Sunday, November 28, 2010

The Connotations of Connotations and Denotation


Associating the word “dog” with the concepts “friendly” and “loyal” is an example of what type of meaning?

A. Denotative meaning

B. Context-dependent meaning

C. Semantic meaning

D. Connotative meaning

Red is the wrong answer

Blue is the right answer

When I got to this question I was so sure that the answer was denotative meaning because I thought the denotation of dog was loyal and friendly. For some odd reason I got connotation and denotation mixed up, which was highly unlike me because I know very well what these two terms mean. Connotation is an implied additional meaning and denotation is the basic meaning.

An example:

What are the connotations that come with the word dorm?

Connotation: A building where students live.

Denotation: Small room, cozy, college students living space, found on college campuses

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