英语词汇学 第八章

.,英语词汇学Chapter8Meaningandcontext词义和语境,.,8.1TypesofContext语境的类型,Inanarrowsense,itreferstothewords,clauses,sentencesinwhichawordappears.Thisisknownaslinguisticcontextwhichmaycoveraparagraph,awholechapterandeventheentirebook.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。Inabroadsense,itincludesthephysicalsituationaswell.Thisiscalledextra-linguisticornon-linguisticcontext,whichembracesthepeople,time,place,andeventhewholeculturalbackground.从广义上讲，语境还包括物理环境，这称为非语言语境，包括人物、时间、地点，甚至包括整个文化背景。,.,8.1.1Extra-linguisticContext非语言语境,Whenwetalkaboutcontext,weusuallythinkoflinguisticcontext,hardlyawareofthenon-linguisticcontextsituation,whichcanoftenexercisegreaterinfluenceonthemeaningofwordsthanwerealize.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。,.,8.1.2linguisticcontext,Linguisticcontextcanbesubdividedintolexicalcontextandgrammaticalcontext.语言语境还可再分为词汇语境和语法语境。LexicalcontextThiscontextreferstothewordsthatoccurtogetherwiththewordinquestion.Themeaningofthewordisoftenaffectedanddefinedbytheneighbouringwords.这种语境是指与讨论中的词一起出现的单词。这个词的意义经常受邻近词的影响，并被其定义。,.,GrammaticalcontextInsomecases,themeaningsofawordmaybeinfluencedbythestructureinwhichitoccurs.Thisiswhatwecallgrammaticalcontext.在有些情况下，一个词的意义可能受其所在结构的影响，这便是我们所称的语法语境。,.,8.2TheRoleofContext:语境的作用,1.EliminationofAmbiguity.Ambiguityoftenarisesduetopolysemyandhomonymy.消除歧义。由于词的多义词和同音同形异义性，歧义现象经常出现。Grammaticalstructurecanalsoleadtoambiguity.语法结构也会引起歧义。,.,8.2.2IndicationofReferents.限定所指,.,8.2.3ProvisionofCluesforInferringWord-meaning提供推断词义的线索,Inmanycases,whenanewword(thoughttobe)appearsforthefirsttime,theauthorgenerallymanagestogivehintswhichmighthelpthereaderstograsptheconceptorunderstandtheidea.在很多情形中，当一个新词（所谓的）第一次出现时，作者一般会想方设法提供一些可能帮助读者抓住概念或理解观点的暗示。Contextcluesvaryagreatdealbutcanbesummedupasfollows:语境线索虽然差异很大，但能被归纳如下：,.,1)Definition.定义Oftenwefindthattheauthorgivesformaldefinitionimmediatelyafterthenewterm。我们经常发现作者在新词出现之后马上给出正式的定义。,.,2)Explanation.诠释Iftheconceptiscomplicatedandmustinvolvetechnicaltermsinitsdefinition,theauthormightexplaintheideainsimplewords.Thatis,hemightmakearestatementinknownwords.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。,.,3)Example.举例Insomecases,insteadofgivingaformaldefinitionorexplanation,theauthormayciteanexamplewhichissufficienttothrowlightonthemeaningoftheterm.在有些情况下，作者可能会引述一个足以阐明该词意义的例子，而不是给出一个正式的定义或解释。,.,4)Synonymy.同义词关系Synonymsorsynonymousexpressionsarefrequentlyemployedbyauthorstoexplainnewwords.作家们频繁地使用同义词或同义词组来解释新词。,.,5)Antonymy.反义关系Contrastingwordsorstatementsarealsocommonlyusedtoexplainunknownwords.对立的词或陈述也常被用来解释未知的词。,.,6)Hyponymy.上下义关系Superordinatesandsubordinatesoftendefineandexplaineachother,thusforminganimportantcontextclue.上义词和下义词经常互相定义和解释，因而形成了一个重要的语境线索。,.,7)Relevantdetails.相关细节Insomecontexts,theauthorprovidesdetailsrelatingtotheunknownword,suchasthefunctions,characteristics,nature,etc.ofthereferent.在有些语境中，作者提供了与未知词相关的细节，诸如功能、特性、本质等。油布长雨衣,.,8)Wordstructu