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Denotative meaning

Concept
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

The literal, objective meaning of a word as defined in a dictionary, distinct from its connotative or poetic associations.

Detailed Definition
Denotative meaning refers to the literal, dictionary definition of a word, devoid of emotional, cultural, or associative connotations; in poetry, poets may emphasize denotation for precision, irony, or contrast against the richer ambiguities of connotative language.
Example
Example in poetry:
In Robert Frost’s “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening,” “sleep” has denotative meaning as rest but connotes death; In Emily Dickinson’s “Hope is the thing with feathers,” “thing” denotes a concrete object while connoting abstraction; In Langston Hughes’ “Harlem,” “raisin” denotes dried fruit but connotes deferred dreams; In William Carlos Williams’ “The Red Wheelbarrow,” “wheelbarrow” denotes a farm tool without symbolic overlay
Additional Notes
Denotative meaning is the literal, dictionary definition of a word, as opposed to connotative (emotional or cultural) associations; poets may use denotation for clarity, irony, or to undercut expected meanings.
Also Known As
Literal sense Explicit definition Direct signification Dictionary definition Literal meaning
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