Abstract:

Connotation is a very important concept in linguistics, and its research involves many fields such as semantics, rhetoric, pragmatics and so on. Connotation has gradually become one of the hot topics in modern lexical semantics. However, there has been no consensus on its terminology in the field of Chinese translation, and thus resulted in the mixed use of color meaning, accessory meaning, accessory meaning, accompanying meaning and so on. Combining lexicology, semantics and other related theories, this paper sorts out and analyses many Chinese-translated terms of connotation from the three levels of research unit, research object and research scope. We hope out research can clarify the differences and commonalities among terms, standardize the use of terms, and further promote the study of connotation.

Key words: connotation, research unit, research object, research scope