Context 英语语用学

ContactmeYanlingTang,ForeignStudiesCollegeHunanNormalUniversity36LushanRoad,ChangshaCity,Hunan410081ThePeoplesRepublicofChina(CHINA)Cellphone-mail:1596604813,AnIntroductiontoPragmaticsACourseforB.A.StudentsInstructor:Prof.TangYanling唐燕玲,Context,Outline,1.Warmingup,4.Theroleofcontext,5.Conclusion,Part1:WarmingupCanyouexplainthemeaningofthewordsinitalicsineachofthesentencesbelow?Explainwhyandthenmakesomealterationsinthecontextsoastopindownthemeaning.Thepolicewereorderedtostopdrinkingaboutmidnight.stoppeopledrinking/stopdrinkingbythemselvesb.Therestoodabigstonehouseatthefootofthehill.astonehousewhichisbig/ahousebuiltofbigstones,c.IhavelostBettyspicture.apicturepossessedbyBetty/aphotographofBettyd.Visitingauntscanbeboring.auntswhoarevisiting/payingavisittoauntse.Mr.Webster,theamiablepriest,isgoingtomarryJaneatthechurch.takeJaneashiswife/presideoverJaneswedding,Part2:Ageneraldescriptionofcontext,Whenwethinkaboutmeaning,itisalsoimportanttotakeintoaccountthecontributionofcontext.Insimpleterms,then,wecanthinkaboutpragmaticsasthestudyofthecontributionofcontexttomeaning.Herearefoursub-areasinvolvedinfleshingout(完善）whatwemeanbycontext.physicalcontextEpistemic（关于认知的）contextlinguisticcontextsocialcontext,Physicalcontext:wecanthinkofthisintermsofwheretheconversationistakingplace,whatobjectsarepresent,whatactionsareoccurring,andsoforth.Epistemiccontext:theepistemiccontextreferstowhatspeakersknowabouttheworld.Forexample,whatbackgroundknowledgesharedbythespeakersiscruciallypartofourepistemicknowledgewhenwehaveaconversationwithsomeoneelse.,Linguisticcontext:thelinguisticcontextreferstowhathasbeensaidalreadyintheutterance.Forexample,ifIbeginadiscussionbyreferringtoJaneSmithandinthenextsentencerefertoherasbeingatopnotchathlete,thelinguisticcontextletsmeknowthattheantecedentofher(thepersonherrefersto)isJaneSmith.Socialcontext:thesocialcontextreferstothesocialrelationshipamongspeakersandhearers.,Example:ThinkaboutthediscussionofthelibrarysceneinLanguageFiles.Twopeoplecomeintoalibraryandtheyaretalkingreallyloud.Theysitatyourtableandcontinuetheirbabbling.So,youlookupatthemandsay:Excuseme,couldyoupleasespeakupabitmore?Imissedwhatyousaid.,Whatdoweknowpragmaticallyaboutyourutterance?Whatcontributestoourunderstandingofwhyitsliteralmeaning(i.e.pleasespeakup)departssomuchfromwhatitsintendedmeaningis(i.e.shutup!)?Considersomeofthecontextualpropertiesoftheutterance.,physical:theconversationoccursinalibraryepistemic:librariesarequietplaceslinguistic:sarcastictoneofvoice(intonationcuesarelinguistic)socialcontext:youhavetherighttoasksomeonetobequietinaplacewherepeoplearesupposedtobequiet,especiallyiftheirrule-breakingisinjurioustotheneedsofothers,whichoverridesthesocialnormofnotgivingorderstototalstrangers.,Part3:,Ageneraldescriptionofcontext,3.1BronislawKasparMalinowskisTheory,context,contextofculture文化语境,contextofsituation情景语境,语境的概念是由英国的波兰裔人类学家、功能学派的创始人之一马林诺夫斯基(Malinowski,1884-1942)首先提出的,他把语境分为两类:即情景语境和文化语境。contextofsituation:情景语境是指语篇产生的环境；或指言语行为发生时的具体情境。contextofculture:文化语境是指某种语言赖以植根的民族里人们思想和行为准则的总和。或指说话人生活于其中的社会文化背景。,3.2JohnRupertFirthstheory,Firth(1957)definedcontextofsituationastheentireculturalsettingofspeechandthepersonalhistoryoftheparticipantsratherthanassimplythecontextofhumanactivitygoingonatthemoment.Hisnotionofcontextincluded“notonlyspokenwords,butfacialexpression,gestures,bodilyactivities,thewholegroupofpeoplepresentduringanexchangeofutterances,andthepartoftheenvironmentinwhichthesepeopleareengaged”.,Firthdidntgiveaclassificationtothenotionofcontext.ButhefurtherdevelopedMalinnowskis“contextofsituation”.Thereforehecategorizedcontextofsituationas:1)Theparticipantsinthesituation:whatFirthreferredtoaspersonsandpersonalities,correspondingmoreorlesstowhatsociologistswouldregardasthestatusandrolesoftheparticipants;,2)Theactionofparticipants:whattheyaredoing,includingboththeirverbalactionandtheirnon-verbalaction.3)Otherrelevantfeaturesofthesituation:therelevantobjectsandnon-verbalandnon-personalevents.4)Theeffectsoftheverbalaction:whatchangeswerebroughtaboutbywhattheparticipantsinthesituationhadtosay.,3.3M.A.K.HallidaystheoryJustasMalinowskihadinfluencedFirth,thelatter,inreturn,hadgreatimpactonanotherfamouslinguist,M.A.K.Halliday(Halliday,1985)deepenedFirthscontextofsituationintoaspecificanddetailedoneinutteranceandtextinterpretation.Inhisregistertheoryhedescribedcontextasfieldofdiscourse,tenorofdiscourse,andmodeofdiscourse.,Thethreefeaturesofcontextofsituation:,registervariables语域变体,field语场,tenor语旨,mode语式,Thefieldofdiscoursereferstowhatishappening,tothenatureofthesocialactionthatistakingplace.语场指的是正在发生什么事,所进行的社会活动的性质、特点、语言所谈及或描述的是什么。Thetenorofdiscoursereferstowhoistakingpartin,tothenatureofparticipants,theirstatusandroles.语旨指的是谁是交际者,他们的基本情况、特点、地位、角色、关系等。,Themodeofdiscoursereferstowhatpartthelanguageisplaying,whatitisthattheparticipantsexpectthelanguagetodofortheminthesituation.语式指的是语言在交际中所起的作用,包括交际渠道和修饰方式。,Hallidayclaimsthatfield,tenor,andmodeofdiscoursearethethreefeaturesofthecontextofsituationandtheseconceptsenableustogiveacharacterizationofthenatureofanytexts.,3.4HuZhuanglinstheoryHuZhuanglin(1994)classifieditintothreetypes,namelylinguisticcontext;situationalcontextandculturalcontext.linguisticcontext:theinternalenvironmentofatext.situationalcontext:environmentalfactorsinwhichthetextisproduced,theeventsandtheirnature,theparticipantsandtheirrelationship,andwhen,where,howthetextisproduced.,culturalcontext:thehistory,culture,customsandfolkscapableofbeingunderstoodbyspeakersbelongingtoaparticularspeechcommunity.Allthesedefinitions,regardlessoftheirdifferences,basicallysharesomeaspectsincommonthatcontextiscontext-dependentandlanguage-centered.Inotherwords,itisinter-relatedandcontributestotheunderstandingofmeaning.,Part4:Theroleofcontext,4.1.EliminationofambiguityAmbiguityoftenarisesduetopolysemyandhomonymy.Whenawordwithmultiplemeaningsisusedininadequatecontext,itcreatesambiguity,e.g.(1)Johnrantheegg-and-spoonrace.(2)Johnrantheegg-and-spoonraceandgotsecondplace.,ThefirstsentenceisquiteambiguousbecausewehavenowaytodeterminewhetherJohn“participated”intheraceor“organized”theraceasthewordruncanmeanboth.Contrastingly,thesecondsentenceisdefiniteandleavesusnodoubtthatJohntookpartintheracepersonallybecausehegotsecondplace.,Homonymyisanothercauseofambiguityastwoseparatelexemessharethesameform,e.g.(1)Theysawherduck.duckn.“akindofpoultry”orasaverbmeaning“loweronesheadorbodyquickly,dodge”.Bothfitinthesyntacticstructureofthesentence.,(2)Theballwasattractive.Similarly,ballmaymeana“aroundobjecttoplayinagame”aswellasa“dancingparty”.Grammatically,theusageisperfectlyallright.,Thisambiguitycanonlybeeliminatedbyalteringthecontextalittleas“Theysawherduckswimmingintheriver”inthefirstcaseoras“Theballwasattractivewithnicemusicandalotofpeople”inthesecondcase.,4.2IndicationofreferentsEnglishhasalargenumberofdeicticwordssuchasnow/then,here/there,I/you,this/that,whichareoftenusedtoreferdirectlytothepersonal,temporalorlocationalcharacteristicsofthesituation.Withoutclearcontext,thereferencecanbeveryconfusing.Forexample,thewordnowalwaysmeansthetimeofspeaking,naturallyreferringtoapasttimewhenthespeechtookplaceinthepastorapresentmomentiftheaddresserisspeaking.,4.3ProvisionofcluesforinferenceofwordmeaningContextcluesvaryagreatdealbutcanbesummedupasfollows:1)DefinitionOftenwemayfindthattheauthorgivesformaldefinitionimmediatelyafterthenewterm,e.g.Perhapsthemoststartlingtheorytocomeoutofkinesics,thestudyofbodymovement,wassuggestedbyProfessorBird-whistell(Americananthropologist).,2)ExplanationIftheconceptiscomplicatedandmustinvolvetechnicalterminitsdefinition,theauthormightexplaintheideainsimplewords.Thatis,hemightmakearestatementinknownwords,e.g.Itsjustonemoreincredibleresultofthedevelopmentofmicroprocessorsthosetinypartsofacomputercommonlyknownas“siliconchips”.,3)Exemplification例证Insomecases,insteadofgivingaformaldefinitionorexplanation,theauthormayciteanexamplewhichissufficienttothrowlightonthemeaningoftheterm,e.g.ManyUnitedNationsemployeesarepolyglots.Maria,forexample,speaksfivelanguages.,4)SynonymySynonymsorsynonymousexpressionsarefrequentlyemployedbyauthorstoexplainnewwords,e.g.(1)Theirgreatestfearwasofaconflagration,sincefirewoulddestroytheirflimsywoodensettlementbeforehelpcouldarrive.(2)Hediedintestate.Intheabsenceofwillhispropertywasdividedamonghisheirsaccordingtothelawsofthestate.,5)AntonymyContrastingwordsorstatementsarealsocommonlyusedtoexplainunknownwords,e.g.(1)Asthefightingonallfrontsreacheditspeak,theeconomyneareditsnadir.(2)Unlikehergregarioussister,Janeisashy,unsociableperson.,6)HyponymySuperordinatesandsubordinatesoftendefineandexplaineachother,thusforminganimportantcontextclue,e.g.Thevillagehadmostoftheusualamenities:apub,alibrary,apostoffice,avillagehall,amedicalcentre,andaschool.便利设施Ofcourse,onlybyco-hyponyms(e.g.pub,library,school),wemaynotgettheexactmeaning,butweknowatleastthattheybelongtothesamecategoryastherestandthisisadequatebecauseinrealsituationoftenageneralideaissufficient.,7)RelevantdetailsInsomecases,theauthorprovidesdetailsincontextwhicharerelatedtotheunknownword,suchasthefunctions,characteristics,nature,etc.ofthereferent,e.g.Inspiteofthefactthatthefishermenwerewearingsouwesters,thestormwassoheavythattheywerewetthrough.,Finallythemorphemicstructureofwords,especiallycompoundsandderivedwordsofferscluesforinferringthemeaningofunknownwords,e.g.Copernicusbelievedinaheliocentricuniverse,ratherthaninthegeocentrictheory.Ifweknowtheformgeo-asingeographyaswellasthefactthatitisincontrasttohelio-,weshouldnothavemuchdifficultyinguessingthemeaningsofheliocentricandgeocentricwiththehelpofourhistoricalknowledgeofwhatCopernicusadvocated.,Part5:Conclusion,Inanarrowsense,contextreferstothewords,phrasesandsentencesinwhichawordisused.Thisiswhatisknownaslinguisticcontext(语言语境),whichmaybeaparagraph,awholechapterandevenanentirebook.Andthephysical,socialandculturalsetting,etc.areknownasnon-linguisticcontext(非语言语境).,Linguisticcontext,Linguisticcontext(语言语境)referstotherelevanttextordiscourseofwhichasentence,aphrase,awordetc.ispartorwhateverlongertextisrelevanttosamespecificinquiry.HatimandMason(2001:204)definelinguisticcontextas“thetextualenvironmentofalinguisticitem”.,AstheBritishlinguistFirthconcluded:“Eachwordwhenusedinanewcontextisanewword.”(每一个词用在新的语境中就是一个新词。)首先,它意味着一个单词如果脱离了具体的语境便纯粹成了一个符号,但一旦进入语境就获得了意义。其次,一个单词在不同的语境中具有不同的意义,因而完全可以被看作是新词。,例如:(1)Likechargesrepel,unlikechargesattract.相同的电荷相斥,不同的电荷相吸.(2)Helikesmathsmorethanphysics.他喜欢数学甚于喜欢物理学。(3)Inthesunbeampassingthroughthewindowthere