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Ⅰ.Introduction
The understanding of diction varies considerably. In literary criticism, the term “diction” is often understood to denote the lexical aspect of style. Diction can simply mean the totality for lexical choices found in a given text or group of texts; but more often, it refers to the patterns of lexical choice, So diction, or lexical options, is the way writers choose words to express their ideas clearly and effectively in the appropriate context and situation. When we say, “the pen is mightier than the sword”, we do mean that words have some power. A large vocabulary alone, however, does not make one’s words powerful. It is one’s stock of vocabulary and the skill to employ words exactly in the right place that gives one the ability to influence with power.
The wealth of synonyms, the subtle emotional shades of meaning between the so-called synonymous words are the different meaning coverage together with the rhetorical colors, are all problems we should cope with before our making choice. Below is a detailed discussion on the three pairs of basic concepts that are often confronted in the process of word choice.
Ⅱ.General or Specific Words
2.1 The Different Categories of General and Specific Words
“General” and “Specific” are terms, which are both opposite and relative. Nouns are general when they signify groups or classes of persons, things, events; they are specific when they refer to an individual among a certain class of group. Adjectives and adverbs are general when they describe features or qualities common to many; they are specific when these features or qualities are particularized. Verbs are general when they indicate the broad nature of an activity; they are specific when they state the actual nature of that activity. The conception of “general” and “specific” are relative in the sense that a word may be general compared with another, and be specific when compared with yet another, For instance, the word “car” is specific when compared with “vehicle”, but is general in relation to “jeep” “walk” is specific when compared with “move”, but is general in relation to “stroll”, “totter”, and “stalk”.
2.2 The Choice between General and Specific Words
Textbooks on writing often advise Students to use specific words instead of general ones, but it must be acknowledged that general and specific words are not good or bad in themselves. Some context or situation demands generalities and others may prefer specific terms. But for most learner writers, to be specific usually means to be clear, vivid and expressive in their writing.
A number of experts in language teaching also lay stress on the need of choosing specific words in description. Linguists Brook and Warier say in “Modern Rhetoric” that specific words are more lively and impressive, and tend to call forth clear mental images. In their opinion, the sentence “He saw a ship on the horizon” cannot stimulate readers’ imagination because the word “ship” is too general and vague to depict a vivid image. Instead, if it is replaced by words such as “yatch” or “schooner”, it will read more effectively and attractively. Another famous linguist E. Nida points out that in description or translation, general words are some-what abstract, and therefore, inaccurate in conveying exact ideas. They lack the kind of color and vigor that characterize specific words, and will hinder successful display of ideas. For example, the following pairs of sentences:
1. Mr. Bunny looked at the vegetables before him.
2. Mr. Bunny gazed dismally at the vegetables before him.
3. In spring, the weather in Beijing can be very nasty.
4. It is often dry and windy here in spring. With those more specific expressions, sentence 2 and sentence 4 are more effective and informative.
In the choice of words, Chinese and English writings differ in the preference for general or specific words, displaying the difference between holistic intuitive thinking and the dichotomous logical thought pattern. In the Chinese holistic view, the whole is prior to the part. Reflected in the choice of words, general and big words, which only express the main idea but not the detail, are favored. Besides, holistic thinking stresses harmony. To maintain harmonious relations, general words are chosen because they are inaccurate and obscure in meaning, which reduces the chance of objection. Conversely, English writing advocates using specific and concrete words rather than abstract, general and big words. Thinking in dichotomy, native speakers emphasize the separation of one thing from another. Besides, the requirement for exact specific concrete words in English writing reflects native English-speakers’ logical thought pattern. In their view, writing, as the way to express thought, should manifest the writer’s logical thinking, which would definitely lead to accurateness. In the aspect of diction, the specific and concrete words that are exact for certain occasion are employed to accurately convey meaning. By English criteria, specific words and concrete words are the effective ways to achieve vividness because they are more clear-cut, more interesting, and more moving than general words. By using specific, concrete words, the writer can present a particular picture before the reader, exposing his clear and careful thinking. General or abstract words are considered vague and can suggest the writer as a careless thinker and observer, or his incapability of using words accurately. In all, different tendencies towards the choice of words manifest the division of the aim of writing between two languages, which is also the division in the ways of thinking between Chinese and the native English-speakers.
Ⅲ. Denotation or Connotation
3.1 The Different Emotional Shades They Carry
Words are only symbols, names for things or ideas. Denotation refers to the thing pointed to by a word, rather than feelings or ideas connected with it. Connotation is implied and suggested, usually not defined in the dictionary. It refers to the emotional response stimulated by associations the word carries with it. “Home”, for example, denotes a place where we live, whereas by connotation it suggests warmth, security, love and comfort. The denotative meaning of word is offered in the dictionary, but the connotative meaning of a word, its emotional associations it evokes cannot be found in dictionaries. So it is more subtle and difficult to handle.
3.2 A Few More Words on Connotation
From the point view of semantics, words are said to have denotative and connotative meaning. The denotative meaning of a word is its basic dictionary definition –what the word means to all who knows it, that is to say, denotation entry. Thus, in the commonest use of the word “orchid”, the denotation is “any of a number of related plants having flowers with three petals, two enlarged and irregular in form”. This is just a bare, factual definition without emotional suggestions. All nouns, verb, adjectives, and adverbs have denotative meanings that form the basis of their use for language communication.
However important denotation may be, our understanding of a word is not complete if we know only to what it may refer. In our mother tongue what a word communicates to us is also partly the product of associations, linguistic and non-linguistic, that have been built up through our previous experience of the word. This aspect of meaning is usually called “connotation”. These meanings often differ with individuals or groups and so cannot be put into dictionaries. Connotation has emotional overtones because they reflect the attitude of an individual or group toward a word. Therefore, if you respond emotionally to a word, it has a connotative meaning for you. The term “associated meaning” is also applied to this language phenomenon because our reason for having emotional attitude toward a word is that we associate it with some public event or situation or with some private event in our lives. For example, the words skinny and slender have the same denotative meaning “thin”, but they differ in connotative meaning. Skinny has negative association, or connotation, and is an uncomplimentary word, while slender has positive connotation and is a complementary word. In the same way, animals and objects have different connotations in different cultures. In English, a hawk is considered to be warlike, a dove peaceful, a mule stubborn, and a donkey patient. Color connotations also differ very much from one picture to another. To English-speaking people, for example, green may be associated with the following:
a) A traffic light we have the green light.
b) Lack of experience Wars are not won with a green born in command.
c) Envy He was absolutely green (with envy) when he saw my new car.
d) Skill in gardening (a green thumb) Mr. Smith has a green thumb; his roses are always beautiful.
e) Flourishing or vigorous Ernest always kept green the memory of his dead father.
From above examples, we can see readily that words vary widely in their connotative value. What a word really means to an individual may depend partly on his point of view and not just on its core definition. Connotation is related to the cultural and historical background.
3.3 The Characteristics of Connotation
In actual communication the connotative meaning of a word is more frequently used, for when speaking or writing, people seldom just give an account of events or things without any feeling or attitude attached. Instead, they tend to connote their real emotions by way of the words they choose. So we should attach more importance to connotation of words. Connotative meaning is “the communicative value an expression has by virtue of what it refers to over and above its purely conceptual content.” In other words, it is the idea or notion suggested by or associated with a word, phrase, etc. Geoffrey Leech holds that connotative meaning is the additional meaning of a concept, and that any society, class, stratum or individual can assign an extra meaning to it. In feudal society, for example, as women were oppressed and prejudiced, the word “woman” acquired a number of negative connotations: “frail”, “prone to tears”, “emotional”, “inconsistent”, etc. |
