Test: Use of Language and Connotations and Denotations of Terms - UGC NET MCQ

• Statement I is true because a word's connotation can change over time. For example, the word "gay" once had a negative connotation, but it has since become a neutral term used to describe people who are attracted to the same sex.
• Statement II is false because a word's denotation can change over time. For example, the word "planet" once referred to any celestial body that orbited the Sun, but it now refers only to the eight major planets in our solar system.

• The reference of a word or phrase is the specific object or objects to which it refers. For example, the reference of the word "dog" is the specific dog you are talking about, such as your dog, Spot.
• Denotation is the set of all objects to which a term refers. For example, the denotation of the term "dog" is the set of all dogs.
• Connotation refers to the emotional or evaluative associations that a word or phrase evokes. For example, the word "dog" has positive connotations for many people, while the word "rat" has negative connotations.
• Sense is the meaning of a word or phrase that is understood by everyone in a particular culture. For example, the sense of the word "dog" is the meaning that all English speakers understand, such as a domesticated carnivorous mammal that typically has a keen sense of smell and is often kept as a pet or employed in hunting or herding.

A term is a word, or a combination of words, which by itself is capable of being used as a subject or predicate of a proposition. In the proposition ‘Gandhiji is the father of the nation’, ‘Gandhiji, and ‘father of the nation’ are terms because they occur at the boundaries of the proposition. 

Denotation: 

• When a term is applied to denote objects or show their number, it is said to be used in denotation.  
• For example, the term ‘man’ denotes several individuals like Plato Aristotle, Gandhi, and others, and all men of past, present, and future.
• Denotation is also known as an extension of a term because it shows the extent or range of objects to which a term is applied.
• All the objects to which a term is extended constitute the extension of a term.

Terms are used to describe the object. Every term has a meaning. It stands for certain qualities.

Connotation:

• The function of suggesting qualities (attributes) possessed by an object is known as connotation.
• Every term denotes certain objects and connotes certain qualities (attributes).
• It is also known as the intension of a term because it refers to general qualities intended by a term.
• For example, while defining man, rationality and animality are the two essential qualities (attributes) that are considered. Hence man is defined as a rational animal.
• It consists of the attributes which describe, a question arises as to which attributes are meant by the connotation. 
• The extension of the term ‘college’ is all the various colleges, while its intention is the various qualities describing the term, namely educational institutions giving higher education.

• Statement I is true because connotation refers to the implicit or suggested meaning of a term, the underlying feelings or emotions associated with it. It goes beyond the literal or dictionary definition of a word. For instance, the word "home" has a positive connotation, evoking feelings of warmth, comfort, and security, while the word "slum" has a negative connotation, suggesting poverty, neglect, and unsanitary conditions.
• Statement II is also true because denotation refers to the explicit or direct meaning of a term, the literal objects or set of objects it refers to. It is the dictionary definition of a word. For example, the denotation of the word "cat" is a small, furry mammal with sharp claws and a tail. It doesn't encompass the emotional or associative aspects of the word.

Therefore, both statements accurately describe the distinct concepts of connotation and denotation.

Extension, in logic, correlative words that indicate the reference of a term or concept: “extension” indicates its range of applicability by naming the particular objects that it denotes.
The denotation, or extension, of a term, is the list of a class of objects referred to by the word (think of it as “how far does this word extend?”).
Thus the word “planet” denotes specific objects such as Venus, Earth, Jupiter, and Neptune.

Hence the collection of all the objects to which a term may correctly be applied is called the extension of that term and denotation of that term.
Thus (C) and (D) only are the correct option.