DENOTATIVE AND

CONNOTATIVE
MEANING

PREPARED BY:

MOHD FAIZ SYAHMI BIN MOHD SIDEK

AZURIN BIN ABDUL RAHMAN
DENOTATIVE MEANING
 Denotative Meaning is the meaning of
an symbol that is shared by a group
of people.
 If you say the word, “COW" most
English speakers will point to the
same type of animal.
 Denotative meaning is what makes
symbols work for communication.
 The denotative meaning of a word is its
actual meaning, with no spin on it intended to
persuade
 For example, the actual meaning of the word
"propaganda" is "plan for the propagation of a
doctrine or of a system of principles."
 There's no implication here that such a doctrine
or system is either good or bad.
 The word "proof." Its denotative meaning is
"evidence that compels acceptance by the
mind."
 Please note that in this definition, there's still
room for doubt in whatever it is that the
evidence is supposed to support.

CONNOTATIVE MEANING
 Connotative Meaning is the meaning of
a symbol that is personal to an
individual and not shared.

Example
 Because of the word “Propaganda” had
been used by the Nazis,
"propaganda" is now given its
connotative meaning by most people,
rather than the denotative.
 So it now suggests lies, exploitation,
concealment of truth, and other
pejorative characteristics or purposes.
 The word “proof”. Nowadays, people
generally react to the word not in denotative
meaning.
 To such people, "proof" means certainty, no
room for disagreement, case closed.
 And so when someone tells them that
something has been proved, they tend to
accept the statement uncritically and proceed
to shut down their thinking mechanism on the
subject involved. From that point on, it's a
piece of cake to manipulate them.
 THE END
THAT’S ALL