Comment on the following two sentences to illustrate the two sub-categories of affective meaning. A） Knowledge ofinequality has stimulated envy, ambition and greed. B） One who is filled with ambition usually works hard.
Words that have emotive values may fall into two categories: appreciative and pejorative. Words of positive overtones are used to show appreciation or the attitude of approval, while those of negative connotations imply disapproval, contempt or criticism. The appreciative or pejorative meanings of the words are usually brought out in context. The sentence A, ambition undoubtedly conveys a pejorative overtone, along with the other two words envy and greed, while in sentence B, the same word ambition is obviously used in good sense, showing approval on the part of the speaker, together with the words work hard.
