Types of connotations

I. The connotation of degree or intensity can be traced in such groups of synonyms as to surprise – to astonish – to amaze – to astound; to like – to admire – to love – to adore – to worship.

II. In the group of synonyms to stare – to glare – to gaze – to glance – to peep – to peer, all the synonyms except to glance, to peep denote a lasting act of looking at somebody or something, whereas to glance, to peep describe a brief look. These synonyms may be said to have a connotation of duration in their semantic structure.

III. The synonyms to stare – to glare – to gaze are differentiated from other words of the group by emotive connotations, and from each other by the nature of the emotion they imply.

One should be warned against confusing words with emotive connotations and words with emotive denotative meanings, e.g. angry – furious – enraged; fear – terror – horror. In the latter, emotion is expressed by the leading semantic component whereas in the former it is an accompanying, subsidiary characteristic.

IV. The evaluative connotation conveys the speaker’s attitude towards the referent, labelling it as good or bad. So in the group well-known – famous – notorious – celebrated, the adjective notorious bears a negative evaluative connotation and celebrated a positive one. Confer: a notorious murderer, robber, coward, but a celebrated scholar, artist, singer.

V. The causative connotation can be illustrated by the examples to shiver and to shudder, in whose semantic structures the cause of the act or process of trembling is encoded: to shiver with cold, from a chill; to shudder with horror, fear, etc.

VI. The connotation of manner can be singled out in some groups of verbal synonyms. The verbs to stroll – to stride – to trot – to swagger – to stagger – to stumble all denote different ways and types of walking.

VII. The above mentioned verbs to peep and to peer are differentiated by connotations of duration and manner. But there is some other peculiarity in their semantic structures.

One peeps at smb./smth. through a hole, an opening, a newspaper, a curtain, etc. It seems as if “the set of scenery” is actually built within the word’s meaning and is reflected in the word’s semantic structure. We shall call this the connotation of attendant circumstances.

One peers at smb./smth. in darkness, through the fog, from a great distance. So, in the semantic structure of to peer are encoded circumstances preventing one from seeing clearly.

VIII. The synonyms pretty, handsome, beautiful have been mentioned as the ones which are more or less interchangeable. Yet, each of them describes a special type of human beauty: beautiful is mostly associated with classical features and a perfect figure, handsome with a tall stature and fine proportions, pretty with small delicate features and a fresh complexion. This connotation may be defined as the connotation of attendant features.

IX. Stylistic connotations stand somewhat apart for two reasons. Firstly, some scholars do not regard the word’s stylistic characteristic as a connotative component of its semantic structure. Secondly, stylistic connotations are subject to further classification, namely: colloquial, slang, dialect, poetic, terminological, archaic. Here again we are dealing with stylistically marked words, but this time we approach the feature of stylistic characteristics from a different angle: from the point of view of synonyms’ frequent differentiation characteristics.

Here are some examples of synonyms which are differentiated by stylistic connotations. The word in brackets starting the group shows the denotation of the synonyms.

(Girl). Girlie (coll.) – девушка, особенно стриптизёрша; lass, lassie (dial.); bird, birdie, jane, fluff, skirt (sl.), maiden (poet.) – дева; damsel (arch.) – девица.

Answer these questions.

1. What are synonyms?

2. Say why synonyms are one of the language’s most important expressive means. Illustrate your answer with examples.

3. Synonyms are sometimes described as words with “dual” characteristics. What is meant by this?

4. Which word in a synonymic group is considered to be the dominant synonym?

5. Can the dominant synonym be substituted for certain other members of a group of synonyms? Is the criterion of interchangeability applicable in this case?

6. The meanings of two apparent synonyms may be in a way opposed to each other. Why are such words still regarded as synonyms? Give examples.

7. How are synonyms traditionally defined? On what criterion is this definition based? Which aspects of this definition are open to criticism?

8. What types of synonyms were defined in V.V.Vinogradov’s classification system?

9. How can synonyms be defined in the terms of componential analysis? On what criterion is this definition based?

10. Show how the dual nature of synonyms can be clearly seen if they are regarded through semantic criterion.

11. Why is the definition of synonyms based on the criterion of interchangeability open to question?

12. What is the modern approach to classifying synonyms? Give examples.

13. What connotations differentiate the verbs to peep and to peer; the adjectives pretty, handsome and beautiful?