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FAQ INDEX
Frequently Asked Questions
What are "Emotional Power
Tools for Writers"?
- They are new language reference tools
– software, print, and online services – based on the emotional or connotative
meanings of words. Examples include the emotional dictionary and emotional thesaurus. They
were made possible by the advent of Connotative Reference technology.
Who would use an emotional (connotative) dictionary
or thesaurus?
- Anyone who uses a regular (denotative)
dictionary or thesaurus. It's worth noting that Shakespeare wrote all of his masterpieces before
the first English dictionary was published. But that does not mean dictionaries are
useless. Otherwise, Merriam-Webster and Oxford University Press would have gone out of
business long ago. Roget's Thesaurus has been published continuously since 1852
and continues to sell millions of copies annually in print and software formats.
Worldwide, there has always been a strong demand for language reference tools.
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What is "Connotative
Reference" technology?
- It's a new language technology. Its
implications are as global and far-reaching with respect to language as the Wright
brothers' technology was for transportation, or DOS/Windows for computing.
- Connotative Reference technology makes
available to writers an entirely new "parallel universe" of language reference
content, based on the emotional impact of words, that has never before been available in
the history of language – and not only the English language, but any
language.
Why is this new technology so important?
- Written language is easily the world's most
important technology. Connotative Reference technology is important because it applies to
all written language – and oral language, for that matter.
- Consider this: Without written language,
there would be no schools and universities. There would be no language-based art such as
novels, poetry, film scripts, and creative non-fiction. Moreover, there would be no
electric power, no telephone, no television, no computers, no airplanes, no automobiles.
All of these technologies rely on educated people and written documentation for their
existence and maintenance.
- Facility with language is considered so
vital that most people, after achieving literacy, spend additional time and money
maintaining and upgrading their language skills throughout life.
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What drove the creation of Connotative
Reference technology?
- Skill with language means being able to
handle two kinds of meaning that words convey simultaneously:
- Intellectual meaning, called
"denotative"
- Emotional meaning, called
"connotative".
- Each comprises an equally important
component of the full meaning of any word or phrase. These two kinds of meaning reflect
the intellectual-emotional duality of the human mind.
- To help with denotative
(intellectual) language skills and meaning, people rely on a variety of
"denotative" language tools such as dictionaries, thesauruses, and grammar
checkers (software, online, and print).
- But no such language tools currently exist
to help with connotative language skills and meaning. This is especially
significant for writers of fiction, poetry, and creative non-fiction.
What are writers missing by not having
connotative tools?
- Connotative meaning is the soul of all
literary symbolism. Metaphor, simile, and other figures of speech spell the difference
between great writing and ordinary writing. Among other things, connotative tools will
provide writers with access to countless new, fresh, meaningful, powerful, and accurate
figures of speech.
- Word processors such as Microsoft Word and
WordPerfect have built-in denotative thesauruses and grammar checkers. But they do not
have connotative thesauruses or "connotation-checkers." And they don’t have
connotative dictionaries either.
- Today's software, hardware, and print-based
language reference tools have no way of dealing with the radically different connotative
meanings in phrases such as "please go", "get out", and "fuck
off" (even though these are denotative synonyms).
- Similarly, the legendary clumsiness of
computer-based language translation owes its inadequacy to its total failure to cope with
connotative meaning.
- Artificial intelligence applications also
have no way of dealing with the emotional or connotative aspect of language.
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There are lots of ordinary denotative
dictionaries and thesauruses on the market. So why aren’t there any connotative
dictionaries and thesauruses?
- The reason there have never been
connotative language tools on the market is that formidable technical obstacles have
always prevented the development of connotative language tools in any format –
software, hardware, online, and print. These technical obstacles include identifying the
many emotional variables associated with each word by part of speech and context, and
accurately quantifying intensity of feeling.
How were the technical problems solved?
- They were solved by using a combination of
advanced measurement techniques and computing technology. The overall solution, called
Connotative Reference technology, is actually an assemblage of coordinated systems
developed over a period of more than 20 years. The technology amounts to a robust
"operating system" that makes available, for the first time in the history of
language, the full range of emotional (connotative) meaning of all words by part of speech
and context.
Is Connotative Reference technology a
software program?
- Yes and no. It is an enabling
infrastructure technology. You can think of it as a kind of "operating system",
like Windows or Linux, except that it is adaptable to print format as well as software and
online formats. As an infrastructure technology, Connotative Reference technology makes
emotional meaning accessible and editable, just the way dictionaries, thesauruses, and
grammar checking software make objective meaning accessible and editable.
How will I be able to use Connotative
Reference technology?
- You won't use the technology directly.
Instead, you will be able to use new emotional language reference tools that will be
produced by various companies using the technology under license. These "end
products" are featured in the Preview Tour
section of this Web site. They include the world's first emotional dictionaries, emotional
thesauruses, connotation-checking software, connotative language translation, and other
new emotion-based language tools.
- These connotative tools will provide
writers with the first new content in language reference to become available in nearly 150
years (since the invention of the thesaurus in 1852).
- These tools will form a vast new
"parallel universe" of connotative language reference works. That is, for each
type of denotative tool that now exists (e.g., denotative dictionary, denotative
thesaurus), there will be a corresponding type of connotative tool (e.g., connotative
dictionary, connotative thesaurus, etc.).
- Like denotative tools, connotative tools
will be available in software, online, and print formats.
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Is Connotative Reference technology
completely developed?
- Like any operating system, Connotative
Reference technology will never be "completely" developed. Today, however, it is
well-developed enough to be used for connotative dictionary and thesaurus products in the
English language. Non-English language applications require further development.
Will emotional/connotative language
reference tools eventually be available in languages other than English?
- Yes. Connotative Reference technology makes
it equally easy to produce connotative language tools in any language.
Are English-language "emotional
dictionaries" and other connotative language reference tools available now?
- No. The first ones will become available in
2001.
Who will produce and distribute them?
- A number of major American and British
companies. We are not at liberty to identify them at this time.
- Eventually, each company will produce it's
own name-brand line of connotative language reference products, just as they now produce
name-brand lines of denotative language reference products (e.g., Merriam-Webster
dictionaries, Oxford dictionaries, etc.).
Who invented Connotative Reference
technology?
- Wayne Chase, of Vancouver, British
Columbia, Canada. See History.
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