Loving your child's mind: Connotative vs. denotative meaning

I don't know if Sarah will be here today or not, but so might just be you and I, but I thought we would look at the difference between connotation and denotation. Have you ever heard of these words before?

No, I haven't.

No problem. Do you want to read it out loud? What I put in the chat?

Connotation and denotation are two principal methods of describing the meanings 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.

All right, great job. So does this make sense at all, this distinction?

Kind of.

Okay, how would you describe the difference between connotation on the one hand and denotation on the other?

Well, like, connotation— connotation is maybe it doesn't have to be rightly exact, whereas denotation is the exact meaning, like from a dictionary.

Okay, so I want to jump into that second sentence which explains connotation so we can go more deeply. Connotation refers to the wide array of positive and negative associations that most words naturally carry with them. Um, does it make sense to say that words have positive and negative associations? Yes. What's an example of a word with a positive association?

With a po— like a positive maybe would be happy. That's positive. You're happy, joyful.

Very much so. How about a word with a negative association?

Sad or melancholy.

Okay, how about let's think about a word like pig. Would you say a word like pig has a positive association or negative association?

The examples that I'm thinking of right now could be a little bit of both. Like, I have a pig. Maybe you're running livestock for food or for your family. Or you're such a dirty pig. It's a maybe name-calling word. I don't know.

So the first— you're saying the first one, I have a pig and you're running livestock, that's positive. And you're saying you're such a dirty pig is negative?

Yes.

Okay. Um, so would you say pig applied to a literal pig is positive, or is pig applied to human being is negative?

Yes, because if you had a pig, it would most likely be that you're on a farm or maybe you're going to sell it for money or food.

How about weasel? Would you say weasel is positive or negative?

Hmm, well, in the negative way, I think it could maybe be the same as pig, like, "You're such a small weasel," or maybe positive 'Oh, I'm glad I don't have any weasels in my backyard.' I don't know.

Well, when you say you're glad you don't have any weasels in your backyard, it almost— that makes it sound as if weasels are negative again.

Well, that's true, but it's positive that you don't have weasels in your backyard.

Okay, but I'm focused on the meaning of the word weasel. So, um, it may be positive you don't have weasels in your backyard, but is there a positive, uh, use of the word weasel or connotation of the word weasel?

I mean, for if one is calling another a name, the one that's calling the other name maybe can think that a weasel is a good word since they're the one who's calling someone else a name.

Got it, got it. How about thinking of a Another example. Let's see, how about if we said somebody is thin? Is that positive or negative?

Um, it could be positive or negative depending on their wants and needs, maybe.

How about skinny? Is skinny positive or negative?

Um, it could probably Same as thin. It probably could be both.

How about scrawny?

Scrawny. I don't think most people would like that or would like to be scrawny, but so I guess it's maybe a little negative.

Okay. Okay. So you're saying some of these could be positive or negative depending on the situation, but something like scrawny is mostly negative?

Well, I don't think a lot of people want to be scrawny, so probably.

Okay, do you think that, um, it might be accurate from a dictionary definition to describe the same person as either thin or skinny or scrawny?

Not really, because thin maybe— I, I think thin and skinny might have a different meaning than scrawny.

Or yeah, so what's the difference? How is scrawny different from thin and skinny?

Well, thin and skinny doesn't mean— well, it really doesn't mean that you have to be short. You could be tall. And scrawny, like, means you're maybe short and not that strong, maybe skinny.

Got it, got it. Um, so maybe you're thinking scrawny combines skinny plus weak and short.

Well, most of the time when it's used like that, yes.

Okay, um, so maybe scrawny has a negative connotation. How about weak? Does weak have a positive or negative connotation?

Um, for me, weak isn't very positive. It's kind of negative, actually. Okay, that means, well, you might not be eating right or you might not be exercising. Or you might be eating a lot of junk food. That's bad.

How about powerful? Does powerful have a positive or negative connotation?

It could actually— I think it could have both. Like if you're powerful as if like you're a tyrant, that would probably— that would be bad. But if you're powerful, maybe you're strong or like you're a leader, that would be good. That is positive.

Now these are interesting examples. So I guess, do you think all words— maybe let's try to figure out if we can separate the denotative meaning from the connotative meaning. And maybe going back to Skroni, so the denotative meaning is just what it means without positive or negative connotations. And you're saying short, weak, and thin, or skinny. Do you think it's possible to separate out the denotative meaning from the connotative meaning?

I think it could be because then you would probably be separating one person's thought of that word's meaning and then another's. Like maybe one really thought that this says it in the dictionary so it must be true and maybe the other one thinks, well, there could be a few different meanings in that word.

How about the word pollution? Would you say that is a positive or negative connotation?

I think that's a pretty negative. I think that's pretty negative because you're polluting. That's bad. You're hurting the air.

Okay, so maybe there's some words that are, um, necessarily bad. Let's— I'm trying to think. Presumably murder also has a negative connotation. And theft has a negative connotation.

Um, yes.

Uh, how about, um, competition? Do you think competition is positive or negative?

I mean, it could be both. For me, it's usually positive, especially when I'm competing, but maybe for some people it could be negative, like you were forced into it.

So do you think that whether a word— so You're saying the words like pollution, do you think they're always negative or mostly negative?

Um, they could be mostly negative because one person might, might have an opinion of maybe just like pollution not isn't good for the planet, but like isn't too bad as other people think.

Um, whereas competition, it sounds like you're saying, do you think that Whether or not competition is positive or negative depends on the person and depends on the situation. That is, its connotations vary a lot by people and situation.

Yes.

Okay. I wonder if there are other words like that. Well, I'm going to check. Would you say that school is a positive— has positive or negative connotations?

I think it has both because, as a lot of people know, a lot of kids hate school. Except like maybe me or some of my friends and I, we love school and we think our school is amazing.

So how do you know that a lot of kids hate school?

Well, they've told me, "Oh, I hate homework.

Oh my God, math today was horrible." Are these kids at your school or kids from other schools?

Um, just kids from other schools.

Do you think that most kids at your school like school?

Yes.

And do you think that most kids at some other schools hate school?

Yes.

Okay, so maybe that's one again, it depends both on person and situation, but maybe the situation is more of the— more of the— more of it. Um, that makes sense. So competition and school vary a lot. Uh, pollution and murder pretty much always negative. What are some words that are pretty much always positive connotation-wise?

Maybe cheerful or surprise could maybe be always positive. Surprise birthday party or something. Um, like I said, happy, joyful, or Maybe like if words like artistic could mean that you're happy, like you're happy so you're being artistic because you love art.

How about just a random word like running? Is running positive or negative?

I think it could be positive because either you're running like in a race or you're exercising. And another way I could view that is you're running from a bully or running from a dog or something.

Mm-hmm. How about a test? Is test— or tests— is that word positive or negative?

Like running, I think it could be both because I've known a few kids that love tests and then I've known a lot that hate tests. Any tests in any way.

Yeah. Do you think it's tricky to communicate with each other if some of us have positive connotations for words and others have negative connotations for words?

Um, for me, not really, because you kind of— you share your opinion and then you just kind of get over it and talk about something else. But for some people, I would bet that they would probably have a hard time if they don't agree with someone. They keep fighting over it.

Do you think it's possible that, um, one person could say something thinking it's positive and the other person could interpret as negative because that other person has negative associations with the same words?

Yes, that could happen.

Um, is, is one person right and one person's wrong, or how do we figure out how to communicate in such situations?

Well, you could just— you don't really have to fight about it. You could just share your opinion and then just accept that they have a different thought process than you, or they believe in something else than you. And then keep going.

So you're an author. By the way, how are your books going? Have you continued to work on your books?

Yes, I have. I published the second one, but I'm still kind of updating the manuscript, and then I'm working on the third one.

Excellent. Well, as an author, do you ever think about how readers will read your words? As for instance, whether readers will understand your words positively or negatively?

No, I haven't really thought about it that until this conversation.

Do you think that you might think you're explaining something that is positive and everybody or some people interpret the exact same words as negative?

That probably could happen if I put any of those words into my books, that would have probably happened.

Do you think there's any way that as a writer you could get around that?

I mean, I could try and use words that have the same meaning but maybe not have that negative or positive meaning, but then that would take— well, it wouldn't take anything. I guess I could do that, but—

Well, another possibility— you could do that. One possibility that occurs to me is We were talking about how the situation or the context often determines meanings, also the person. So I could also imagine if you have enough context, and maybe you're already doing this, but maybe you need to kind of explain the situation so that when the reader gets to that point, they see if you intend the word positively or negatively. Does that make sense?

Yes.

The other thing is the person. I bet— well, I'll ask. So do you know which of your friends regard the word school and test as positive and which of your friends regard those words as negative?

Mm, I mean, I definitely know a few of my friends that like some tests more than others, and I definitely know that a lot of my friends just don't like tests.

So suppose you were writing a story And in the story, there's a character who is happy to have a test. Do you think you would have to write that differently for your friends who don't like tests, or is there any way you could get the person who doesn't like tests to understand how your character does like tests?

Well, I mean, I could— I think I could do that, but then I'd have to really put in details because then the person who doesn't like tests would probably not agree with the reasons that I put in. Like maybe if I put in my character likes math and she loves being tested on her abilities to multiply or do algebra, and then the other person who doesn't like tests hates all those things, so they wouldn't agree.

Well, what I'm thinking is, as both a reader and as a writer, I feel as if a lot of reading, and then also as a writer who's trying to communicate, I try to get inside the heads of the character. So just, you know, with Harry Potter, different characters have different attitudes towards the world. And would you say you kind of get to the place where you sort of know how a particular character is going to respond?

Wait, in, like, in my characters, do I know them?

Well, I was talking about Harry Potter for the time being. Do you think that you get to know the characters of Harry Potter enough so that if a new situation takes place, you know how they'll respond emotionally to a new situation?

I mean, I think so, because I put a lot of my attention to Harry Potter when I was reading the books, and I think I really understood them.

And then I was going to go to your story. I was going to start with Harry Potter as a reader, but now you as a writer. Do you think when people read your writing, they can get sufficiently inside the heads of your characters that they know how your characters are going to respond to a particular situation?

For some of them that I haven't mentioned a lot in the book, I wouldn't think so. But like the few main characters, like the big main characters, I think they would because I mentioned them a lot or I'm focusing a lot of my attention on one, and then I kind of go to the other.

So some people talk about character development in a novel or a movie or whatever. Would you say that your characters develop in the course of your writing?

Yes, I do.

Just give me an example. In what way do they develop, or what way does one of them develop?

Like, like in the first— book when they find out that they're demigods, I had them kind of develop there because I didn't really plan anything out. I just kind of wrote because I just wanted to get to writing.

Yeah. Do you say that your characters are different at the end of the story than they were at the beginning?

I think so, yes.

Okay. Well, I— this is very interesting. I think we've kind of jumped from connotation and denotation to your writing and how you think of your writing as an author, which we haven't talked about in a long time. But I do like to keep these from being too long. I think this is super fascinating. So let's touch base on your writing again at some point. And I read your first book, but I don't think I've read your second book. So can you have your dad send me your second book?

Yes.

Okay. Good to see you, Ilana. Have a great week. Okay?

Thank you.

You're welcome. Bye-bye. Bye.