The Important Role of Grasping the Context in Word Meaning

李 蓉

山西师范大学外国语学院英语系，山西 临汾 041000



The Important Role of Grasping the Context in Word Meaning

李 蓉

山西师范大学外国语学院英语系，山西 临汾 041000

This paper reveals the importance of context.It contains four aspects：eliminate ambiguity，indicate referent，explain the linguistic phenomenon and enrich word meaning.It aims to draw English learners’ attention in context. Key words： Context；Meaning；Ambiguity；Referent

一、Introduction

English has a large vocabulary and its source of loanwords is very extensive.Some words have not only one meaning，so the words would be hard to distinguish if they weren’t placed in a certain context.As a English learner who should read widely，it isn’t practical while reading books word by word.So，learning how to understand the meaning by context is a problem that we should think about.In the other occasions，such as words teaching and interpretation，grasping the context also carries a big weight.

二、A brief introduction about context and word meaning

A large amount of work has been done in word meaning.Mastering the types of word meaning can help English learners use the words properly.

In 1923，there was a notion of Context of Situation presented by Malinowski.After that，this theory has been improved.Many researchers have worked for it.For instance：In Wang Dechun’ s opinion，context is a environment in which the language is used.It is composed of subjective and objective factors.The former include identity，character，occupation，situation；the latter include time，place，object.

三、The Role of Context in Word Meaning

(一)context can eliminate ambiguities

It’s mainly include two types as following:

1.lexical ambiguities

E.g:Mary became a doctor finally.

The word “doctor”can mean “ a job in medical field”.However，it can also mean “a person who has received the highest university degree”.To state clearly，we should better give a context，such as the working place.

2.structural ambiguities

E.g:Do you see the girl chatting with a boy with a weird haircut?

In this sentence，we can’t determine who is“with a weird haircut”.We can understand this sentence as “the girl with a weird haircut is chatting with the boy” or “the girl is chatting with a boy who has a weird haircut”.In this kind of sentence，adding more clues of context would be helpful.

(二)context can explain the linguistic phenomenon of word meaning

In Wang Dechun’s opinion，rhetoric techniques need to be revealed in a specific context.Leaving the context alone，it’s no matter whether pun and metaphor clever or not.A word may not convey the same meaning of its own，e.g.

-You was away on official business for a long while，would you like to come with me now?

-The…Oh…I’d love to.

This conversation happens between lovers.The boy wants to watch football game at home，while the girl wants him to go shopping company with her.So，his answer “love” conveys an unfavorable sense.He means that he doesn’t want to but has to in a clever way.Literally，this means he wants to do the things mentioned.But，if it is placed in a certain context，it would be more clearly to people.

(三)context can indicate referents

In writing，talking…we often use some pronouns or ellipsis to take the place of some words.At this situation，context appears its important effect；e.g.

-You can stop them with marbles.

-Sounds like fun.

This dialogue is difficult to understand without a given context.Actually，the speakers are talking about a board role-playing game.The pronoun “them” means the roles of players.With the context，the dialogue becomes clearly.

(四)context can enrich and develop the word meaning

Social factors and historical factors are both part of context.On account of the evolution of historical process and the improvement of human’s cognitive level，human beings have created many a new word.And what they did also was adding new meanings to old words.In this way，they can meet the needs of expressing ideas and communicating.

1.some new words

For example：“kung fu” “tofu”come from China；“moonwalk”“lunar rove”come from scientific achievement；“slampflation”“Eurodollar” come from the development of industry and commerce.

2.old words new meanings

For example：“special”，its original meaning is“something that is not usually available”，now is added a another meaning “of particular product，whose price that is lower than usual” because of the emergence of new things in the economic field.

In conclusion，it may let us communicate with others properly.However，the importance just means in a certain context，the properest one was chose.Many factors can give its influence to word meaning，nevertheless，context is a major one of them.

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[2]杨元刚.英汉词语文化语义对比研究.武汉大学出版社，2008.8.

[3]周志远，邵艳春.英语词汇认知语用研究.北京:光明日报出版社，2016.1.

[4]张韵斐.现代英语词汇学概论.北京师范大学出版社，2015.6.

H195

A

1006-0049-(2016)23-0078-01