What is the Connotative Meaning of a Word?

Our world is made up of systems of meaning

Whenever we use a particular word, we know at least something about what it means. But how certain can we be that when we use a particular word, whoever we're talking to will have the same understanding of that word as we do? Philosophers and linguists have been studying these questions for centuries, and the study of connotative meaning and how it works has come to be known as semiotics (or, alternately, semiology).

Semiotics

The Swiss linguist Ferdinand de Saussure and the American philosopher Charles Sanders Peirce are generally recognized as the two primary founders of early semiotics. Later, the French theorist and philosopher Roland Barthes (amongst others) clarified and refined many of the concepts of the study.

Signifiers

According to ChangingMinds.org, "the signifier is the pointing finger, the word, the sound-image." In other words, a signifier is any word, sound, or image that represents a concept or an idea. We're constantly surrounded by signifiers. Any time someone utters a word in your presence, any time you read a word, any time you see an image on a poster or on a screen, you're in the presence of a visual signifier.

Signifieds

The signified is the concept the signifier represents. Or, as ChangingMinds.org puts it, "The signified is the concept, the meaning, the thing indicated by the signifier." Our minds are full of signifieds. Each time you encounter a signifier or a series or collection of signifers, your mind conjures up a signified idea or image.

The Sign

The sign is composed of a signifier and a signified. It is the combination of a word, image, or symbol and the concept or meaning it represents. It's important to note that signs are, at some level, arbitrary. That is, there's nothing inherent in a word image, or symbol (beyond convention) that connects it to a particular signified conceptual content. For example: any particular person who reads the word "tree" will imagine some image of a tree, but not everyone will imagine the same tree. Some people will imagine a pine tree, others will imagine a willow, etc. Saussure offers up another example, "The idea of 'sister' is not linked by any inner relationship to the succession of sounds s-b-r which serves as its signifier in French."

Dennotative Meaning

Every signifier conveys a basic, denotative meaning. The denotative meaning of a signifier is its signified. According to Daniel Chandler, "Denotation' tends to be described as the definitional, 'literal', 'obvious' or 'commonsense' meaning of a sign. In the case of linguistic signs, the denotative meaning is what the dictionary attempts to provide." In other words, the denotative meaning of a word, image, or symbol is its most basic meaning, the meaning that is obvious and conventionally agreed upon. Barthes calls denotative meaning "first order signification."

Connotative Meaning

According to Chandler, "the term 'connotation' is used to refer to the socio-cultural and 'personal' associations (ideological, emotional etc.) of the sign." According to Barthes, connotative meaning occurs when an entire sign (the relationship between a signifier and its signified content) becomes a signifier itself. When we're dealing with connotative meaning, we're in the terrain of what Barthes calls "second order signification." According to Chandler, connotative meanings "are determined by the codes to which the interpreter has access." That is, connotation is culturally specific. For example, in a society where wolves are feared as predators, a political advertisement that juxtaposes a candidate with images of wolves would, on a connotative level, mean that the candidate is threatening and fearsome. Conversely, in a society where wolves are revered and respected, such a juxtaposition might convey a connotative meaning of a respectable, powerful candidate.

Conclusion

In simplified terms, denotative meaning is the basic, dictionary-definition meaning of a word. Connotation is its culturally specific meaning that isn't so obvious and stable. By learning to interpret and understand connotation, we can better understand the systems of meaning in the world around us and learn to better communicate more complex meanings.

References

• Semiotics for Beginners
• Elements of Semiology
• Course in General Linguistics
• Signifer and Signified