Abstract
Commendatory and derogatory words are two kinds of words which have additional attitudinal inclination based on the conceptual meaning of the words. Utterers convey their positive or negative attitude towards people, objects, and phenomena in discourses with commendatory and derogatory words both intentionally and unconsciously. This study draws multifaceted comparisons between Chinese and English commendatory and derogatory words from the aspects of scale, distribution of POT (parts of speech), morpheme structure, meaning extension, and application in discourses through statistics and analyses of dictionaries and thesauri.
Highlights
Commendatory and derogatory words are two kinds of words which have additional attitudinal inclination based on the conceptual meaning of the words
As we can see from the statistics of table 1, Modern Chinese Dictionary (7th edition) and Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary (8th edition) marks more derogatory words than commendatory words
Focusing on the comparison between English and Chinese commendatory and derogatory words, this study applies methods of statistical analysis and text comparison of dictionaries, thesauri, and a small part of corpora and comes to conclusions ranging from vocabulary scale, distribution of POT, morpheme structure, meaning extension, to use in discourses
Summary
Commendatory and derogatory meanings are the connotation of positive and negative attitude in addition to the conceptual meaning which only conveys an objective description of the characteristics and qualities of the people, objects, or phenomena the utterers are talking about. The word patronize has three definitions on Merriam-Webster (online). Two of the definitions are neutral: to be a frequent or regular customer or client of; to act as patron of: provide aid or support for, and the last one is derogatory: to adopt an air of condescension toward: treat haughtily or coolly. The attitudinal inclination is, broadly speaking, a type of emotional expression, since normally the commendatory attitude is related to positive emotion and the derogatory negative. 2. Quantitative analysis of the scale and pot distribution of English and Chinese attitudinal words
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
