The Dimensions of Meaning 1

(reference, denotation, connotation,

sense relation)

Oleh:
PUPUT ZULI EKORINI, M.Pd
REFERENCE
When we hear or read a word, we often form a mental picture of what the
word represents, and so we are apt to equate ‘concept’ with a mental
picture. To be sure, it is easier to form a mental picture for some words—
DOOR and DOG, for example—than for others such as ORDINARY or
PROBLEM or PRETEND. But the idea of a mental picture is misleading.
What mental image do you form for DOOR? A revolving door? A folding
door? A sliding door, moving horizontally? An overhead door which
moves vertically? A door turning on hinges? Is it in a wall, or on a cabinet,
or part of a car? Is your image associated with DOG that of a St Bernard or
a Pekingese, a mongrel or an Irish Setter? You can picture all of these in
sequence but not simultaneously. Clearly the meaning of door or dog is
more than what is included in a single image, and your knowledge of
these words is much more than the ability to relate them to single objects
 CONCEPT

WORD OBJECT

Ex:
Watch out for the dog!

Reference

Referant (object of
the reference)
Concept Sense (mental image)
Mental representation
Reference is the way speakers and hearers use an
expression successfully
Reference is based on the knowledge of the speaker
and hearers sense of the thing
Sense refers to how we see an object or the amount of
information given about an object.
DENOTATION
The dog

Denotes the object in the

real world
Object
Linguistics
expression

Signal which signifies the object in the real world

Denotation originally meant the act of marking or the
expression of something through a sign.
Denotation represents the explicit or referential
meaning of a sign
CONOTATION
The word dog has a certain denotation, the possibility of
entering into numerous referring expressions such as
the underlined expressions in the following.
1. This dog is a Dalmatian.
2. My children have just acquired a dog.
3. Several dogs were fighting over a bone.

But how do you feel about dogs? How does a particular

society value dogs?
Hjelmslev (1971:109–10) pointed out that among the
Eskimos a dog is an animal that is used for pulling a sled,
the Parsees regard dogs as nearly sacred, Hindus
consider them a great pest and in Western Europe and
America some members of the species still perform the
original chores of hunting and guarding while others are
merely ‘pets.’
The meaning of dog includes the attitudes of a society
and of individuals, the pragmatic aspect. It would be
wrong to think that a purely biological definition of the
lexeme dog is a sufficient account of its meaning. Part of
its meaning is its connotation, the affective or emotional
associations it elicits, which clearly need not be the same
for all people who know and use the word.
Connotation refers to the wide range of positive and
negative associations that are emotionally or socially
connected with words
It is the emotional and imaginative association
surrounding a word
Connotation represents the various social hints,
cultural implications or emotional meanings
associated with a sign
THANK YOU