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8
Meaning and Context
Meaning and Context
Context is very important. As most words are polysemic,
without context there is no way to determine the meaning of a word.
Meaning is defined in context.
8.1 Types of Context
8.1.1 Extra-linguistic Context
Extra-linguistic context is context beyond language, but physical situation, in which language is used:
the people, time, place, and even the whole cultural background, e.g.
8.1.1 Extra-linguistic Context
weekend (length of time) 1) one day (1980s) 2) one day and half (1995) 3) two days (1996) 4) two days and half (some
places)
8.1.1 Extra-linguistic Context
weekend (days for rest) Sunday and Monday ( 华师分校 ) Monday and Tuesday (some factories) one day of a week (private enterprise)
8.1.1 Extra-linguistic Context
广场（ square ） 1) a large flat area without buildings 2) a large building ( 亚贸广场；武广 ) 城（ city ） 1) a large town with more than 30
0,000 residents 2) 家俱城；书城
8.1.1 Extra-linguistic Context
landlord （地主 ; 房东） exploiter of peasants (negative) one who has house to let (positive)
8.1.1 Extra-linguistic Context
worker (before 1949) (1950s-1960s) (1980s) (1990s) (2000)
8.1.2 Linguistic Context
Linguistic context is the linguistic enviornment, in which a linguistic unit is used.
A linguistic unit can be a phrase, a clause, a sentence, a paragraph, a passage, a chapter in a book or even a book.
8.1.2 Linguistic Context
do a sum (work out the answer to a mathematical question)
do one’s teeth (brush) do the flowers (arrange) do fish (cook) do science at school (study) do a museum/a city/a country (visit)
8.1.2 Linguistic Context
A car can do 80 miles an hour. John is doing well in school. I’ll do you if you don’t stop. Lexical context refers to the
words used before or after a particular linguistic unit.
8.1.2 Linguistic Context
figure 1) a half-length figure （像） 2) a historical figure （人物） 3) double figure （数字） 4) figure of speech （词格）
8.1.2 Linguistic Context
make God made the country, man made th
e town. (created, built) She will make a good teacher.
(become) He is going to make us a report. (gi
ve)
8.1.2 Linguistic Context
The meaning of make is affected by the grammatical structures.
This is called grammatical context.
Grammatical context is the grammatical structures in which a particular linguistic item is used.
8.2 The Role of Context
8.2.1 Elimination of Ambiguity
Ambiguity often arises due to polysemy and homonymy.
When a word with multiple meanings is used in inadequate context, it creates ambiguity, e.g.
8.2.1 Elimination of Ambiguity
He is a hard businessman. hard: 1) hard-working 2) difficult He is a hard businessman to deal
with.
8.2.1 Elimination of Ambiguity
They saw her duck. 1) dodge 2) type of foul Revised: They saw her duck swimming in
the pond. They saw her duck quickly. That
saved her life.
8.2.1 Elimination of Ambiguity
[47] The ball was good. 1) dancing party 2) round object Revised: The ball was good. I never
danced like this before.
The ball was good. I used it for a long time.
8.2.1 Elimination of Ambiguity
Grammatical structure can also lead to ambiguity, e.g.
The fish is ready to eat. I like Mary better than Jean. (1)I like Mary better than Jean likes
M. (2) I like Mar better than I like Jean.
8.2.1 Elimination of Ambiguity
The shooting of the hunter was horrible.
(1) The hunter shot something in a horrible way.
(2) The hunter was shot in a horrible way.
8.2.2 Indication of referents
This is the book I mentioned to you the other day.
Now there is nothing we can do. Without context there is no way
to tell what “this” refers to or the exact time “now” stands for.
8.2.1 Elimination of Ambiguity
Revised: He took Vanity Fair from a wooden shelf and said “This is the book I mentioned to you the other day.”
8.2.1 Elimination of Ambiguity
Revised: Water continued to rise and the whole family were driven to the attic of the house. There was no other place to go. “Now there is nothing we can do,” said the father helplessly.
8.2.3 Provision of Clues for Inferring Word- meaning
Context may prove extremely valuable in guessing the meanings of new words.
In many cases, when a new word (thought to be) appears for the first time, the author generally manages to give hints.
8.2.3 Provision of Clues for Inferring Word- meaning
The hints (context clues) might help the readers to grasp the concept or understand the idea.
Context clues vary a great deal. There are six or seven major
context clues.
8.2.3 Provision of Clues for Inferring Word- meaning
Perhaps the most startling theory to come out of kinesics, the study of body movement, was suggested by Professor Bird-whistell.
身势学 (definition)
8.2.3 Provision of Clues for Inferring Word- meaning
Many United Nations employees are polyglots. Mary, for example, speaks five languages.
(example)
8.2.3 Provision of Clues for Inferring Word- meaning
It’s just one more incredible result of the development of microprocessors — those tiny parts of a computer commonly known as ‘silicon chips’.
(explanation)
8.2.3 Provision of Clues for Inferring Word- meaning
As the fighting on all fronts reached its peak, the economy neared its nadir.
(antonym)
8.2.3 Provision of Clues for Inferring Word- meaning
Their greatest fear was of a conflagration, since fire would destroy their flimsy wooden settlement before help could arrive.
(synonym)
8.2.3 Provision of Clues for Inferring Word- meaning
Copernicus believed in a heliocentric universe, rather than in the geocentric theory.
(word structure)
8.2.3 Provision of Clues for Inferring Word- meaning
The village had most of the usual amenities: a pub, a library, a post office, a village hall, a medical centre, and a school.
(superordinate)
8.2.3 Provision of Clues for Inferring Word- meaning
‘Do get me a clop,’ she said, smacking her lips, but her brother, with a scornful glance up at the branches, said that there were none ripe yet.
(relevant details)
8.2.3 Provision of Clues for Inferring Word- meaning
In spite of the fact that the fishermen were wearing sou’westers, the storm was so heavy that they were wet through.
(relevant details)
END
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