22. Word Meaning (Word as a linguistic sign).

There are many models of the linguistic sign. A classic model is the one by the Swiss linguist Ferdinand de Saussure. According to him, language is made up of signs and every sign has two sides (like a coin or a sheet of paper, both sides of which are inseparable):

the signifier , the "shape" of a word, its phonic component, i.e. the sequence of letters or phonemes e.g. /kæt/

the signified (French signifié), the ideational component, the concept or object that appears in our minds when we hear or read the signifier e.g. a small domesticated feline (The signified is not to be confused with the "referent". The former is a "mental concept", the latter the "actual object" in the world)

Saussure's understanding of sign is called the two-side model of sign

23 . Denotation & Connotation Denotation is the specific, literal image, idea, concept, or object that a sign refers to. Connotation is the figurative cultural assumptions that the image implies or suggests. It involves emotional overtones, subjective interpretation, socio-cultural values, and ideological assumptions. Конотація — сумарне чи тотальне значення слова, як описове, так і емоційне. У лінгвістиці використовується для опису супутнього емоційно-експресивного значення мовної одиниці, яке пов'язане з описовим значенням та яке доповнює його. У філософії та логіці використовується у дещо вужчому значенні, а саме конотацією терміну є набір властивостей, що їх посідають усі об'єкти із розширення терміну. Наприклад, конотацією терміну «хмарочос» є набір ознак, властивих усім будинкам понад певну висоту.

Examples:

Stop Sign

Denotation—Stop (even without words, we recognize the meaning from the shape and color) Connotation—Risk (accident or ticket)

Health club ad

Denotation—fit person in foreground --> you could look like this Connotation—fit person in background --> you could pick up a date like this in our club

example	denotation	connotation
Archie Bunker	character of the 70s sitcom	bigot, racist, conservatism gone awry, working class, uneducated, unsophisticated
Willie Horton	A convicted rapist who was let out and raped again	When republicans ran adds with his photo it denoted the democratic governors weakness against crime, but it connoted racial hatred and fear of blacks, stereotyping them as criminals. (SOL, 2nd 7)

Words also carry different connotations: strikes vs. disputes, union demands vs. management offers. Denotation and Connotation are not two separate things/signs. They are two aspects/elements of a sign. All signs carry each function. Each function is also connected to cultural forces. Denotation has no natural connection to the thing it signifies. It too is cultrually and histroically created.