emotional meaning or connotation. The language you choose plays a big role in the message that you actually convey. Try to determine the tone of your message and then choose words which are congruent with it. Two special and opposite uses of connotation are euphemisms and profanity. A euphemism is the substitution of words with more positive connotation , for negatively connotative words.

Denotation indicates a simple, unambiguous , direct relationship between a sign and its referent. For example, the denotative meaning of home is shelter or a place to live. There is no ambiguity in denotative meaning because it is objective and concrete. Denotation occurs when a signified is known to everyone in the same manner. Denotations are akin to dictionary meanings. However, there are meanings that are not in the dictionary. For example, home has several connotative meanings. Connotations, then, are subjective meanings people add to signs, based on their idiosyncratic experiences and feelings. Depending on how a person experiences home, the connotative meanings may vary. To somebody, home may mean paradise. To others, the same home may mean hell. Connotations reflect subjective values that are arbitrarily added to a sign by an interpreter. The important point is that connotative meanings of a sign stem from the interpreters cultural experiences with a referent represented by the sign. Although they are two opposite modes of signification, both denotation and connotation constitute the foundation of communication. Denotation is the most fundamental basis of communication. In effect, however, connotation is what determines the potential success or failure of communication. Although all signs have both denotative and connotative meanings, the denotation to connotation ratio is different depending on the type of communication. For example, science is a type of communication that relies on denotation and art is a type of communication that involves connotations. Needless to say, we must properly figure out denotation in our day communication. However, the more important thing is to grasp appropriate connotations in messages delivered through communication, that is, connotations that are appropriate for a given context. Occasionally, connotation may be mistakes as denotation by the receiver. If this occurs, the communication will be problematic. The difference between denotation and connotation can be easily understood as follows. Denotation is concerned with what, whereas connotation is concerned with how. In most cases, the connotative meanings contingent on forms belong to human unconsciousness. Hence, many people fail to catch the connotative meanings of a certain sign. Connotative meanings of things are buried in the collective unconscious of people. Although we see things, their connotations are by and large beyond our comprehension.

Eco, however, refers to Hjelmslev in attacking this traditional view of denotation and connotation: The difference between denotation and connotation is not (as many authors maintain) the difference between univocal and vague signification, or between referential and emotional communication, and so on. What constitutes a connotation as such is the connotative code which establishes it; the characteristic of a connotative code is the fact that the further signification conventionally rellies on a primary one (Eco 1976: 55). Hjelmslev showed that the expression plane of a connotative semiotic was itself another semiotic, expression plane and content plane together.

Connotation is a words understood meaning- its emotional tone or subtext. Denotation is a words dictionary meaning. Every word has a denotation, but only some words have connotations. Two words may have similar denotations but very different connotations. Consider the denotation and connotation of the words tumor and mass. Imagine how you would react to your doctor telling you that you have a tumor and may need surgery versus her telling you that you have a mass and could require a procedure. Tumor and mass mean the same thing, but tumor is a scary word; mass is less so. Surgery and a procedure mean the same thing , but surgery is a scary word, and procedure isnt. Tumor and mass have the same denotation, a lump. But tumor has a terrifying connotation; mass sounds much less frightening. A words denotation can change over time as the word is used in different ways. For example, before computers burst onto the scene, the denotation of the word mouse was a small furry rodent- cute in cartoons but not in your kitchen. With the advent of the computer age, however, a mouse also came to be known as a palm-sized device used to move the cursor on a computer screen. (Mouse can also be used as a verb, meaning to sneak around.)

References : http://books.google.ro/books?id=WV6Si29I010C&pg=PA137&dq=denotation+and+connotation &hl=ro&sa=X&ei=hskAT4PMMefd4QTBy8yNCA&ved=0CC0Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=den otation%20and%20connotation&f=false http://books.google.ro/books?id=lOWC7h0KPYAC&pg=PA35&dq=denotation+and+connotatio n&hl=ro&sa=X&ei=hskAT4PMMefd4QTBy8yNCA&ved=0CDkQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=de notation%20and%20connotation&f=false . http://books.google.ro/books?id=3dp4YH8eWcC&pg=PA24&dq=denotation+and+connotation&hl=ro&sa=X&ei=D4QBTTlDOGN4gTuvsnlAg&ved=0CEgQ6AEwBQ#v=onepage&q=denotation%20and%20connotatio n&f=false http://books.google.ro/books?id=uTgOAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA127&dq=denotation+and+connotat ion&hl=ro&sa=X&ei=UIQBT4GJtPU4QSAmpT_Ag&ved=0CDgQ6AEwAjgK#v=onepage&q=denotation%20and%20connotat ion&f=false http://books.google.ro/books?id=8oPAcxDOL0IC&pg=PA94&dq=denotation+and+connotation &hl=ro&sa=X&ei=rHgET_UJND04QTn38WZCA&ved=0CEIQ6AEwBDge#v=onepage&q=denotation%20and%20conno tation&f=false http://books.google.ro/books?id=Kk_6qLhRzrIC&pg=PT280&dq=connotation+and+denotation &hl=ro&sa=X&ei=k3sET6jlHqWA4gTvnsyNCA&ved=0CDgQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=conno tation%20and%20denotation&f=false