Connotation, Denotation, and Implication

  


                                                             

  

Connotation and denotation both are principal method s of describing the meaning 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. 

Example:

 

The denotation of this picture is a red rose with a green stem.

The connotation is that is a symbol of passion and love—this is what the rose represents. 

Ø  There are three types of connotation:

1.     Positive connotation

This type is also called as favorable connotation. In this type, a person feel good about any word or the word makes them happy. In this, the words are giving the positive impact to a person.

For example: using the word challenging instead of difficult, childlike instead of childish, Bazurg instead of Buddha, etc. carries the positive impact and so these are the positive connotation.

2.     Negative connotation

This type is called unfavorable connotation. Those terms considered to be negative where the words describe the negative qualities or disrespect of a person.

For example: use of word Buddha for an old person shows disrespect.

3.     Neutral connotation

This is very common and widely used. In this person neither developed a positive nor negative connotation.

For example: use of word Burhha instead of bazurg.

	Word	Denotation	Connotation
1	New	recent origin	better, improved
2	Snake	round reptile	horrible beast
3	Adequate	good enough	not very good
4	Excuse	explanation	weak reason

   

An implication is something slightly different. If I imply something, I am saying something specific to somebody, without actually using that sentence (this might be an accident. We might not want the listener to have this idea). Usually, an implication is a proposition - something that can be expressed as a sentence. So for example, if I say:

• If you don't do your homework, you won't get any ice cream.

Then, I am implying that:

• If you do your homework you will get some ice-cream.

But notice that I did not say that. That second sentence is not part of what I said. If I am a mean and horrible person, I may have deliberately tricked you. But I did not lie. The truth may well be that:

• If you don't do your homework you won't get any ice-cream and if you do your homework, you still won't get any ice-cream.

The reason might be for example, that you are not allowed ice-cream because you're allergic to dairy products. Notice that if I say the whole of the last example, the implication is cancelled. We no longer think that the speaker will give any ice-cream to anyone if the homework is done. We can cancel implications easily. It is difficult to cancel connotations. We may still be reminded of something, like holidays, for example, even if the actual word or phrase is being used in a completely different way.

Conclusion:

In the normal uses of these words, a connotation is an association that we have with a word, phrase or sentence. It is not necessarily a proposition. It is not usually the kind of idea we can express in a sentence.

In contrast, an implication is usually a proposition. It is an idea we could express as a sentence. Sometimes the listener may want us to understand this proposition. Sometimes it may be accidental. We can cancel implications. It is difficult, if not impossible sometimes, to cancel connotations.

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