THE denotative language, denotation, and connotative language, connotation, are different forms of expression:
- at denotation, we use the sense dictionary of words to convey messages objectively and literally;
- at connotation, we use the figurative sense to convey messages in a subjective and creative way.
Read too: Emotive or expressive function - function of the language in which the issuer is the focus
What is denotation?
Denotation or denotative language is the language characterized by the use of literal words. It is the type of language commonly used in objective messages and in speeches aimed at the precise transmission of facts, opinions or arguments.
Denotative language permeates some journalistic genres, didactic and scientific materials, manuals, among other materials that require literal and objective language.
Examples of denotation
Let's look at some statements that use denotative language:
- Yesterday, I forgot my backpack at school. I had to go back there to get it.
- Clarice Lispector was born in Ukraine, in 1920, and died in Brazil, in 1977. The writer and journalist is the author of several novels and short stories.
- Scientists across the planet continue to search for a cure for the disease that has become an epidemic.
- Before baking the cake, it is necessary to preheat the oven to 180 ºC.
- This remedy is contraindicated in case of suspected dengue.
Do not stop now... There's more after the advertising ;)
What is connotation?
Connotation or connotative language is the language characterized by the use of figurative words, that is, it goes beyond the literal and dictionary sense and is therefore freer to multiple interpretations, because it can transmit several messages at the same time or even different messages, depending on the understanding of those who access its content. It is the type of language commonly used in subjective and emphatic messages, in expressions poetic, lyric or who seek stimulate the interlocutor somehow.
In connotative language, the use of speech figures, especially from metaphor and of the metonymy. The connotative language permeates advertising materials, literary and artistic works in general, dialogues and speeches that seek to establish an emotional link or of great appeal between interlocutors.
Connotation examples
- Many new cases of the disease jumped to the researchers' eyes.
- He was all melted by her statements.
- He's terrified of airplanes. Scared to death when we go to the airport.
- I miss you! We haven't spoken for a thousand years!
- If we squeeze this newspaper, blood comes out.
Connotation and denotation in non-verbal texts
Denotation and connotation can also be seen in non-verbal language. In the following example, we see two distinct representations of a heart:
- On the left, the heart can be interpreted denoting, that is, it seeks to show, in the drawing, a heart as it really is. This is a typical representation of anatomical studies.
- On the right, the gesture of the hands has a connotative meaning and seeks to represent a heart, which, in turn, conveys the idea of love and affection.
Read too:What are the functions of language?
solved exercises
Question 1 - (Sousândrade Foundation)
Text A
The speech was excellent. Direct without being shallow. Technical without being boring. Sensitive without being corny. Last Wednesday's prime time, President Barack Obama spoke for 47 minutes in session of Congress in order to turn the tables in favor of its proposal to reform the system of health. After making it the number 1 priority of his domestic agenda, and watching it get torn apart at the countless meetings that deputies and senators did with voters at the parliamentary recess in August, Obama is being asked to step down from the podium to be introduced to the reality. And reality is the opposite of their utopia: the majority, exactly 51% in the latest poll, are against health reform. Translating: Americans don't want a public health system to compete with companies and do not like the idea of the government administering the current system to prevent abuses of insurers. Behind this is a message whose roots go back to the country's history: most Americans distrust the honesty, purpose, and competence of governments—any government.
On the surface, the health debate in the United States provokes technical disagreements. In Obama's proposal, all Americans will be required to have health insurance. But what is the minimum range of benefits? Obama promises the government will subsidize anyone who can't buy a plan. But how much will the subsidy be? Obama said for the first time that the cost of reform in ten years will be at most 900 billion dollars and the bulk of the money will come from reducing waste and fraud. But where did the calculation of what runs down the drain of waste and fraud come from? With the end of Obama's speech, the attention of the press and politicians was focused on these doubts.
Andrew Petry. In: Veja magazine, September 16, 2009.
The connotation is the place where the cultural experiences of the community of a language echo, as the use of expression and words reveals value judgments in a striking way. Considering this statement by J. Carlos Azeredo, identify the use of connotative language, preserving the context, in the following options.
A) “[...] President Barack Obama spoke for 47 minutes [...]”
B) "Technical, without being boring."
C) "[...] what runs down the drain of waste and fraud?"
D) "Obama promises that the government will subsidize [...]"
E) "[...] most Americans distrust honesty, purpose [...]"
Resolution
Alternative C. The use of the metaphor “drains down the drain of waste” cannot be interpreted literally and is, therefore, characteristic of the connotation.
Question 2 - (FUNCAB)
Text 1
pass it on
I have several DVDs of concerts, and there was a time when I watched them carefully or just let them run like ambient music while doing other things around the house. Until I forgot them altogether. Knowing my collection, my brother the other day asked:
"Can I borrow some shows from your collection?"
- Of course!
He chose four and took them with him. And suddenly it gave me an uncontrollable urge to go back to watching those shows. Those four, isn't that weird?
Soon the urge passed, but I was left with the alert in my head. I remembered a friend who once said she had bought a dress she had never worn, it still hung in her wardrobe. One day she showed me the dress and summoned:
— Take it for you, do me this favor. I will never use it.
I brought him home. A long time later she confided to me, laughing, that she hadn't slept that night. She began to see the dress with new eyes. Why hadn't she given him a chance?
Damned sense of ownership, which makes us remain attached to what is no longer relevant. Including relationships.
Another friend was always complaining about her boyfriend, saying that they no longer had anything in common and that she was ready to leave for another one. And why not leave?
"Because I don't want to leave you hanging around."
What?
She didn't break up with the guy because she didn't want him to have another girlfriend, she said she couldn't stand it. She recognized the pettiness of her attitude, but after so many years together, she still wasn't ready to admit that he would no longer be hers.
DVDs, clothes, loves: of course it's not all the same, but irrational attachment looks alike. It's the old, shabby story of only giving value to what we've lost. Is there a solution to this neurora? Attributing to our latent selfishness is perhaps too simplistic, however, I can't find any other justification to explain this need to “have” what we don't even consider anymore.
It is necessary to open space. Cleaning up paperwork from drawers, donating moldy shoes and bags, passing on books we'll never open. It's a way to lose weight and invite the long-awaited “new life” to assume the position it's due. Easy? Bref. A piece of our history goes with it. We're made—also—of concert tickets, newspaper clippings, graduation photos, love tickets.
Not to mention the fear of not recognizing ourselves when the future arrives, of not having such rich emotions awaiting us in front of us, of nostalgia becoming more potent than that “new life”.
What is the guarantee? One year for refrigerators, three years for 0 km cars, five years for apartments. For life, there isn't. It's letting go and see what happens, or keep watching forever over the corpses of the wills that have passed away.
(Medeiros, Martha. Magazine The globe, 20/05/2012.)
Check the option in which the denotative sense of the language was used.
A) "I recognized the pettiness of his attitude [...]"
B) “[...] I don't want to leave him lying around.”
C) "It's the old and shabby story of only giving value [...]"
D) "[...] ready to go to another."
E) "She started to see the dress with different eyes."
Resolution
Alternative A. The construction uses the literal sense, that is, denotative. In the other alternatives, there is use of a figurative and, therefore, connotative sense.
By Guilherme Viana
grammar teacher
