Editing Connotation

{{Short description|Cultural or emotional association}}
{{for|the technical term in semiotics|connotation (semiotics)}}{{redirect|Connote|Connote number|Waybill}}
A '''connotation''' is a commonly understood [[culture|cultural]] or [[emotional]] association that any given [[word]] or [[phrase]] carries, in addition to its explicit or [[Literal and figurative language|literal]] [[meaning (philosophy of language)|meaning]], which is its [[denotation]].

A connotation is frequently described as either positive or negative, with regard to its pleasing or displeasing emotional connection.<ref>{{cite book|author=Peter A. White|title=Psychological Metaphysics|chapter=Feelings and JEA Sequences|date=27 March 2017|page=315|publisher=Routledge |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dCWEDgAAQBAJ&pg=PT315|isbn=978-1315473550}}</ref> For example, a stubborn person may be described as being either ''strong-willed'' or ''pig-headed''; although these have the same literal meaning (''stubborn''), ''strong-willed'' connotes [[admiration]] for the level of someone's will (a positive connotation), while ''pig-headed'' connotes frustration in dealing with someone (a negative connotation).

==Usage==
"Connotation" branches into a mixture of different meanings. These could include the contrast of a word or phrase with its primary, [[Literal and figurative language|literal]] meaning (known as a [[denotation]]), with what that word or phrase specifically denotes. The connotation essentially relates to how anything may be associated with a word or phrase; for example, an implied value, judgement or feelings.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.csun.edu/~bashforth/098_PDF/06Sep15Connotation_Denotation.pdf|title=Connotation and Denotation|publisher=[[California State University, Northridge]]|pages=1–8}}</ref>

===Logic===
In [[logic]] and [[semantics]], ''connotation'' is roughly synonymous with ''[[intension]]''. Connotation is often contrasted with ''[[denotation]]'', which is more or less synonymous with ''[[extension (semantics)|extension]]''. Alternatively, the connotation of the word may be thought of as the set of all its possible referents (as opposed to merely the actual ones). A word's ''denotation'' is the collection of things it refers to; its connotation is what it implies about the things it is used to refer to (a second level of meanings is termed connotative). The connotation of dog is (something like) four-legged canine carnivore. So, saying, "You are a dog" would ''connote'' that you were ugly or aggressive rather than literally ''denoting'' you as a canine.<ref>{{cite book|author=BK Sahni|title=BPY-002: Logic: Classical and Symbolic Logic|year=2017}}</ref>

===Related terms===
It is often useful to avoid words with strong connotations (especially [[pejorative]] or [[wikt:disparaging|disparaging]] ones) when striving to achieve a [[Objectivity (philosophy)|neutral point of view]]. A desire for more positive connotations, or fewer negative ones, is one of the main reasons for using [[euphemism]]s.<ref>
Not all theories of [[linguistic meaning]] honor the distinction between literal meaning and (this kind of) connotation. See [[literal and figurative language]].</ref>

Semiotic closure, as defined by [[Terry Eagleton]], concerns "a sealed world of ideological stability, which repels the disruptive, decentered forces of language in the name of an imaginary unity. [[Sign (semiotics)|Sign]]s are ranked by a certain covert violence into rigidly hierarchical order. . . . The process of forging ‘representations’ always involves this arbitrary closing of the signifying chain, constricting the free play of the signifier to a spuriously determinate meaning which can then be received by the subject as natural and inevitable".<ref>{{cite book|author=Terry Eagleton|title=Ideology: An Introduction|publisher=Verso|year=1991|page=197|isbn=0-86091-538-7}}</ref>{{Relevance inline |reason=Not completely irrelevant but given undue space here in relation to content that more directly deals with the notion of connotation; consider moving to [[Sign (semiotics)]] |date=January 2023}}

==Examples==
{| class="mw-collapsible"
|[[Image:Cartoony heart.svg|100px|left|Example seven
.]]
The denotation is a [[Representation (arts)|representation]] of a cartoon heart. The connotation is a '''symbol''' of love and affection.
|-
|-
|[[Image:Cartoony red rose.svg|left|100px|Example one.]]
The denotation of this example is a red [[rose]] with a green [[Plant stem|stem]]. The connotation is that it is a '''[[symbol]]''' of passion and love – this is what the rose represents,
|-

|-
| [[Image:Cartoony cross.svg|100px|left|Example two.]]
The denotation is a brown cross. The connotation is a '''symbol''' of religion, according to the media connotation. However, to be more specific this is a '''symbol''' of Christianity.
|-

|}

==See also==
{{wiktionary|connotation}}
*''[[Context as Other Minds]]''
*[[Double entendre]]
*[[Extension (semantics)|Extension]]
*[[Extensional definition]]
*[[Intension]]
*[[Intensional definition]]
*[[Loaded language]]
*[[Metacommunicative competence]]
*[[Pun]]
*[[Semantic differential]]
*[[Semantic property]]
*[[Subtext]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

[[Category:Connotation| ]]
[[Category:Concepts in logic]]
[[Category:Meaning (philosophy of language)]]
[[Category:Semantics]]
[[Category:Subjective experience]]