Meaning and Context
词汇学论文语境与词汇意义OnContextandMeaning
On Context and Meaning12级英语D班，赖惠珊，NO.12Linguists have classified context from different perspectives and for different aims. For example, context may be classified into broad and narrow ones according to their scopes; notional and situational ones according to their content; emotional and rational ones according to their emotions; implicit and explicit ones according to expressing forms, etc. However, the most widely used way is to draw a distinction between two major types:linguistic context and non-linguistic context, which can be illustrated as the following.There are two Types of context.1)Linguistic contextIt refers to all the words that go before or come after the word in question. There are three main types of lingustic context.A. Lexical context refers to the words, clauses, sentences in which a particular word appears or combined with a given polysemous word. For example, ‘a white paper’ means government document; ‘a term paper’ means essay writtten at the end of the term; ‘today’s paper’ means newspaper.B. Grammatical context: the syntactic structure of the context detemines various individual meanings of a polysemous word. Take some example, ‘become+pronoun/n (used as objecct), meaning ‘suit,befit’ ; ‘become+of, meaning happen to, often in a bad way’Such meaning are sometimes described as grammatically bound meanings. The grammatical structure of context alone, however, although indicative of differences in the meanings of a word in various structures, is not sufficient to indicate all the individual meanings of given word. Consider the following sentences, which show that get has different meanings in the same pattern ‘get+n’.“I don’t get your point” , “I’ll get him on that point” , “she really gets me when she says these foolish thing”. The above examples show that th e meaning of a word often has to be determined by the lexical and the grammatical contexts combined.C. Verbal context in its broad sense: maybe an entire passage, or even an entire book, and in some cases even the entire social or cultural setting.2)Extra-linguistic contextIt is also called non-linguistic context, which includes people, place, time, relevant objects, background knowledge etc.Context is of great importance for the understanding of word meaning,especially for the understanding of the meanings of polysemic words. No matter how many denotative meanings a word may have,generally there will be no risk of misunderstanding the meaning,when it occurs in a particular context.The vital role of context in determination of word meaning.The impact of context on word meaning can be seen in the following aspects:Elimination of ambiguityAmbiguity often arises due to polysemy and homonymy. When a word with multiple meanings is used in an inadequate context, it creates ambiguity.Lexical ambiguitiesthe damage was done by the river.He is a hard businessman.Structural ambiguitiesThe fish is ready to eat.I like Mary better than Jean.2)Conveying emotional overtonesIndicating referents and the range of the meaning of a word. The emotive side of word meaning depends largely on the context, with the exception of those words that have affective meaning as part of word meaning. Only the context can show whether or a word should be taken as a purely objective expression, whether it conveys and evokes emotions, or whether an appreciative word is used in an unfavorable way.Providing clues for the correct comprehension of word meaningContext may prove extremely valuable in guessing the meanings of new words. In many cases, when a new word appears for the first time, the author generally manages to give hints which might help the readers to grasp the concept or understand the idea. Indicating referents and the range of the meaning of a word context is of great importance in understanding the references of pro-forms such as I,you,he,this or that or do, etc. Not only can context indicate referents, it can also make clear the range of the meaning of a word.Context in its traditional sense refers to the lexical items that precede or follow a given words. Modern linguists have broadened its scope to include both linguistic and extra-linguistic contexts. Lingustic context is lexical, grammatical and verbal context in its broad sense. Extra-linguistic context refers not only to the actual speech situation in which a word is used but also to the entire cultural background against which a word, or an utterance or a speech event is set.Both the linguistic and extra-linguistic contextes are necessary to determine the exact meaning of polysemic and homonymous words. However,we must see the impact of context on meaning in its proper perspective. Every word has a meaning or meaning of its own, independent of context. When we say context determines the word sense, we do not mean that it gives a sense to the word, but that it selects one out of all possible meanings already there.One should always develop one’s ability to determine word meaning from the clues furnished bu the context in which the word occurs.word meaning and context are closely related. In our reading, we can just memorize the single meaning, we need to notice the context, for it will do us great favor in reading and comprehension. If we know different meanings of a word, we can confirm its meaning from the context, and if we don’t know any meaning of a new word, we also can infer it from context clues. Think about the context is an important strategy for language learners.。
张维友词汇学chapter meaningandcontext
Grammatical context
❖ In some cases, the meaning of a polysemous word may be determined by the grammatical structure (not specific words) in which it occurs. get+NP: get a big apple; get an interesting book get+AP: get very angry; get incredibly cold get…to do: I got him to do the job.
❖ Extra-linguistic context refers to a particular time, space, or culture in which a word appears.
the actual speech situation the entire cultural background
( William Branford 1967)
The best way to study semantics is to examine the meaning of particular words in their context.
( Brook, 1958)
Meaning and Context
Extra-linguistic context
❖ The actual speech situation refers to the situation in which a word is used. In everyday life, word meaning is more often dependent on the actual situation in which a word is used.
语义与词义的关系
Theme: On relationship between meaning and context语义和语境的关系AbstractContext is a popular research subject in modern linguistics. On the basis of the study of precursors about context, the thesis reviews and discusses a series of questions about the definition, classification, constitution of context and its important function in word meaning.Due to the close relationship between context and language and the great influence of context on word meaning, we should use their close relationship to develop our ability to infer word meaning from context, which would be helpful to vocabulary learning.【Key words】Context ；Word Meaning ；V ocabulary Learning ；摘要语境是现代语言学中的一个热门的研究课题。
论文是在前人对语境问题研究的基础上,对语境的定义、分类、构成要素及语境在词语意义中的作用等一系列问题进行了回顾与探讨,并将语境分为语言语境和非语言语境两大类。
笔者认为由于语境对词语意义有着重要的影响和制约作用，建议利用语境推测词义来帮助词汇在语境中理解和学习。
关键词:语境词义词汇学习IntroduceWord meaning is closely related to context. The relationship between word meaning and context plays an important role in learning vocabulary. In this paper, I will first give a brief introduction to word meaning and context, then explain the type of word meaning and context, next analyse the impact of context on word meaning and finally focus on the application to the language learning.1.The Definition and Significance of the Context:Context is of paramount importance for the understanding of word-meaning because the meaning is influenced immediately by the linguistic environment,and in many cases by the whole speech situation as well. Without context,there is no way to determine the meaning that the speaker intends to convey,whereas with context and the context there is generally no danger of misinterpretation,for meaning lives in context and the context throws light on meaning.2.Types of Word Meaning and Context2.1M ain Types of Word MeaningThe main types of word meaning include：Grammatical meaning、Denotative meaning、Connotative meaning、Social or stylistic meaning、Affective meaning and Reflected meaning.Word meaning depends on context. Different contexts give words different meanings. Therefore we shall pay close attention to the specific context.2.2Two Types of ContextGenerally speaking, there are two types of context: linguistic and non- linguistic (extra- linguistic) context, therefore the meanings of words, especially those of polygamous words may be viewed as determined either by linguistic contexts or non- linguistic contexts.2. 2.1L inguistic contextThe four types of linguistic context are the phonological, lexical, grammatical, and verbal context in its broad sense.(1) Phonological context:refers to intonation, stress, pause, transition or rhythm which is used to determine different meanings. For example, a sick nurse, if both“sick”and“nurse”are stressed, it means a nurse who is sick. I f only“sick”is stressed, it implies a nurse who looks after the sick. (2) lexical context: refers to the lexical items combined with a given polysemous word.It isobvious that the main factor in bringing out this or that individual meaning of a certain word is the meaning of the lexical items with which the word is combined.(3) Grammatical context:refers to the syntactic structure which determ ines various individual meanings of a polysemous word. the meaning of a word often has to be determined by the lexical and the grammatical contexts combined.(4)Verbal context in its broad sense:the verbal context, in its broadest sense, may cover an entirepassage, or even an entire book, and in some case even the entire social or cultural setting. 2. 2.2Non—linguistic contextThe actual speech situation and the entire cultural background in which aword, or an utterance or a speech even occurs also has influence on meaning. Because of cultural differences, the same lexical item may mean different things to people of different countries. Examples of differences of word meaning due to cultural differences are numerous.These differences are important for non- native speakers to know in order to gain a better understanding of the cultural significance of English vocabulary.From the above, we can see word meaning is closely related to context.3The Impact of Context on Word Meaning3. 1Identifying referents and the range of the meaning of a wordContext is of great importance in understanding the referents of such words.For example:Peter married a Chinese girl. He met her in Hong Kong. His parents were no pleased. They visited her parents, but not his.Without context,“he”,“her”,“they”and“his”cannot be understood.Not only can context point out referents, it can also make clear the range of the meaning of a word.for example:The earth rotates around the sun. (earth refers to a planet).He filled the pot with earth and planted a rose in it. (earth means soil in which plants grow. )3. 2Eliminating ambiguitiesThe context often makes the meaning of a polysemousword so certain that we do not think of the fact that it has different senses. Take the word“make”for example:We made (“had”) a good breakfast before going out.I made (“earned”) 385 yuan a month.I made (“arrived at”) the classroom in time to take the examination.The meaning of “made” in the above sentence is the product of its combination with the other lexical item s in the sentence. Therefore the context generally reveals which meaning out of all its possible meaning is to be attached to the word.3. 3Conveying emotional over tonesContext can decide the emotive side of word meaning, with the exception of those words that have affective meaning as part of word meaning. For example, an ordinary noun l ike“folk”is often used in a neutralway; yet it might acquire emotional over tone, as in the follow ing sentence:How he longed to see his old and young folks at home ! “folk”is defined as people belonging to a particular race or nation, or sharing a particular kind of life in Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English. Obviously it is a neutral word. But in the above sentence, it connotates the meaning of intimacy, indicating his deep feeling to his family members. This peculiar lexical context accounts for the possibility of emotional over tones which are made obvious by the context.So far we have discussed the vital role of context in the determination of word meaning. W hen we say that the context determines the meaning we mean not that it imposes a meaning but that it selects one that is already there.ConclusionThis paper contributes to an understanding of word meaning, context, their close relationship and its application to vocabulary learning. There are six main types of word meaning ( grammatical, denotative, connotative, stylistic, affective and reflected meaning) and two types of context (linguistic & non—linguistic context). Context has great influence on word meaning.So word meaning and context are closely related. In our reading, we can just memorize the single meaning, we need to notice the context, for it will do us great favor in reading and comprehension. If we know different meanings of a word, we can confirm its meaning from the context, and if we don’t know any mea ning of a new word, we also can infer it from context clues. Think about the context is an important strategy for language learners.。
Week 13 Meaning and Context
The role of context: indicating referents and the range of the meaning of a word
Linguistic context (also known as verbal context) (2)
Grammatical context: the syntactic structure in which a word occurs, e.g. get: ______ [receive] + n (a letter) ______ [to become] + adj. (better) ______ [to bring … to a certain condition] + adj. (the children ready for school); ______ [to succeed in doing] + infinitive (to see him) ______ [to reach the start of an activity] + v–ing (going) ______ [to cause to do] n + infinitive (him to repair my watch)
Extra-linguistic (or non-verbal) context, (or context of situation)
The actual speech situation Example 1 “It’s a difficult operation” Note: The meaning of operation depends on the actual speech situation, because it may mean ① a surgical operation ② a strategic movement of troops and ships ③ a financial transaction ④ something related to mathematics ⑤ the way a machine works
Meaning & context
Elimination of ambiguity
Chinese ambiguity “ 他想起来了。” “ 这个人好说话。” “ 十二岁就一米三。” “ 我讲不好。”
Referents
Deictic words Now / then Here / there I / you / she / he This / that These / those
Non-linguistic context
Peasant Liberalism Weekend
Culture
Roles of context
Ambiguity
Referents Inference
Elimination of ambiguity
1. Lexical ambiguity:
homonyms
I met him at the bank. He is not that kind. Please make her dress fast.
different class of words
Elimination of ambiguity
2. Structural ambiguity
• different levels
“old man and woman” • grammatical relations “Flying planes can be dangerous.” • semantic relations “the shooting of the hunters” • scale of cohesion “John and Mary are married.” • semantic scope and focus “George doesn’t come because of Mary.”
语用学中的Meaning and context
Meaning & ContextMeaning•Philosophically-oriented study of meaning: truth-condition•Linguisitically-oriented study of meaning: proposition•Pragmatic studities of meaningTruth-condition•In semantics, truth conditions are what obtain precisely when a sentence is true.• E.g. "It is snowing in Nebraska" is true precisely when it is snowing in Nebraska. Proposition• A proposition is that part of the meaning of a clause or sentence that is constant, despite changes in such things as the voice or illocutionary force of the clause.•Example: The tall, stately building fell is said to express propositions corresponding to the following:"The building is tall.""The building is stately.""The building fell."Pragmatic studies of meaning• 1. Leech's distinction of the verb "mean":Bivalent: X means Y.Trivalent: Speaker means Y by X.•Donkey: 1) ass2)"Janet! Donkeys!"• 2. Sentence meaning vs. utterance meaning.• A sentence is a grammatical concept. It is grammatical unit of language. Its constitution should be in agreement with the grammatical rules. For example, a sentence is composed of a subject and an object.•An utterance is a unit of communication. It is the smallest unit which has certain communicative functions,such as a sequencee of sentences, or a single phrase, or even a single word.sentence meaning vs. utterance meaning•Sentence meaning is abstract, isolated from the context, while utterance meaning is specific and related to the context under which a communication is carried out.•In many situations, the utterance meaning is based on the sentence meaning, however it contains more than the sentence meaning, because the utterance meaning is the result of the combination of the sentence meaning and the context.•Eg. He had a chicken.Pragmatic studies of meaning•Thomas'analysis of meaning:•1) Abstract meaning (meaning potentials; semantics)•2) Speaker meaning:a. contextual meaning (utterance meaning)b. force (illocutionary force)• E.g. "It's very beautiful."The garden/ fountain is very beautiful.This place is very beautiful.I like this place.Context•Hymes's SPEAKING•Lyons, J: six variables of context•Downes: kinds of contextual information•The dynamic nature of contextHymes's SPEAKING•Setting & scene•Participants•Ends (goals, outcome)•Act sequence•Key (manner)•Instrumentality (channels & forms)•Norms of behaviors•Genre (category)•Setting and Scene•"Setting refers to the time and place of a speech act and, in general, to the physical circumstances".• E.g.The living room in the grandparents' home might be a setting for a family story.•Scene is the "psychological setting" or "cultural definition" of a scene, including characteristics such as range of formality and sense of play or seriousness.• E.g. The family story may be told at a reunion celebrating the grandparents' anniversary.At times, the family would be festive and playful; at other times, serious and commemorative.•Participants•Speaker and audience.•Linguists will make distinctions within these categories; for example, the audience can be distinguished as addressees and other hearers.• E.g. At the family reunion, an aunt might tell a story to the young female relatives, but males, although not addressed, might also hear the narrative•EndsPurposes, goals, and outcomes.E.g. The aunt may tell a story about the grandmother to entertain the audience, teach the young women, and honor the grandmother.•Act SequenceForm and order of the event.E.g. The aunt's story might begin as a response to a toast to the grandmother. The story's plot and development would have a sequence structured by the aunt. Possibly there would be a collaborative interruption during the telling. Finally, the group might applaud the tale and move onto another subject or activity•KeyClues that establish the "tone, manner, or spirit" of the speech act.E.g. The aunt might imitate the grandmother's voice and gestures in a playful way, or she might address the group in a serious voice emphasizing the sincerity and respect of the praise the story expresses.•InstrumentalitiesForms and styles of speech.E.g.The aunt might speak in a casual register with many dialect features or might use a more formal register and careful grammatically "standard" forms.•NormsSocial rules governing the event and the participants' actions and reaction.E.g. In a playful story by the aunt, the norms might allow many audience interruptions and collaboration, or possibly those interruptions might be limited to participation by older females. A serious, formal story by the aunt might call for attention to her and no interruptions as norms.•Genre The kind of speech act or event.E.g.The aunt might tell a character anecdote about the grandmother for entertainment, or an exemplum as moral instruction. Different disciplines develop terms for kinds of speech acts, and speech communities sometimes have their own terms for types.Lyons, J: six variables of context•(1) Each of the participants must know his role and status.•(2) The participants must know where they are in space and time.•(3) The participants must be able to categorize the situation in terms of its degree of formality.•(4) The participants must know what medium is appropriate to the situation.•(5) The participants must know how to make their utterances appropriate to the subject-matter and the importance of subject-matter as a determinant in the selection of one dialect or one language rather than another.•(6) The participants must know how to make their utterance appropriate to the province or domain to which the situation belongs.Downes: kinds of contextual information• 1. background knowledge:1) Knowledge of the language2) Meta-conversational rules, norms, conventions3) Participants' biographies4) Metasocial rules, norms, conventions5) The encyclopedia• 2. Mutual knowledge•Each participant's knowledge that the other knows that P, inferred on some basis.• 3. Context of utterance1) previous utterances in same conversation2) immediate setting of speech3) previous conversation of participants何兆熊--语境知识，1989The dynamic nature of context• 1. Context is a dynamic and changing notion instead of static and prefixed.• 2. Context can be manipulable or negotiable.An illustration of the interactive function of context•Brenda:I'm pregnant... and it's your fault.•Brenda: I told you to be careful...•Arthur: How do you know?•Brenda: I'm twelve days late.•Arthur: How do you know it's mine?•Brenda: I ain't done owt like that with Jack for a couple of months or more.•Arthur: Well, have yer tried owt? Took owt I mean?•Brenda: Yes, took pills but they didn't work.From "Language and Society" (Downes, w. 1984)Functions of Context•Have you eaten? (吃过了吗？)•Context 1: meet on the way--greeting.•Context 2: with cakes at hand -- inviting.•Context 3: S visits L for the shopping arrangement at 10 am -- urging.The same utterance in different contexts can mean differently and have different forces.Functions of Context-- from the speaker's perspective• 1. determine the content according to the communicative goals. (ends)• 2. determine the mode of speaking according to the communicative setting. How detailed? How polite? How formal?How loud?• 3. determine the communicative channel according to the conditions.Oral or written? Prepared or improvised?• 1. determine the reference assignment.Do you like this?Have you finished the book?• 2. disambiguationFlying planes can be dangerous.Can you speak English?• 3. semantic enrichment.•It will take some time to repair your watch.。
Meaning and Context
Chapter 8 Meaning and Context8.1 Types of ContextTypes of context: extra-linguistic context (non-linguistic context)非言语and linguistic context (verbal context)言语.Extra-linguistic context or non-linguistic context refers to the physical situation(自然语境）, embracing the people, time, place and even the whole cultural background. Extra-linguistic context is of great importance to pin down the meanings of the words and phrases. Look at the following examples (quick; look out; trade union; landlord and weekend).Linguistic context (verbal context) refers to the words, clauses, sentences in which a word appears. Sometimes linguistic context may cover a paragraph, a chapter and even the entire book.Subdivision of linguistic context: lexical context and grammatical context.A . lexical context (词汇语境) refers to the words that occur together with the word in question. The meaning of the word is often affected and defined by the neighboring words. For instance, “head” has quite a few meanings in the dictionary, yet in each of the following contexts, it conveys only one sense.from head to foot(从头到脚) a head of state (国家元首) a head of cabbage (一棵白菜) a department head(一个部门的主任) to count heads (点人数) one hundred head of sheep (一百头羊) at the head of the list (在名单的开头) to discuss the question under five heads（分五个小组讨论问题）to lose one’s head (丧命) to use your head (动动脑筋) Two heads are better than one (两人智慧胜一人)hard: hard work, hard blow, hard discipline, hard winter, hard heartpaper: a sheet of paper, a white paper（白皮书），a term paper, today’s paper, examination paperdo: do a sum, do one’s teeth, do the flowers, do fish（烹饪鱼）, do a city/country（到访一个城市）A car can do 160 miles an hour.I will do you if you do not stop.B. grammatical context (语法语境): In some cases, the meanings of a word may be influenced by the structure in which it occurs. This is what we call grammatical context. For instance, “make” can be used in different sentence patterns, its meanings will be different.SVO) God made the country, man made the town. (创造) SVOC) The bad news made everybody depressed. (使得……)SVC) She will make a good teacher. (成为……)SVOO) He is going to make us a report. (给……作……)8.2 Role of verbal or linguistic context1. Elimination of ambiguityAmbiguity often arises due to polysemy and homonymy. When a word with more than one meaning is used in inadequate contexts, it creates ambiguity.e.g. 1) Are you engaged? ---Are you busy?---Are you betrothed?2)This door is unlockable.---This door is not able to be locked.---This door is able to be unlocked.3) She is an ′English teacher. --- She is a teacher who teaches English.She is an English ′ teacher --- She is a teacher with British nationality.He is a hard businessman. (hardworking/ difficult)He ran an interesting game. (participate/organize)They saw her duck. (a kind of poultry/ lower ones ′ body quickly)The ball was attractive. (dancing party/ a round object to play in a game)Grammatical structure can also lead to ambiguity.e.g. 1) Jack and Jane are married.--- Jack is married to Jane. Or: Jack and Jane are married to each other.---Jack is married and so is Jane.2) a married man and woman. --- a married man and a married woman--- a married man and a woman.The fish is ready to eat. (The fish is ready to eat things/ The fish is cooked or served, so ready for people to eat.)I like Xiao Li better than Zhang Tong. (I like Xiao Li better than I like Zhang Tong./ I like Xiao Li better than Zhang Tong likes Xiao Li. )2. Indication of ReferentsEnglish has a large number of words such as now/then, here/there, I / you, this/that, these/those, which are often used to refer directly to people, time, place, etc. without clear contexts, the referent can be very confusing. e.g. city/town, afternoon/ evening, evening/night,forest/wood, etc. Their referents are very vague.3. Provision of clues for inferring word-meaning Context may prove extremely valuable in guessing the meanings of new words. In a piece of writing, the author generally gives hints which help readers to understand the idea or grasp the concept. Context clues vary a great deal but can be summed up as follows:1)Definition. We often find that the author gives formal definition immediately after the new term.Perhaps the most startling theory to come out of kinesics , the study of body movement, was suggested by Prof. Birdwhistell.2)Explanation. If the concept is complicated and must involve technical terms in its definition, the author might explain the idea in simple words.It’s just one more incredible result of the development of microprocessors—those tiny parts of a computer commonly known as “silicon chips”.3)Example. In some cases, instead of giving a formal definition or explanation, the author may cite an example which is sufficient to throw light on the meaning of the term.Many United Nations employees are polyglots. Mary, for example, speaks five languages.4)Synonymy同义. The author often uses synonyms or synonymous expressions to explain new words.Their greatest fear was of a conflagration, since fire would destroy their flimsy wooden settlement before help could arrive.5)Antonymy反义. The author frequently uses contrasting words or statements to explain unknown words.As the fighting on all fronts reached its peak, the economy neared its nadir.Unlike her gregarious sister, Jane is a shy, unsociable person.6)Hyponymy上下义关系. Superordinates and subordinates often define and explain each other, thus forming an important context clue.The village had most of the usual amenities: a pub, a library, a post office, a village hall, a medical centre, and a school.7)Relevant details. In some contexts, the author provides details relating to the unknown word, such as the functions, characteristics, nature, etc. of the referent.In spite of the fact that the fishermen were wearing sou’westers, the storm was so heavy that they were wet through.8)Word structure. The morphemic structure of words, especially compounds and derived words offers clues for inferring the meanings of unknown words.Copernicus believed in a heliocentric universe, rather than in the geocentric theory.8.3 questionsState the vital roles of context in determination of word meaning.Context is a vital clue in determining word meaning. Namely, it can eliminate ambiguity, indicate referents, and provide clues for inferring word meaning.First, a word or even a sentence without adequate context can be quite ambiguous. So it is hard to determine the exact meaning especially when the word is polysemous or the sentence structure has a difference in interpretation. Second, some referents like pronouns, nouns, may refer to anything or anybody. As for a pronoun or a noun, if we know what its exact meaning or referent is, we have to know it from its context. Third, context provides important clues in understanding unknown words or inexact meanings.The clues can be: 1) definition, 2) explanation, 3) example, 4) synonymy, 5) antonymy, 6) hyponymy, 7) relevant details, 8) word structure.。
张维友词汇学chaptermeaningandcontext ppt课件
Clues for Inference of Word Meaning
❖ In many cases, when a new word (thought to be) appears for the first time, the author generally manages to give hints which might help the readers to grasp the concept or understand the idea. Context clues vary a great deal but can be summed up as follows:
Without context, there is no way of determining the very sense of the word that the speaker intends to convey; while with context, there is generally no danger of misinterpretation, for meaning lives in context and context defines meaning.
gonghui Organization of workers under the leadership of Party. No fighting! No negotiating!
Functions of context
❖ பைடு நூலகம்liminating ambiguity
❖Indication of referents
Explanation
❖ If the concept is complicated and must involve technical terms in its definition, the author might explain the idea in simple words. That is, he might make a restatement in known words.
英语词汇学chapter8 Meaning and Context
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• Indicating referents (表明指示物)
– In conversation, in order to avoid repetition, pronouns (I, you, he, this, that)are often used instead of a noun or noun phrase. contexts can help identify the referents of pronouns.
10
• Verbal context in its broad sense
– In addition to lexical and grammatical context, the verbal context, in its broad sense, may cover an entire passage, or even an entire book, and even in some cases the entire social or cultural setting.
The grammatical structure of context alone, however, although indicative of the differences in the meanings of word in various structures, is not sufficient to indicate all the individual meanings of a given word.
In a narrow sense, it refers to the words, clauses, sentences in which a word appears. This is called linguistic context or co-text. In a broad sense, it includes the physical situation where a word is employed. This is called extralinguistic or non-linguistic context.
Word meaning and context
Word meaning and contextIn linguistics, context carries tremendous importance in disambiguation of meanings as well as in understanding the actual meaning of words. Therefore, understanding the context becomes an important task in the area of applied linguistics, computational linguistics, lexical semantics, cognitive linguistics, as well as in other areas of linguistics as context triggers variation of meaning and supplies valuable information to understand why and how a particular word varies in meaning when used in a piece of text.A word, when used in a piece of text, usually denotes only one meaning out of multiple meanings it inherently carries. Although it is still unknown to us how does it happen, the general observation is that it is the context that determines which meaning of the word should be considered.So we have known that in English, a word has many different meanings. And this makes us language learners feel more difficult. Though the word is the same, it is different in different context. That is to say, what is the meaning of a word depends on what context it belongs to. For an English learner, we can not only know vocabularies, we also need to know how to read an article well. That is the aim for us learning English. In our traditional reading pattern, we pay the attention to the vocabularies, phrases, and the main meaning of the passage, as time goes by, we form a bad habit, we attach importance to the reading skills, and despise the English language and knowledge, this will weaken our reading competence. Therefore, to learn English well, to pay attention to the word meaning is necessary.Like Chinese, English is a kind of fixable language, the fuzziness and vacillation of this language. When we are reading, in order to suppress above interference, we must set a piece of conception about the passage we read, and then find out what context is about the passage. So we can give a foundation to the word, and then make the word meaning clear and definite. Take the word “position”for an example, it has the meaning “the way someone is standing, sitting, or lying”, it also has the meaning “the situation that someone is in, especially when this affects what theycan and cannot do”, and the meaning “the place where someone or something is, especiall y in relation to other objects and places”, and so on. Beijing university professor Wang Fengjing says it at lease has ten meanings in the phrase “what is your position”. To decide what the meaning is, we need to confirm what the context it is in. So we know that different context shapes different meaning of a word. They are totally different in different context.The meaning of a sentence comes from language itself, and the uncertainty of the language leads to ambiguity of the sentence. But the ambiguity can be eliminated by context situation. In situational context, the atmosphere and nature of time that a passage produces, also can clear up the meaning of a word. Look at this sentence “He waited for me by the bank．”The first impression we get is the word “bank”is a business that keeps and lends money and provides other financial services. But if the following sentence is “And he enjoyed the scenery around him.”Then we know the word “bank” actually means a piece land along the side of a river or lake. So when we feel confused, we can pay attention to context, make the word meaning more clear.On the other hand, when authors write, they often include context clues to the meaning of words they use but think that some of their readers may not know. Thus when we are reading an article, we could meet some new words. This is a general phenomenon. In fact, while we are reading, we can’t understand every word in a passage. Some language learners will look up the new words in a dictionary, but it can be wasting time, and reduce the accuracy. Now the most effective way is guessing. we ought to guess the strange words according to the context.When we come to a new word, we can sometimes figure out what the word means by thinking about the words around it. Words that give us clues about what the new word means are called "context clues" because they give us clues about meanings of new words. Sometimes the context clues come before the new word and sometimes they come after it. We may find a definition of the new word in the sentence or paragraph.A sentence might have a word that means the opposite of the new word (antonym), and sometimes a synonym, or word that means the same thing as the new word, will giveus a clue.The context clue is usually presented in the sentence or paragraph in which the word occurs. Sometimes a visual such as a picture is provided.For example, Read this sentence: They drove their bright new red vehicle to the park. You might not know the word "vehicle," but the word "drove" is a clue that vehicle could mean a car.In this sentence the context clue comes before the new word. Read the sentence again using the word "car" instead of "vehicle" to see if the word makes sense.So word meaning and context are closely related. In our reading, we can just memorize the single meaning, we need to notice the context, for it will do us great favor in reading and comprehension. If we know different meanings of a word, we can confirm its meaning from the context, and if we don’t know any meaning of a new word, we also can infer it from context clues. Think about the context is an important strategy for language learners.。
英语词汇学课件chapter 8 Meaning and Context
(1) They saw her duck. (2) The ball was attractive.
Grammatical structure can also lead to ambiguity, e.g.
Chapter 8
Meaning and Context
Context refers to the words around a word, phrase etc., often used for helping to explain the meaning of the word, phrase, etc.
behavior.
(2) become + pron. /n (used as object), meaning ‘suit, befit’, e.g. 1) This sort of behavior hardly becomes a person in your position. 2) Sarcasm doesn’t become you.
Context is of great importance for the understanding of word-meaning because the meaning is influenced immediately by the whole speech situation as well. Meaning lives in context and the context throws light on meaning. This chapter will discuss the relationship between meaning and context and the ways in which context affects the meaning of words.
词汇学论文lexical meaning and context
Lexical Meaning and ContextAbstract: With the With the development of technology, more and more new words are used to express a new concept, but not every appearance of new concepts are accompanied by the emergence of a new word. Therefore, many ordinary words are also used to express a particular concept. Because of the different location and the different meaning, words have the contextual meaning. As an English-language learners, nor only should we understand the basic meaning of the words, but also we should learn the contextual meaning.I divided this passage into four parts, which is definition of context, contextual restrictions, the factors of the context and the influence of context. We can understand the method of analyzing the words in context and the impact of various contextual meaning of words. Then, we should try our best to understand the meaning of English words in the sentence by the provided clue. It can help us to avoid embarrassment of misunderstanding.Key words: Definition; Factors, Contextual restrictions; Influence1.The definition of contextContext is of great importance for the understanding of word meaning, especially for the understanding of the meanings of polysemic words. The important role in the study of context in semantics is increasing brought to the attention of the people. In language communication, context is always changing, which leads to changes in the dynamic semantics. Without the context, the words’ meaning will be pale, indefinite and puzzling. What’s more, the communication will be failed. Therefore, we should know denotative meanings of a word as much as possible and generally there will be no risk of misunderstanding the meaning, when it occurs in a particular context.2.The factors of contextModern linguists have not only placed great emphasis on context but have considerably broadened its scope, and have also probed deeply into its influence on word meanings. The range of the term context has been widened in several directions. Its also no longer restricted to what immediately precedes and follows, but many cover the whole passage and sometimes the whole book in which a word occurs, and in some cases even the entire social or cultural setting.The factors of context can be divided into three parts. The first factor is natural environment. There are different geographical location between Chinese and English. They have different lifestyles and different characteristics of the word meaning. England is an island country. Its maritime industry was once the top of the world. Thus, many words were produced from navigation. Han Chinese live and multiply in the Asian continent. People can not live without land, land. Land is vital for people, soa lot of Chinese words or idioms are related to land. The second one is culture. Different country has different culture and different customs. Different language implies different national culture and the words also carry a lot of national cultural accumulation. This accumulation plays an important role of ways of thinking and language behavior. When we use “牛饮” to describe the big drinkers, English would say: Drink like a fish. Therefore, in order to understand the meaning of the words in a context, we should learn the culture or background of the words.3.The contextual restrictions on word meaningLondon School Firth founded context in the 1940s. Since the context was founded, linguists expressed their different opinions frequently. Different researchers selected different perspective to use different elements to make different definition of context.Translators analyze and understand the passage by the source of language information to convert and express the understanding meaning of the passage. In this process, whether can the translators accurately understand and express the original information? Not only should they rely on their language skills, personal experiences and the translation skills, but they should focus on the most important thing that is the source language text analysis and understanding accuracy. The accurate analysis of discourse and understanding is inseparable from context, because the usage of every language has its own the context.A.Two types of contextsNowadays, the context was divided into two types: Linguistic Context and Extra- linguistic context.[1] The former refers to the process of communication in the specific environment. It includes words, sentences, paragraphs and passages and so on. The latter one refers to the situation which is limited by the language communication, society and the communicators themselves, such as the specific occasion, time, topic and the character of communicators.In English, polysemy can be seen frequently, including basic meaning, expanding meaning, and metaphorical meaning and so on. However, when a word enters the semantics of the system, its meaning would be single and certain because of the restriction of semantic subjacency. In other words, in the context, the word only has a single meaning which can accurately express the meaning of the sentence or the passage. Therefore, in order to understand the meaning of a word, we must set it into a concrete context. English words meanings are flexible and they always be restricted by the context. Different context make the word has different meanings.American linguist Dwright Bolinger said: In order to understand the meaning of a word, we should rely on the entire semantic range of the word and the function of this word and other word in the same occasion! [2]For example, the preposition “on”has 10 meanings totally in the Anglo Dictionary, but in the specific context, it has only a meaning in a sentence.①a book on the table( 在......上); ②a town on the river( 在......旁); ③smile on somebody( 向着......); ④live on one’s salary (依靠.......); ⑤on questions of common concern(关于......); ⑥be on the committee(是......的成员); ⑦be on leave( 处于......情况) ; ⑧talk on the telephone(以......方式); ⑨on Sunday( 在......时候) ; ⑩Thislunch is on me( 由......支付) 。
Chapter 8Meaning adn Context
The role of context(语境的作用)
1.Elimination of ambiguity(消除歧义)
1 ）Ambiguity due to polysemy or homonymy. 2）Grammatical structure can also lead to ambiguity
Two types of context（语境的种类）
1. Extra-linguistic context/ Non-linguistic situation（非语言语境）：In a broad sense, context includes the physical situation as well, which embraces the people, time, place, and even the whole cultural background. (look out, weekend, landlord ) 2.Linguistic context/ grammatical context(语言语境)：In a narrow sense, it refers to the words, clauses, sentences in which a word appears. It may cover a paragraph, a whole chapter and even the entire book.分为两类： 1) Lexical context（词汇语境）：It refers to the word that occurs together with the word in question. (e.g: paper, do)
自考英语词汇学 部分章节 重点归纳English Lexicology
《英语词汇学》（课程代码：00832）试卷结构Chapter 5 Word Meaning(词的意义)Reference(所指关系) is the relationship between language and the world.Concept(概念)，which is beyond language, is the result of human cognition n. 认识；知识；认识能力, reflecting the objective world in the human mind.Sense(语义)denotes the relationship inside the language. Every word that has meaning has sense (not every word has reference)Motivation(词义理据)account for the connection between the linguistic(word) symbol and its meaning.Onomatopoeic motivation(拟声理据) words were created by imitating the nature sounds or noises.Morphological motivation(形态理据)compounds and derived words are multi-morphemic words and the meanings of many are the sum total of the morphemes combined.很多合成词和派生词都是这类，Semantic motivation(语义理据)refers to the mental associations suggested by the conceptual meaning of a word. It explains the connection between the literal sense and figurative sense of the word.(由字面义派生出来的引申义)Etymological motivation(词源理据) the meaning of many words often relate directly to their origins. In other words the history of the word explain the meaning of the word.Grammatical meaning refers to that part of the meaning of the word which indicates grammatical concept or relationships.Conceptual meaning also known as denotative meaning(外延意义), is the meaning given in the dictionary and forms the core of word-meaning.Associative meaning is the secondary meaning supplemented to the conceptual meaning.Connotative meaning refers to the overtones or associations suggested by the conceptual meaning, traditionally know as connotations.Stylistic meaning refers to stylistic features, which make them appropriate for different contexts.Affective meaning indicates the speaker’s attitude towards the person or thing in question.(appreciative or pejorative).Collocative meaning is that part of the word-meaning suggested by the words before or after the word in discussion.Stylistic meaning and affective meaning are revealed by means of collocations.Chapter 6 Sense Relations and Semantic Field(语义关系和语义场)6.1 Polysemy（多义关系）1．多义关系的形成：Polysemy is a common feature peculiar to all nature language that a word has more than one sense.An overwhelming majority of words are polysemous. When a word is first coined, it is always monosemic. But in the course of development, the same symbol must be used to express more meanings. The result is polysemy.2.Two approaches to polysemy(多义关系的两种研究方法):diachronic approach(历时角度)and synchronic approach(共时角度).3.Two process of development(词义发展的两种模式)1）Radiation (辐射型) is a semantic process in which the primary meaning stands at the center and the secondary meanings proceed out of it in every direction like rays. The meanings are independent of one another. But can all be traced back to the centre meaning .2)Concatenation(连锁型), meaning ‘linking together’, is the semantic process in which the meaning of a word moves gradually away from its first sense by successive adj. 连续的；继承的；依次的；接替的shi fts.6.2 Homonymy（同形spelling同音sound异义meaning关系）6.2.1Types of homonyms1.Perfect homonyms(完全同形同音异义词)are words identical both in sound and spelling, but different in meaning.2.Homographs(同形词) are words identical only in spelling but different in sound and meaning .3.Homophones(同音词)are words identical only in sound but different in spelling and meaning. Homophones constitute the largest number and are most common.6.2.2 Origins of Homonyms1. Change in sound and spelling.2. Borrowing.3. Shortening.6.2.3 Differentiation of homonyms and polysemants(同形同异义词与多义词的区别)6.2.4 Rhetoric features of homonyms(同形同音异义词的修辞特色)6.3 Synonymy(同义关系)—2类型+4来源+3区分1.Definition of synonyms(同义词的定义):words different in sound and spelling but most nearly alike or exactly the same in meaning.2.同义词的2个分类1)absolute synonyms(完全同义词) also known as complete synonyms are words which are identical in meaning in all its aspects.2)relative synonyms（相对同义词）also called near-synonyms are similar or nearly the same in denotation, embrace different shades of meanings or different degree of a given quality.3.同义词的4个来源1) Borrowing. (外来词)2) Dialects and regional English.（方言和区域性的英语）3) Figurative and euphemistic use of words. (词的引申义和委婉语用法)4) Coincidence with idiomatic expressions. (与习惯表达巧合一致)4.同义词的辨析（3个区分）1)difference in denotation.(外延意义)2)difference in connotation.(the stylistic and emotive colouring of words)(内涵意义)3)difference in application.应用上（difference in usage. different collocations）6.4 Antonymy反义关系—semantic opposition（语义相反关系）1.反义词的分类：矛盾反义词、对立反义词和关系反义词1) Contradictory terms (exclusive and non-gradable)--oppositeness2) Contrary terms. (a scale between two poles or extremes, gradable and one exists in comparison with the other.)—semantic relativity3) Relative terms.(interdependent相互依存)—relational opposites2.三类反义词的特点和区别Some of the characteristics of antonyms1)Antonyms are classified on the basic of semantic opposition.(adj. v. n.)there are more synonyms thanantonyms.2) A word which has more than one meaning can have more than one antonym.3)Antonyms differ in semantic inclusion. Pairs of antonyms are seen as marked and unmarked termsrespectively.4)Contrary terms are gradable antonyms, differing in degree of intensity, so each has its own correspondingopposite. Some words can have two different types of antonyms at the same time, one being the negative and the other opposite.3.使用：解释词义。
第二讲 meaning and context
For example, “ It is cold in here.” For formal semanticists, it simply expresses the semantic proposition of “the low temperature in a certain place”. They do not consider the following factors as “who speaks it to whom , when, where, why” etc. In other words , they do not include context in the study of dog” in English or “狗” in Chinese refers to a particular kind of animal in whatever situations.
7
Formal semanticists are concerned with the truth value (真值）of the semantic proposition (语义命题）of a declarative sentence or a statement and with the conditions that have to be satisfied in the truth value judgement.
14
The task of pragmatics : the speaker’s purposes or intentions . The meanings which pragmatics is concerned about are not those existent in the words, expressions or sentences proper.
(完整word版)现代英语词汇学概论最强版复习资料chapter8
Eg.Pansant, farmer ,farm worker农民
Liberalism自由主义
The regulations weremade(enacted) to protect children.
Wemade(had) a good breakfast before leaving.
My fathermade(earned)10000 yuan a year.
The train wasmaking(travelling at a speed ) 70 miles an hour.
‘‘Get going! Start!’’
get +n. + infinitive =to cause to do
I’ll get him to repair my watch.
3.Verbal context文本语境
Verbal context :In addition to lexical, and grammatical context, the verbal context, in its broadest sense, may cover an entire passage, or even an entire book, and in some cases even the entire social or cultural setting ,as start in the beginning of the chapter.
8.1 Two types of Contexts
context
Meaning and ContextThe word context can be derived from Middle English. Context means the total environment in which the word appear; when we speak of context, however, we most often mean the sentence context, or discourse or text because they are where a word normally acquires its meaning. Context is a unit of language in use and is best regarded as a semantic unit: a unit not of form but of meaning. Context is of the great importance for the understanding of meaning. Meaning depends on context. Without context, there is no way to determine the very sense of the word that the speaker intends to convey; while with context, there is generally no danger of misinterpretation, for meaning lives in context and context defines meaning. In this paper, we will explain why the meaning of a symbol depends on its context, and the relationship between context and meaning.1. Types of context1.1 Linguistic contextLinguistic context refers to words, clauses, sentences, paragraphs, or whole books in which a word appears. Linguistic context can be further divided to lexical context and grammatical context. Lexical meaning refers to the words that occur together with the word in question. The meaning of the word is often affected and defined by the neighboring words. Take a noun “hand” for example. all hands ( the entire crew of a ship; the entire workforce)by hands ( by a person and not by machine; delivered privately and not by public mail)from hand to mouth ( satisfying only one’s immediate need)have one’s hand in ( become practiced in something)a hand for making pastry ( a skill, esp. in something practical)In some cases, the meaning of a word may be influenced by the structure in which it occurs. This is what we called grammatical context. Though less common, it is by no means rare. Let us consider the verb “get” as an example.Receive get+NP get an big apple; get an interesting bookBecome get+AP get very angry; get incredible coldCause get...to do … I got him to do the job.Start get+ING Get going!1.2 Extra-linguistic contextBrown and Yule invented two situations to illustrate the effect on the meaning of the word “quick”.(1)speaker: a young motherhearer: her mother-in-lawplace: park, by a duck pondtime: sunny afternoon in September 1962They are watching the young mother’s two-tear-old son chasing duck and themother-in-law has just remarked that her son, the child’s father, was rather backward at this age. The young mother says: I do think Adam’s.(2)speaker: a studenthearer: a set of studentsplace: sitting around a coffee table in the refectorytime: evening in March 1980John, one of the group, has just told a joke. Everyone laughs except Adam. Then Adam laughs. One of the students says: I do think Adam’s quick.In both cases, the speaker says of Adam that he is quick. It is clear, however, that the utterance in the contexts of situation would be taken to convey very different message. In (1), Adam is compared favorably with his father. Quick can be interpreted as meaning something like “quick in developing”. It is used in contrast to backward. In (2), Adam is compared unfavorably with the set f other students .Therefore, quick must be interpreted as meaning something like “quick to understand/ react to/ see the joke. In this case, quick is used ironically to mean the opposite: slow.The extra-linguistic context may extend to embrace the entire cultural background, which may also affect the meaning of words. Take the word “landlord” for example. In Chinese culture, landlord is usually understood as referring to someone who owned a lot of land and collected money by renting land without working. It used to be associated exploitation, naturally carrying a negative overtone. In contrast, the term in western countries is denotatively different and affectively neural. The most commonly used meaning of the word is “someone who rents house for money.”2. The role of contextElimination of ambiguityAmbiguity often arises due to polysemy and homonymy. When a word with multiple meaning is used in adequate context, it creates ambiguity. e.g He is hard businessman. The word hard in this context fails to narrow down the meaning so that it is different for the reader what exactly the speaker means. But there would be no misunderstanding if the original sentence is extended as “He is hard businessman to deal with.”Now compare the following two sentences and see the effect of context in eliminating ambiguity: (1)John ran the egg and spoon race. (2) John ran the egg and spoon race and won second place. The first sentence is quite ambiguous because we have no way to determine whether John “participated” in the race or “organize” the race as the word run can mean both. Contrastingly, the second sentence is definite and leaves us no doubt that John took part in the race personally because he got second place.Homonymy is another cause of ambiguity as two separate words share the same form. e.g The ball was attractive. Ball may mean a “round object to play in the game” as well as a “dancing party” Grammatically, the usage is perfectly all right. This ambiguity can only de eliminated by altering the context a little as “The ball was attractive with nice music and a lot of people.”ConclusionBoth the linguistic and extra-linguistic contexts are necessary to determine the exact meaning of polysemic and homonymous words. However, we must see the impact of context on meaning in its proper perspective. Every word has a meaning or meanings of its own, independent of the context. When we say context determines the words sense, we do not mean that it gives a sense to the word, but that it selects one out of all possible meanings already there.。
英语词汇学 第八章
Chapter 8
Meaning and context
词义和语境
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8.1 Types of Context 语境的类型
❖ In a narrow sense, it refers to the words, clauses, sentences in which a word appears. This is known as linguistic context which may cover a paragraph, a whole chapter and even the entire book. 从狭义上讲，语境是指一个词所 在的词群、从句和句群环境，这称为语言语境, 可 以包括一个段落，一个章节，甚至整个一本书。
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❖ 3) Example.举例 ❖ In some cases, instead of giving a formal
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❖ 2) Explanation. 诠释 ❖ If the concept is complicated and must
involve technical terms in its definition, the author might explain the idea in simple words. That is, he might make a restatement in known words. 如果概念很复杂，而且在其定义中必须涉及 术语，作者应用简单词汇来解释这个概念。 也就是说，他应用常见的单词来重新陈述 。
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8.1.1 Extra-linguistic Context非语言语境
❖ When we talk about context, we usually think of linguistic context , hardly aware of the non- linguistic context situation, which can often exercise greater influence on the meaning of words than we realize. 当我们谈到语境时，我们通常 想到语言语境，很少意识到非语言语境，非 语言语境对词义施加的影响比我们想象的要 大。
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Diachronic & Synchronic Analysis
There was no lady about him. He him. was what the women would call a manly man. That was why they man. him. liked him.
Meaning and Context
A couple are bickering about their finances: "You do realize," the husband begins, "that if it weren't for my money the house wouldn't be here!" "And if it weren't for your money," the wife responds, "nor would I!"
Meaning and Context Introduction
He had been trying waiter for ten minutes, to secure the attention of a but at last got up from his chair and going to the cashier’s desk, demanded the manager. “what for?” asked the girl. “I have got a complaint. “Complaint?” Retorted the girl, haughtily, “This is a restaurant, not a hospital.”
Definitions good
many a good person a good many persons
Context’s Restriction to meaing
good
1. This bike is good for twenty dollars· 2. He is rich, so he is good for another one thousand dollars. 3. The old man is good for another thirtyminute walk. 4. This ticket of yours is not good for tonight. 5. These herbs are good for T. B.
A truck driver stopped at a roadside diner for lunch and ordered a cheeseburger, a cup of coffee and a slice of Meaning and Context apple pie. As he was about to eat, three motorcycles pulled up outside. The three bikers came in, seemingly bored and just looking for trouble. One of them grabbed the trucker's cheeseburger out of his hand and took a huge bite from it, the second one took a swig of the trucker's coffee and the third one wolfed down his apple pie. The truck driver didn't say a word, merely got up, paid the cashier and left. As soon as he was gone, the bikers started to snicker to one another and congratulate each other on just how "bad" they'd all been. When the waiter finally walked up to them, one of the bikers growled, "He sure wasn't much of a man now was he?" "He sure isn't much of a driver either," the waiter replied. "Seems he just backed his 18-wheeler over three Harley-Davidsons!"
----------Aldous Huxley : The Giocond Smile
Types of Context
context
Linguistic context
NonNon-linguistic context
NonNon-linguistic Context
Brown & Yule, 1983
_______________ Digest" Feb.1991 Reader' s
Meaning and Context Introduction
A man is driving up a steep, narrow road. mountain road. A woman is driving down the road. same road. As they pass each other, the woman PIG!!" leans out of the window and yells "PIG!!" The man immediately leans out of his window and replies, "WITCH( )!!" They each continue on their way, and as the man rounds the next corner, he crashes into a pig in the middle of road. listen. the road. If only men would listen.
Diachronic & Synchronic Analysis
历 语境与共时
“Since she left, I have done the Since cook ing and baked the cakes,but mine hers. are never good as hers.” Nonsense, dear; “Nonsense, my dear; I don’t think Lissie’s cakes were any better than yours. Mr. loyally. yours.” said Mr.Priestly loyally.
STILL NOT SATISFIED Mrs. Higgins was an incurable Meaning and Context grumbler. She grumbled at everything and everyone. But at last the vicar thought he had found something about which she could make no complaint; the old lady's crop of potatoes was certainly the finest for miles round. "Ah, for once you must be well pleased," he said, with a beaming smile, as he met her in the village street. "Everyone's saying how splendid your potatoes are this year." The old lady glowered at him as she answered: "They're not so poor. But where's the bad ones for the pigs?"
Meaning and Context Introduction
lonely. “I' m lonely.” Adam told God in the Garden of Eden. Eden. “I need to have someone around for company. “Okay. God. company.” “Okay.”replied God. I' m going to give you the perfect woman, beautiful, intelligent, and gracious she'll cook and clean word. for you and never say a cross word.” “Sounds good,” Adam said, “But what' s she going to leg. cost?“ " An arm and a leg.” “That' s pretty steep,” countered Adam. “What can I get for steep,” Adam. just a rib'?"
Situational Context
quick
speaker: a young mother, hearer: her mother-in-law, place: park, by a duckpond, time: sunny afternoon in September 1962.