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1、ContentsContents.i摘要iiAbstract.iiiI. Introduction.1II. The Basic Ideas about Context and Word Meaning .22.1 How Can We Understand “Context”? .22.2 Word Meanings are the Center of Human Communications. .2III. Context on Word Meaning.33.1 Figures Used in English Literature or In Life.33.2 The Context
2、Meaning.43.3 Culture Context.53.4 Pragmatic Influence in Context.53.5 Implication.6IV. The Function of Context.84.1 The Kind of Function.84.1.1 Function of Restriction.84.1.2 Function of Interpretation.84.1.3 Function of Design.84.2 Understanding Implicature in Context.94.3 Values of Context on Word
3、 Meaning.10V. Conclusion.10References11Acknowledgements.13摘 要文章（及其段落）通常是一个有机的整体，语意连贯，语句关联。充分理解原文是翻译的前提，有效落实译文是翻译的关键。词是语言中可以自由运用的最小的单位，脱离具体语境，词义无定，受具体语境制约，词义有定，要准确地把握之，必须语境通观，要有效地落实之，必须随便适会。关键词：词义 语境 实用AbstractA word is the smallest unit of language said or written on its own. In translation, “meanin
4、g” is the most essential aspect of a word, whether one is using the “bottom-up” or the “top-down” approach. Since a text is a semantic unit, the context should be taken as the starting point for translation strategies. What is meaningful, in this light, is what words ought to be rather than what wor
5、ds appear to be. Hence translating with latitude at the level of text should be a prime consideration for translators.Key Words : word meaning context pragmatic- 13 - Infulences of Context on Word MeaningsfromthePragmaticPointofViewI .Introduction As we know, words are the basic units in communicati
6、on, and the correct choices of production andinterpretation of word meanings are very important for successful communications. The English linguist says :No context, no meaning .for example: abuse，the basic meaning is “滥用”，we can say that: He abuses money. But what about this: He abuses his wife .in
7、 this context，abuse mean“虐待”。In He booked two tickets. here Book is not means“书”，but“预订”。So，we must be aware of the context。That is to say, the dictionary cannot contain all word meanings generated in communication, because word meanings are in constant change in context. Context is a popular resear
8、ch subject inmodern linguistics. Many scholars have probed into this field, such as: Firth(1957), Halliday(1964), Lyons(1977), Hymes (1974), and etc. Owing to their different interests and research perspectives, they have their own notions of context. Many modern linguists have not only placed great
9、 emphasis on context but have considerably broadened its scope, and have also probed deeply into its influence on word meanings (Lyons,1977;Durkin,1983;Hu Zhuanglin, Liu Runqing, Li Yanfu,1988).They argue that context is indispensable for the understanding of words. Firth (1957) states thatboth ling
10、uistcontextand non-linguistic context exert restrictive influences onthe meaning. Also many linguists support the idea of inferring word meanings and learning vocabulary from context. (Richard, 1974; Kurse, 1979).There are two well known sayings in English: No context, no text. Each word when used i
11、n a new context is a new word (Gao Fengying, Guo Xinmei, 1999). So context is important in determining meaning of words. II. The Basic Ideas about Context and Word Meaning 2.1 How Can We Understand “Context”?The term context is derived from the Latin contexts, the past participle of contextere，which
12、 means to weave together. In a now-obsolete usage, it referred to the weaving together of words or a continuous discourse produced by the weaving. It also referred and still refers to the words that help determine the meaning of a word or passage they surround. But the meaning concerning us is obvio
13、usly broader and much more general. Since there are a number of disciplines, say, philosophy, logic, socio-linguistics, pragmatics, to name just a few , that have long been associated with it and have taken up context as a topic of great significance. The disciplines vary in focus from one to anothe
14、r, hence to give context an appropriate definition that covers all these domains is not an easy job.If that is possible, the definition must be very general, and to some extent abstract. Take that of Ben-Amis for example, context is defined as “That which environs the object of our interest and help
15、s by its relevance to explain it. The environing may be temporal, geographical, cultural, cognitive, emotional of any sort at all (Ben-Ami, 1989). Synonyms for context, each with its own associations, are words such as environment, milieu, setting, and background. By definition, a context is in its
16、broad sense, relevant to whatever it is that has the required explanatory power. And if we characterize context, it can be simply put like this: explanation is impossible or seriously incomplete unless context is taken into account. In other words, everything is seen as relative to its context. 2.2
17、Word Meanings are the Center of Human Communications.The meanings of languages are the center of human communications, and the study of meaning is one of the basic issues in linguistics. This part deals with the understanding of word meaning. Then what is a word? This question has occupied the atten
18、tion of linguists for ages. According to Longman Dictionary of Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics (2000), words are the smallest of the linguistic units which can occur on it sown in speech or writing. Zhang Weiyou (1977:7) describes that a word comprises the following points:(1)a minimal fre
19、e form of a language;(2)a sound unity;(3)a unit of meaning;(4)a form that can function alone in a sentence. In other words, a word is a minimalfree form of a language that has a given sound and meaning and syntactic functions. Therefore, words are the basic units in communication, and the understand
20、ing of word meaning can deeply influence communications.IIIContext on Word MeaningA word in a new context has a new meaning, and for the banquet of vocabulary and forms of usage such as: in literature, magazines, advertisements, letters, utterance in daily life, between different relationships. When
21、 theres new condition, theres new meaning.3.1 Figures Used in English Literature or In Life(1) MetaphorOne s life is a short summer. This sentence means our life length is as short as summer.(2) SimileTruth and roses have thorns about them. This sentence refer to its different to achieve succeed.(3)
22、 ExaggerationShe cried her eyes out. It means she is very sad.I am dying of thirst. Means I am very thirst.(4) PersonificationThe wind whistled through the trees. Means describe the heavy wind.The storm was so angry that it wanted to destroy everything in its way. Its also means the heavy wind.（5）Iv
23、e got to jump. Here,jumpin the end . what does that mean? If there is no context, it is difficult to select meaning. English jump means 跳, also can be 换工作.To use the word kill for example, When paired with different terms to show different meanings, these terms constitute the different understanding
24、 of the word kill in context. （6）Kill the peace扼杀和平（7）Kill the promise 取消诺言（8）Kill a marriage 解除婚约 （dissolution of the marriage）（9） He killed his chance of success. 他断送了成功的机会。（He ruined the chances of success）（10）He killed the motion when it came from the committee. 他否决了委员会提出来的动议（He rejected the mot
25、ion proposed by the Commission）（11）He killed three bottles of whisky in a week.（ he was a three-week drinking bottles of whiskey）3.2The Context Meaning A word and phrases in the dictionary is isolated, but once used in a specific discourse, it formed part of the structure of the entire text, with th
26、e other terms constitute an organic coding system, with the context and the specific context associated. Therefore, the lexical meaning is not determined by the Dictionary (Of course, dictionaries for translators provide an important reference value), but by the context and the context of the decisi
27、on. (Lee Yun-Xin, 1988)If, as is suggested here, sentence contexts affect a postaccess identification process, then it may be expected that this context effect will interact with the relative frequency of each meaning of the ambiguous target. One mechanism that may be suggested is that, after multip
28、le meanings of a homograph have been accessed in parallel, the preceding sentence context directs the decision-making mechanism toward the contextually appropriate meaning. This view will be referred to as the access-plus-facilitation view. If this view is correct, then the presence of a congruous s
29、entence context should be of greater benefit to the response for a secondary meaning than to the response for a primary meaning. This is so, because the congruous sentence context will eliminate the time-consuming evaluation of the other (i.e., primary) meaning that occurs when the secondary meaning
30、 needs to be identified in the absence of a sentence context (e.g., to BOX). Because this time-consuming process does not occur when the primary meaning needs to beidentified in the absence of a sentence context (e.g., the BOX), the presence of a congruous sentence context will not be of as great a
31、benefit to the primary meaning. According to this account, therefore, it is expected that a smaller effect of relative frequency will be observed in the presence of congruous sentence contexts, relative to the absence of semantic context.3.3Culture ContextMr. Wang Zuoliang talk about the significanc
32、e of that word: a word not only has a direct, Surface, Dictionary meaning, as well as connotations , Emotions, Involves much speculation meanings, Language and culture are inseparable, language is the carrier of culture .Culture can also be reflected in any of the contents of the culture, but also c
33、onstrainted by culture.In English How are you? Whats up? This s a type of greeting, and sometimes just means hello and do not want to know your life situation, Its just like the Chinese-style greeting, 你吃了吗?. Not really want to invite you to eat.In addition to the color words in English, a specific
34、color, it will also due to the different culture of different countries have different meanings? For example, we always said:红白喜事，Can not speak or write down red and white events, Most Westerners must fail to understand this, you can right use weddings and Funerals. In the UK, white is often symbol
35、as Innocence， Noble， Luck， Happiness. In Italian， A white day means auspicious day or happy day， He is still green to his job means He was not have work experience. They treat us white. Means They treat us fairly.3.4Pragmatic Influence in ContextA brief Review of the Research on Pragmatic Context Pr
36、agmatics is a broad scope can be defined as the study of how language is used in communication (Leech, 1983). Communication, as we have noted, does not take place in a vacuum but in a context. Context is therefore an indispensable notion that makes pragmatics as it is. Leech in his Semantics (1974)
37、also takes context as one of the important factors to identify whether the category under consideration belongs to the purview of pragmatics. As it is, without context other notions such as deixis, presupposition, implicature, speech act. etc. will find no place to rest on, let alone their discussio
38、n. Since its great significance as a corner stone to the discipline of pragmatics, pragmatic context is much broader in scope thus is much dwelt on by pragmatists.3.5ImplicationIn the translation process, We often met with the dictionary on the literal meaning of the given translation will become di
39、fficult to understand the situation. Language is a living, often in flux, there are a lot of Chinese and English words in use are derived Meaning situation. In this case, cannot be translated literally means, but rather as the word of the original substance, that is the meaning to be derived reflect
40、ed in the translation. Meaning, there are two commonly used extended situation, one is to abstract meaning, one is specific, the following examples.The proposal is that an adequate explanationof this can be given by explaining what is involved in the persons capacity for understanding complete thoug
41、hts concerning objects of the sort in question.This simplication will allow us to concentrate on an individual person rather than on a whole language community. This is a huge simplication. For instance, if reference involves a notion of Fregean sense, then this sense will now be allowed to vary wit
42、h each individual act of reference. In contrast, if a notion of sense is to be attached to an expression of a public language, then this sense will have to be shared by every competent speaker of this language. (For the purposes of this paper I will not have anything to say about how linguistic expr
43、essions come to refer.) The second simplication is to focus on canonical cases of singular reference. These are certain maximally direct ways of referring to objects, where the referent is directly present to the thinker. For instance, referring to a person whom I see immediately in front of me is c
44、anonical, whereas referring to Napoleon is not. More examples of canonical reference will be presented shortly. The third simplication is to begin by explaining someones understanding of identity statements before attempting to explain his understanding of thoughts more generally. This strategy is a
45、dopted by Frege himself in Grundlagen. The rationale is that, before one can understand what it means for an object to possess properties and stand in relations, one needs to know how to distinguish the object from other objects and how to re-identify it when presented with it in alternative ways. W
46、ith these three modications, Freges Proposal becomes the following: We can explain what is involved in someones capacity for canonical singular reference to objects of a certain kind by explaining what is involved in his or her capacity for understanding identities concerning such objects. This would translate the problem of explaining our capacity for singular reference into the related but different problem of explaining our capacity for understanding identity statements. Frege suggests an ingenious way in which his proposal can be carried out. The core idea is that canonical refere