Abstract:

When you hear the word burgundy, you think something different from when you hear the word red. Although both words have to do with the same color, there are some large differences between their respective interpretations. It is easy to see that words like these are different, but oftentimes difficult to say exactly how. Extending the question of how these words differ, we arrive at the question this paper addresses: How do the same words differ between two (or more) languages?
Surprisingly little has been written examining these connotative differences between languages. Furstenburg et al. (2001) have demonstrated that there are large connotative differences between English and French. The researchers found that different connotations in the two languages not only exist but also can be misunderstood, or completely unapparent, to speakers of the other language.
There is no literature examining the differences between English and Spanish. In this paper, the first examining English and Spanish, I show that there are connotative differences between these two languages and highlight the pedagogical importance of these findings.
Drawing upon Furstenburg et al. (2001) as a model, I examine data compiled from word association surveys taken by native speakers of English (in Minnesota) and of Spanish (in Argentina); these word associations approximate connotations. Responses are categorized into meaningful data units using Rosch’s Prototype Theory (1975).
By comparing the results of each word in English and Spanish, connotative differences are illuminated. For example, Spanish speakers seem to associate school (escuela) with relationships of power much more than English speakers (35% of responses as compared to 3%). Spanish speakers seem to associate success with goals more than English speakers, who most associated success with money. Future research directions and pedagogical importance are discussed in the final portion of the paper.

Keywords:

linguistics, applied linguistics, prototype theory, connotation, l2 acquisition.