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;¹ to satisfy — to please — to content — to gratify — to delight — to exalt; to shout — to yell — to bellow — to roar; to like — to admire — to love — to adore — to worship.

As the table on p. 189 shows, some words have two and even more connotative components in their semantic structures. In the above list the synonymic groups headed by to satisfy and to like contain words which can be differentiated not only by the connotation of intensity but by other types which will be described later.

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

Other examples are: to flash (brief) — to blaze (lasting); to shudder (brief) — to shiver (lasting); to say (brief) — to speak, to talk (lasting).

All these synonyms have other connotations besides that of duration.

III. The synonyms to stare — to glare — to gaze are differentiated from the other words of the group by emotive connotations, and from each other by the nature of the emotion they imply (see the table on p. 189).

In the group alone — single — lonely — solitary, the adjective lonely also has an emotive connotation.