Context英語語用學(xué)Contactme

YanlingTangForeignStudiesCollegeHunanNormalUniversity36LushanRoad,ChangshaCity,Hunan410081ThePeople’sRepublicofChina(CHINA)Cellphone:E-mail:Context英語語用學(xué)AnIntroductiontoPragmatics

ACourseforB.A.Students

Context英語語用學(xué)ContextContext英語語用學(xué)Outline3.Theoriesof

context1.Warmingup4.

Theroleofcontext

2.AgeneraldescriptionofContext5.ConclusionContext英語語用學(xué)

Part1:

Warmingup

Canyouexplainthemeaningofthewordsinitalicsineachofthesentencesbelow?Explainwhyandthenmakesomealterationsinthecontextsoastopindownthemeaning.Thepolicewereorderedtostop

drinkingaboutmidnight.stoppeopledrinking/stopdrinkingbythemselvesb.Therestoodabigstonehouseatthefootofthehill.astonehousewhichisbig/ahousebuiltofbigstonesContext英語語用學(xué)c.IhavelostBetty’spicture.

apicturepossessedbyBetty/aphotographofBettyd.Visiting

auntscanbeboring.auntswhoarevisiting/payingavisittoauntse.Mr.Webster,theamiablepriest,isgoingtomarryJaneatthechurch.takeJaneashiswife/presideoverJane’sweddingContext英語語用學(xué)Part2:Ageneraldescriptionofcontext

Whenwethinkaboutmeaning,itisalsoimportanttotakeintoaccountthecontributionofcontext.Insimpleterms,then,wecanthinkaboutpragmaticsasthestudyofthecontributionofcontexttomeaning.Herearefoursub-areasinvolvedinfleshingout(完善）whatwemeanbycontext.physicalcontextEpistemic（關(guān)于認(rèn)知的）

contextlinguisticcontextsocialcontextContext英語語用學(xué)

Physicalcontext:wecanthinkofthisintermsofwheretheconversationistakingplace,whatobjectsarepresent,whatactionsareoccurring,andsoforth.

Epistemiccontext:theepistemiccontextreferstowhatspeakersknowabouttheworld.Forexample,whatbackgroundknowledgesharedbythespeakersiscruciallypartofourepistemicknowledgewhenwehaveaconversationwithsomeoneelse.Context英語語用學(xué)

Linguisticcontext:thelinguisticcontextreferstowhathasbeensaidalreadyintheutterance.Forexample,ifIbeginadiscussionbyreferringtoJaneSmithandinthenextsentencereferto"her"asbeingatopnotchathlete,thelinguisticcontextletsmeknowthattheantecedentof"her"(theperson"her"refersto)isJaneSmith.

Socialcontext:thesocialcontextreferstothesocialrelationshipamongspeakersandhearers.Context英語語用學(xué)

Example:

ThinkaboutthediscussionofthelibrarysceneinLanguageFiles.Twopeoplecomeintoalibraryandtheyaretalkingreallyloud.Theysitatyourtableandcontinuetheirbabbling.So,youlookupatthemandsay:"Excuseme,couldyoupleasespeakupabitmore?Imissedwhatyousaid."

Context英語語用學(xué)

Whatdoweknowpragmaticallyaboutyourutterance?Whatcontributestoourunderstandingofwhyitsliteralmeaning(i.e.pleasespeakup)departssomuchfromwhatitsintendedmeaningis(i.e.shutup!)?Considersomeofthecontextualpropertiesoftheutterance.Context英語語用學(xué)

physical:theconversationoccursinalibraryepistemic:librariesarequietplaceslinguistic:sarcastictoneofvoice(intonationcuesarelinguistic)socialcontext:youhavetherighttoasksomeonetobequietinaplacewherepeoplearesupposedtobequiet,especiallyiftheirrule-breakingisinjurioustotheneedsofothers,whichoverridesthesocialnormofnotgivingorderstototalstrangers.

Context英語語用學(xué)

Part3:AgeneraldescriptionofcontextContext英語語用學(xué)

3.1Bronislaw

KasparMalinowski'sTheorycontextcontextofculture文化語境contextofsituation情景語境Context英語語用學(xué)語境的概念是由英國的波蘭裔人類學(xué)家、功能學(xué)派的創(chuàng)始人之一馬林諾夫斯基(Malinowski,1884-1942)首先提出的,他把語境分為兩類:即情景語境和文化語境。contextofsituation:情景語境是指語篇產(chǎn)生的環(huán)境；或指言語行為發(fā)生時(shí)的具體情境。contextofculture:文化語境是指某種語言賴以植根的民族里人們思想和行為準(zhǔn)則的總和?；蛑刚f話人生活于其中的社會(huì)文化背景。Context英語語用學(xué)3.2JohnRupertFirth'stheoryFirth(1957)definedcontextofsituationastheentireculturalsettingofspeechandthepersonalhistoryoftheparticipantsratherthanassimplythecontextofhumanactivitygoingonatthemoment.Hisnotionofcontextincluded“notonlyspokenwords,butfacialexpression,gestures,bodilyactivities,thewholegroupofpeoplepresentduringanexchangeofutterances,andthepartoftheenvironmentinwhichthesepeopleareengaged”.Context英語語用學(xué)

Firthdidn’tgiveaclassificationtothenotionofcontext.ButhefurtherdevelopedMalinnowski’s“contextofsituation”.Thereforehecategorizedcontextofsituationas:1)Theparticipantsinthesituation:whatFirthreferredtoaspersonsandpersonalities,correspondingmoreorlesstowhatsociologistswouldregardasthestatusandrolesoftheparticipants;

Context英語語用學(xué)2)Theactionofparticipants:whattheyaredoing,includingboththeirverbalactionandtheirnon-verbalaction.3)Otherrelevantfeaturesofthesituation:therelevantobjectsandnon-verbalandnon-personalevents.4)Theeffectsoftheverbalaction:whatchangeswerebroughtaboutbywhattheparticipantsinthesituationhadtosay.Context英語語用學(xué)

3.3M.A.K.Halliday’stheoryJustasMalinowskihadinfluencedFirth,thelatter,inreturn,hadgreatimpactonanotherfamouslinguist,M.A.K.Halliday(Halliday,1985)deepenedFirth’scontextofsituationintoaspecificanddetailedoneinutteranceandtextinterpretation.Inhisregistertheoryhedescribedcontextasfieldofdiscourse,tenorofdiscourse,andmodeofdiscourse.Context英語語用學(xué)Thethreefeaturesofcontextofsituation:registervariables語域變體field語場tenor語旨mode語式Context英語語用學(xué)Thefieldofdiscoursereferstowhatishappening,tothenatureofthesocialactionthatistakingplace.語場指的是正在發(fā)生什么事,所進(jìn)行的社會(huì)活動(dòng)的性質(zhì)、特點(diǎn)、語言所談及或描述的是什么。Thetenorofdiscoursereferstowhoistakingpartin,tothenatureofparticipants,theirstatusandroles.語旨指的是誰是交際者,他們的基本情況、特點(diǎn)、地位、角色、關(guān)系等。Context英語語用學(xué)Themodeofdiscoursereferstowhatpartthelanguageisplaying,whatitisthattheparticipantsexpectthelanguagetodofortheminthesituation.

語式指的是語言在交際中所起的作用,包括交際渠道和修飾方式。Context英語語用學(xué)

Hallidayclaimsthatfield,tenor,andmodeofdiscoursearethethreefeaturesofthecontextofsituationandtheseconceptsenableustogiveacharacterizationofthenatureofanytexts.Context英語語用學(xué)

3.4HuZhuanglin’stheoryHuZhuanglin(1994)classifieditintothreetypes,namelylinguisticcontext;situationalcontextandculturalcontext.linguisticcontext:theinternalenvironmentofatext.situationalcontext:environmentalfactorsinwhichthetextisproduced,theeventsandtheirnature,theparticipantsandtheirrelationship,andwhen,where,howthetextisproduced.Context英語語用學(xué)

culturalcontext:thehistory,culture,customsandfolkscapableofbeingunderstoodbyspeakersbelongingtoaparticularspeechcommunity.Allthesedefinitions,regardlessoftheirdifferences,basicallysharesomeaspectsincommonthatcontextiscontext-dependentandlanguage-centered.Inotherwords,itisinter-relatedandcontributestotheunderstandingofmeaning.Context英語語用學(xué)Part4:Theroleofcontext

4.1.Eliminationofambiguity

Ambiguityoftenarisesduetopolysemyandhomonymy.Whenawordwithmultiplemeaningsisusedininadequatecontext,itcreatesambiguity,e.g.(1)Johnrantheegg-and-spoonrace.(2)Johnrantheegg-and-spoonraceandgotsecondplace.Context英語語用學(xué)ThefirstsentenceisquiteambiguousbecausewehavenowaytodeterminewhetherJohn“participated”intheraceor“organized”theraceasthewordruncanmeanboth.Contrastingly,thesecondsentenceisdefiniteandleavesusnodoubtthatJohntookpartintheracepersonallybecausehegotsecondplace.Context英語語用學(xué)Homonymyisanothercauseofambiguityastwoseparatelexemessharethesameform,e.g.(1)Theysawherduck.

duck—n.“akindofpoultry”orasaverbmeaning“l(fā)owerone’sheadorbodyquickly,dodge”.Bothfitinthesyntacticstructureofthesentence.Context英語語用學(xué)(2)Theballwasattractive.Similarly,ballmaymeana“aroundobjecttoplayinagame”aswellasa“dancingparty”.Grammatically,theusageisperfectlyallright.Context英語語用學(xué)Thisambiguitycanonlybeeliminatedbyalteringthecontextalittleas“Theysawherduckswimmingintheriver”inthefirstcaseoras“Theballwasattractivewithnicemusicandalotofpeople”inthesecondcase.

Context英語語用學(xué)4.2IndicationofreferentsEnglishhasalargenumberofdeicticwordssuchasnow/then,here/there,I/you,this/that,whichareoftenusedtoreferdirectlytothepersonal,temporalorlocationalcharacteristicsofthesituation.Withoutclearcontext,thereferencecanbeveryconfusing.Forexample,thewordnowalwaysmeansthetimeofspeaking,naturallyreferringtoapasttimewhenthespeechtookplaceinthepastorapresentmomentiftheaddresserisspeaking.Context英語語用學(xué)

4.3ProvisionofcluesforinferenceofwordmeaningContextcluesvaryagreatdealbutcanbesummedupasfollows:1)DefinitionOftenwemayfindthattheauthorgivesformaldefinitionimmediatelyafterthenewterm,e.g.Perhapsthemoststartlingtheorytocomeoutofkinesics,thestudyofbodymovement,wassuggestedbyProfessorBird-whistell(Americananthropologist).Context英語語用學(xué)2)ExplanationIftheconceptiscomplicatedandmustinvolvetechnicalterminitsdefinition,theauthormightexplaintheideainsimplewords.Thatis,hemightmakearestatementinknownwords,e.g.It’sjustonemoreincredibleresultofthedevelopmentofmicroprocessors

—thosetinypartsofacomputercommonlyknownas“siliconchips”.Context英語語用學(xué)3)Exemplification例證

Insomecases,insteadofgivingaformaldefinitionorexplanation,theauthormayciteanexamplewhichissufficienttothrowlightonthemeaningoftheterm,e.g.ManyUnitedNationsemployeesarepolyglots.Maria,forexample,speaksfivelanguages.Context英語語用學(xué)4)SynonymySynonymsorsynonymousexpressionsarefrequentlyemployedbyauthorstoexplainnewwords,e.g.(1)Theirgreatestfearwasofaconflagration,sincefirewoulddestroytheirflimsywoodensettlementbeforehelpcouldarrive.(2)Hediedintestate.Intheabsenceofwillhispropertywasdividedamonghisheirsaccordingtothelawsofthestate.Context英語語用學(xué)5)AntonymyContrastingwordsorstatementsarealsocommonlyusedtoexplainunknownwords,e.g.(1)Asthefightingonallfrontsreacheditspeak,theeconomyneareditsnadir.(2)Unlikehergregarioussister,Janeisashy,unsociableperson.Context英語語用學(xué)6)HyponymySuperordinatesandsubordinatesoftendefineandexplaineachother,thusforminganimportantcontextclue,e.g.Thevillagehadmostoftheusualamenities:apub,alibrary,apostoffice,avillagehall,amedicalcentre,andaschool.便利設(shè)施Ofcourse,onlybyco-hyponyms(e.g.pub,library,school),wemaynotgettheexactmeaning,butweknowatleastthattheybelongtothesamecategoryastherestandthisisadequatebecauseinrealsituationoftenageneralideaissufficient.Context英語語用學(xué)7)RelevantdetailsInsomecases,theauthorprovidesdetailsincontextwhicharerelatedtotheunknownword,suchasthefunctions,characteristics,nature,etc.ofthereferent,e.g.Inspiteofthefactthatthefishermenwerewearingsouwesters,thestormwassoheavythattheywerewetthrough.Context英語語用學(xué)Finallythemorphemicstructureofwords,especiallycompoundsandderivedwordsofferscluesforinferringthemeaningofunknownwords,e.g.Copernicusbelievedinaheliocentricuniverse,ratherthaninthegeocentrictheory.Ifweknowtheformgeo-asingeographyaswellasthefactthatitisincontrasttohelio-,weshouldnothavemuchdifficultyinguessingthemeaningsofheliocentricandgeocentricwiththehelpofourhistoricalknowledgeofwhatCopernicusadvocated.Context英語語用學(xué)Part5:ConclusionInanarrowsense,contextreferstothewords,phrasesandsentencesinwhichawordisused.Thisiswhatisknownaslinguisticcontext(語言語境),whichmaybeaparagraph,awholechapterandevenanentirebook.Andthephysical,socialandculturalsetting,etc.areknownasnon-linguisticcontext(非語言語境).Context英語語用學(xué)LinguisticcontextLinguisticcontext(語言語境)referstotherelevanttextordiscourseofwhichasentence,aphrase,awordetc.ispartorwhateverlongertextisrelevanttosamespecificinquiry.HatimandMason(2001:204)definelinguisticcontextas“thetextualenvironmentofalinguisticitem”.Context英語語用學(xué)AstheBritishlinguistFirthconcluded:“Eachwordwhenusedinanewcontextisanewword.”(每一個(gè)詞用在新的語境中就是一個(gè)新詞。)首先,它意味著一個(gè)單詞如果脫離了具體的語境便純粹成了一個(gè)符號,但一旦進(jìn)入語境就獲得了意義。其次,一個(gè)單詞在不同的語境中具有不同的意義,因而完全可以被看作是新詞。Context英語語用學(xué)例如:(1)Likechargesrepel,unlikechargesattract.相同的電荷相斥,不同的電荷相吸.(2)Helikesmathsmorethanphysics.他