从关联理论的角度看翻译中的语境问题 英语学专业

从关联理论的角度看翻译中的语境问题[Abstract]SperberandWilsonfirstputforwardtheRelevanceTheory,whichexplainslinguisticactivitiesintheframeworkofcognition.TheirstudentErnst-AugustGuttappliedittotranslationstudiesandgotanencouragingresult.Hepointedoutthattranslationisnotonlyacommunicativeactivity,butalsoacognitiveactivity.Contextplaysaveryimportantroleinourunderstandingoftheutteranceandtext.Asuccessfultranslationrequiresthetranslatortoreasonaccordingtothedynamiccontext,whichdependssomuchontherelevanceofthelanguageandenvironment.Infact,theprocessoftranslationisaprocessofcontextreasoningandselecting,whichisalwaysdynamicanddevelopingasthecircumstanceschange.Duringtheprocessoftranslation,themaintaskoftranslatoristofindouttherelevance,especiallytheoptimalrelevancebetweenthelanguageandcontext.Accordingtotheprincipleoftheoptimalrelevance,thetranslatorcouldunderstandtheoriginaltextcorrectly,andthentranslateitintotargetlanguageappropriatelybycomposingandreasoningthemostsuitablecontext.Discussingoncontextintheperspectiveofrelevancetheoryprovidesanewviewtostudyandpracticetranslation.

[KeyWords]Translation;communication;relevancetheory;optimalrelevance;cognitivecontext;dynamiccontext【摘要】关联理论是由SperberandWilson最早提出的，它从认知的角度解释了许多的语言活动。随后，Wilson的学生Gutt最早把这一理论运用于翻译研究中，并取得突破性的进展。他还指出，翻译不仅仅是一项交际活动，更是一项认知活动。在我们理解一段话语或文字的时候，语境往往起着非常重要的作用。成功的翻译往往要求翻译者能够根据动态语境进行推理，而动态语境又依赖于语言与环境的关联。实际上，翻译的过程就是一个语境推理和选择的动态的，不断发展的过程。因此，在翻译的过程中，译者的主要任务就是找出语言与语境之间的关联，特别是最佳关联。根据最佳关联理论，翻译者就能通过构建最适合的语境，准确地理解源语文章，并且比较贴切地把它翻译成目的语。因此，从语用关联的角度探讨语境问题为我们的翻译研究和翻译实践提供了一个全新的视角。

【关键词】翻译；交际活动；关联理论；最佳关联；认知语境；动态语境

1.Introduction

Translationisnotonlyalinguisticactivitythattransformsthemeaningfromonelanguagetoanotherwithwordsasitsmedium,butalsoacomplicatedthinkingactivitythatcontainsmanylinguisticandnon-linguisticcomponents.Somanyproblemsontranslationmaynotbesolvedbytheonlylinguisticapproach.Afterthebirthofpragmatics,manytranslationscholarsapplieditintotheresearchoftranslationstudiesandgotsomeencouragingresults.Becausepragmaticsstudiesfocusontherelationsbetweenlanguageandcontext,thepragmaticapproachoftranslationemphasizesontherelationsbetweentextandcontext.Inthisway,pragmaticsprovidesusanewandbeneficialviewtostudytranslation.

TheBritishlinguistsMalinowskioriginallyputforwardtheword“context”in1920s.Fromthenon,manylinguistselaboratedcontextfrommanydifferentperspectivesandtheyhadaconsensusthatcontextisveryimportanttounderstandtheutteranceandtext.Thoughmanylinguistsandtranslationscholarshadknowntheimportanceofcontextandhadputmucheffortintocontextstudies,thetraditionalcontextstudiesregardcontextasastatic,isolatedandfixedsituation.

Accordingtomanylinguistsandtranslators,translationisaveryspecialkindofcommunicationthatdoesnotalwayshappenamongpeoplefacetoface,anditdependsmuchonthecontext.Understandingthesemanticmeaningofatextisnotsufficient,comprehendingthecontextualmeaningisalsoveryimportantforgoodtranslation.Communicationisacontinuousanddynamicprocessofchangesanddevelopment,andsoiscontext.Translatorsdonotengageinthemeretranslationofwords;donottranslateaccordingtothosestaticandfixedcontextualelements,theirinterpretiveactsdealwithreasoningandexplorationofsituationsthatareconstitutedbyanintenseinteractionoflinguistic,psychological,anthropological,andculturalphenomena.[1]Inthisway,adynamiccontextthatdependssomuchontherelevanceofthelanguageandenvironmentisestablishedintheprocessoftranslating.Soduringtheprocessoftranslation,themaintaskoftranslatoristofindouttherelevance,especiallytheoptimalrelevancebetweenthelanguageandcontext.2.

RelevanceTheoryandOptimalRelevance

2.1.RelevanceTheory

LinguistsSperberandWilsonfirstputforwardtheRelevanceTheoryinthefamouslinguisticwork“Relevance:CommunicationandCognition”,whichexplainslinguisticactivitiesintheframeworkofcognition.IntheRelevanceTheory,thecommunicationincludingverbalandnon-verbalcommunicativeactivitiesisregardedasacognitiveactivity,anditssuccessdependsontheconsensustowardsincognitiveenvironmentbetweenbothsidesofcommunication.Thecognitiveenvironmentalwaysincludeslexicalmeaning,encyclopedicknowledgeandlogicalinformation.Tohaveasuccessfulcommunication,thesearchfortheconsensusandrelevanceisthemostimportant.Accordingtothisconsensusandtherelevance,peoplecanunderstandtheintentionandpurposeofthespeakerortheauthoreasily.SperberandWilsonalsosuggestedthattheunderstandingoftheutteranceisnotonlyareasoningprocess,butalsoaprocessofostensiveinference.Traditionally,therearetwomodelsofcommunication.Oneisthecodedmodelthatregardslanguageasacodesystem.Andinthecodedmodel,thecommunicationisaprocessofcodestransformation.Theotheroneisinferentialcommunicationthatdependsmuchonthecontextreasoning.Therefore,tounderstandtheutterance,especiallythoseculture-orientedutterances,simplycodinganddecodingisfarlessthanenough.Bothofthemodelsonlypartiallyexplainthecommunication,butcannotrevealthenatureofcommunication,whichismorecomplicatedthanjustcodinganddecoding.SperberandWilsoncombinedthesetwomodels,andthenadvancedtheconceptof“Ostensive-InferentialCommunication”,inwhichthecommunicationisregardedasaninferentialprocess,andcontextinferenceplaysanimportantroleinit.“Strictlyspeaking,relevancetheoryappliednottoallcommunicationinthesenseofanykindofinformationtransfer,butto‘ostensivecommunication’or,moreexplicitly,to‘Ostensive-InferentialCommunication’:‘ostensive-inferentialcommunicationconsistsinmakingmanifesttoanaudienceone’sattentiontomakemanifestabasiclayerofinformation’,thisbasiclayerofinformationbeingthecommunicator’sinformativeintention.”[2]

2.2.Relevanceanddegreeofrelevance

Incommunication,thesamesentencealwayshasdifferentunderstandingsunderdifferentconditions.Thesedifferentunderstandingsarenotarousedbythewordmeaning,butbymanyothernon-verbalfactors,suchastime,place,socialbackground,statusandintentionofthespeakerortheauthor.Usually,peoplecannotunderstandthesefactors,sopeoplecannotunderstandtherealmeaningofasentenceandmanymisunderstandingsoccur.Sometimes,peoplecannotimmediatelyrelatethesefactorstothecertainutteranceandthecommunicationisblocked.Sopeopleneedtoknowhowthetworelatetoeachotherandhowtoreasonandunderstandthemeaningofanutterance.Thuspeopleintroducethenotionofrelevance,whichSperberandWilsondefineintermsofthefollowingconditions:

Extentcondition1:anassumptionisrelevantinacontexttotheextentthatitscontextualeffectsinthiscontextarelarge.

Extentcondition2:anassumptionisrelevantinacontexttotheextentthateffortrequiredtoprocessitinthiscontextissmall.[3]

Thusweseefirstlythatrelevanceisdependentontheinterplayoftwofactors:contextualeffectsandprocessingeffort,whicharecrucialfactorsthatmakeinferentialcommunicationpossible.Secondly,sinceboththesefactorsarecontext-dependent,thenotionof“relevance”itselfiscontext-dependent,too.Thirdly,relevanceiscomparativenotion----utterancescanvaryaccordingtothedegreeofrelevancetheyachieveinsomecontext.[4]

AccordingtoSperberandWilson,thedegreeofrelevancedependsonthecontextualeffectsandprocessingeffort.However,thecontextualeffectscannotbeachievedeasily.Evenifpeopleputinalotofprocessingeffort,theymaynotachievethesufficientcontextualeffects.Theachievementofcontextualeffectsalwaysdependsonthefollowingfactors:thecomplexityofanutterance,theexplicationofthecontextandprocessingeffortthataremadetoreasonthecontextualeffects.Intheframeworkofrelevancenotallthecontextualimplicationsofagivenpropositioncanbeeasytoobtain.Thosederivedfromsmall,easilyaccessiblecontextswillberelativelycheapinprocessingterms.Thosederivedfromlarge,lesseasilyaccessiblecontextswillberelativelyexpensiveinprocessingterms,becauseoftheadditionaleffortrequiredtoputintoreasoningandselectingthemostsuitablecontexttothecertaincontext.Sotheuniversalaimincontextprocessingistoobtainthemaximumofcontextualimplicationinreturnforanyprocessingeffortexpended.

Butrelevanceisacomparativeconcept,foritcontrastswiththecontextanddependsonthecontext;andalsoitisdecidedbythecommunicators’cognitivecapacityandenvironment,sothedegreeofrelevancecanbeclassifiedasmaximallyrelevant,veryrelevant,weaklyrelevantandirrelevant.Lookatthefollowingexamples:

(1)

A:Howlongdidtheconferencelast?

B:Twohours.

Inthisdialogue,thecontextualeffectismaximal,theprocessingeffortsareminimal,therelevanceisthestrongest,sowecansaythatthedialoguehasaveryclearcontext,andneedlittleprocessingefforts.Andtheutteranceandcontextaremaximallyrelevant.

(2)

A:Iamoutofpetrol.

B:Thereisagaragearoundthecorner.

Inthedialogueabove,sentenceAactuallymeans,“WherecanIbuypetrol?”AndsentenceBmeansthat“Youcanbuypetrolinthegarage”.Inthiscase,sentenceAandBseemsirrelevant,but“wecanbuypetrolinthegarage”isacommonsensethateverybodyknowsit.Westillcanunderstandtheutterance,butitneedshearersmoreprocessingeffortsthanthefirstexample.Soitisstillaveryrelevantutterance.

(3)

A:Thehostessisanawfulbore.Doyouthinkso?

B:Therosesarelovely,aren’tthey?

Inthiscase,BgivesacompletelyirrelevantanswertoA,andgivesnoinformationaboutquestion.Theanswerseemsirrelevantsemantically,whileithasrelevancepragmatically.Inthistime,toobtaincertaincontextualeffects,lotsofprocessingeffortsneeded,andthentheutterancewillhaveaspecialconversationmeaning:let’snottalkaboutthehostesshereandnow.

2.3.Principleofrelevanceandoptimalrelevance

Thelinguisticcommunicationisrelevance-oriented,and“cost”and“benefit”aretwoimportantfactorsinthisprocess.Allofthe“cost”and“benefit”ofbothcommunicatorsarealltakenintoaccount.However,whetheranutterancehasadequaterelevance,manyfactorssuchastheexpressionstylesofanutterance,thehearer’scognitiveenvironment,intellectualandsensibility,shouldbetakenintoaccount.“Thedifferentdegreesofaccessibilityofcontextualassumptionsmakethemselvesfeltbytheamountofefforttheirretrievalrequiresinaparticularactofcommunication.Thissensibilitytoprocessingeffortisoneofthecrucialfactorsthatmakeinferentialcommunicationpossible:itseemsthatcommunication,nodoubtlikemanyotherhumanactivities,isdeterminedbythedesireofoptimizationofresources,andoneaimofoptimizationistokeeptheeffortspenttoaminimum.”[5]Duringtheprocessoftheostensivecommunication,bothcommunicatorstrytheirbesttolookfortheoptimalrelevanceofthespeaker’sutteranceandthehearer’scognitiveenvironment,tryingtomakesuccessfulcommunication.Butwhatistheoptimalrelevance?AndSperberandWilsondefined“thepresumptionofoptimalrelevance”asfollows:

(a)Theostensivestimulusisthemostrelevantenoughforittobeworththeaddressee’sefforttoprocessit.

(b)Theostensivestimulusisthemostrelevantonecompatiblewiththecommunicator’sabilitiesandpreferences.[6]

“Thecentralclaimofrelevancetheoryisthathumancommunicationcruciallycreatesanexpectationofoptimalrelevance,thatis,anexpectationonthepartofthehearerthathisattemptatinterpretationwillyieldadequatecontextualeffectsatminimalprocessingcost.Thisfactisbelievedtobepartofyourhumanpsychology,andisexpressedinrelevancetheoryastheprincipleofrelevance:

Everyactofostensivecommunicationcommunicatesthepresumptionofitsownoptimalrelevance.”[7]

Otherwise,notalltheostensivestimuluscanobtaintheoptimalrelevance.Ifandonlyifanutteranceachievesenoughcontextualeffectthatcanattractthehearer’sattention,andifandonlyifanutterancemakesthehearerneednogratuitousmentaleffort,theoptimalrelevancecanbeobtained.Thatis,toobtaintheoptimalrelevance,thespeakerimplicitlyandautomaticallyconveystheassumptionthatthehearercanexpecttoderiveadequatecontextualeffectswithoutspendingunnecessaryefforts.[8]

Inthesearchforadequatecontextualeffects,thehearerwillalsoassumethatitisnotbeingputtoanygratuitousexpenditureofprocessingeffort.Anditofferstheanswertothequestion:howdoesahearermanagetoselecttherightsetofcontextualassumptionsfromallheknows?“Inthepursuitofoptimalrelevanceitturnsfirsttohighlyaccessibleinformation,lookingforadequatecontextualeffects;ifthisinformationdoesyieldcontextualeffectsadequatetotheoccasioninawaythespeakercouldforeseen,thenitwillassumethatithasusedtheright,thatis,speaker-intended,contextualinformation.”[9]

Peoplecannotgivetherelevanceacleardefinition.Whenpeopledefinitetherelevance,theynotonlyshouldthinkaboutcontextualeffects,butalsoshouldthinkabouttheprocessingeffortthatthehearershaveputinto.Thatis,therelevanceistheresultoftheinterplaysofthecontextualeffectsandprocessingefforts.Inotherwords,iftheprocessingeffortisminimalwhilethecontextualeffectsaremaximal,theutterancehastheoptimalrelevanceandvisevisa.Therelevancetheoryisbasedontheeconomicalprinciple.Duringtheprocessofthecommunication,peoplealwayshopethattheycanobtainasmuchcontextualeffectaspossiblewithaslittleprocessingeffortaspossible.3.Discussiononcontextintheperspectiveoftherelevancetheory

3.1.Importanceanddefinitionsofcontext

Translationisthereplacementofcontextualmeaningsinonelanguagebytheequivalentmeaningsinanotherlanguage.Unlikeotherkindsofcommunicativeactivities,translationbasesonthetexts,whichisquitedifferentfromconversations.Intranslation,theword“text”isusedtorefertoanarticle,orthemainbodyofabook,whichreferstotheoriginaltextorthetranslatedtext.Andatextisnotisolated,foritalwaysstaysinarelevantlanguageenvironmentthatwenameit“context”.Contextisveryimportanttotranslation.Generallyspeaking,textexistswithincontextandcontextalwaysaccompaniestext.Itisthecontextthatmakesthetextcometolife.

Nowthatcontextplayssoimportantaroleintranslation,beforefurtherthediscussion,themostimportantthingistomakeclearaquestion:whatiscontext?InEnglish,“context”originatedfromtheLatinword“contextus”,whichmeans,“ajoiningtogether”.AccordingtotheWebster’sNewWorldDictionaryoftheAmericanLanguage,contextmeans“thepartsofasentence,paragraph,discourseetc,immediatelynexttoorsurroundingaspecifiedwordorpassageanddeterminingitsexactmeaning.”Italsorefersto“thewholesituation,background,orenvironmentrelevanttoaparticularevent,personality,creationetc.”[10]Thesearethedictionarymeaningsofcontext,andonthebasisofthem,manylinguistsandtranslationscholarsdevelopedtheirowndefinitionofcontext.

Somesimplyusetheword“context”;someprefertheterm“situationalcontext”,“contextofsituation”,andsomeothersproposesuchtermsas“contextofculture”,“contextofutterance”.Besides,quiteafewpersonschoosetheword“environment”andproposesometermslikethefollowing:languageenvironment,pragmaticenvironment,socialenvironment,naturalenvironmentetc.Upuntilnow,themeaningofcontextisextendedtoalargescale,butnocleardefinitionshavebeengivento.[11]

Althoughpeoplehavenotyetcometoagreementonusingtheterm“context”,allthepeopleknowtheimportanceofcontextinunderstandingthetext,especiallyintranslation.Manytranslatorsrealizethatoneshouldneverunderstandasinglewordwithoutconsideringitscontext.Hereisasimpleillustrationmaymakethepointclear.

(4)“Outinthewestwheremenaremen”.Thesetwo“men”willdefinitelypuzzlemanypeopleifthebackgroundorthesituationofthisphraseusedisnotclear.Andifpeopledonotknowthatthis“west”refertothewesternpartoftheUnitedStates,theywillnotbeabletoknowthatthesecond“men”refertoChineseword“男子汉”aswellas“cowboys”whoareasortofmenworkingonhorseback,employedtolookaftercattleintheWesternpartoftheUnitedStates.

Inaword,contextisasystematicconstructconsistingoflinguisticandnon-linguisticfactorsdeterminingtheunderstandingandinterpretationoftext.Furthermore,bothlinguisticandnon-linguisticcontextarecomposedofvariouskindsofcontextualfactors,suchaslanguagesystems,geographicalfactors,socialbackgroundsandculturedifferencesetc.

3.2.Classificationsofcontext

Traditionally,peopleclassifycontextindifferentperspectives.Somejustsimplyclassifyitaslinguisticcontextornon-linguisticcontext.Linguisticcontextisalwaysrelevanttothephonology,lexicology,grammar,semantics,pragmatics,rhetoric,logic,discoursesetc.Andnon-linguisticcontextalwaysconsistsofsocialenvironment(includingculture,customs,socialbackground,etc)andnaturalenvironment(includingtime,place,audience,etc).

LinguistsDurantiandGoodwinsuggestthatcontextconsistsoftext,situation,behaviorenvironment,andimmediatebackgroundknowledge.Textreferstophrasecontext,sentencecontextanddiscoursecontextthatarecloselyrelatedtolinguisticfactors.Situationrefersto“spaceandframeworkoflanguagecommunication”,whichisalsocalledsituationalcontext.Utterancefeaturesrefertothecodeofcommunicators.[12]Inbi-linguisticandmulti-linguisticsociety,peopleintentionallytransferlanguagecodestoachievetheirpurposeofcommunication.Gumperzgivesutterancefeaturesanothername,whichisconceptualizationcues,includingstress,intonation,rhythm,smile,habitualexpressionsandsoon.Behaviorenvironmentreferstothegesturesandbodylanguagesthatcommunicatorsusetoexpresstheirmeaningsandfeelings.Immediatebackgroundknowledgereferstoencyclopedicknowledge,accidentsandtheusageofbackgroundknowledge.[13]

Onthebasisofpreciousclassification,ChenZhi’angandWenxumadeagoodconclusion.Theyclassifiedcontextasfollows:①broad-sensedcontextandnarrow-sensedcontext②situationcontextandtext③objectivecontextandsubjectivecontext④implicitcontextandexplicitcontext⑤actualcontextandinventedcontext⑥verbalcontextandnon-verbalcontext.[14]

Inabroadsense,contextreferstothewholenatural,socialandculturalbackgroundthatrelevanttocommunication,anditisthe“bigcontext”;inanarrowsense,contextisthe“smallcontext”whichreferstolinguisticcontext,includingwords,sentences,paragraphs,discoursesandgrammars.Situationcontextmeansrealsituationthatlinguisticactivitieshappenin,includingcommunicators,time,place,topic,medium,theformalityofcommunicationandsoon.Subjectivecontextreferstocommunicators’subjectivefactors,suchaspersonality,interest,feelingandmood;objectivecontextreferstotheobjectiveexistenceintheobjectiveworld,whichismadeoftheplaceandtimeofcommunication,andvariouscomplicatedsocialandculturalenvironment.Explicitcontextisthelinguisticandnon-linguisticenvironmentthatobviouslyshowsinthecommunication,includingtime,place,audiencestyleetc;implicitcontextisthehiddenmeaningandencyclopedicknowledgethatisrelatedtobuthiddenfromtherealsituation.Actualcontextistherealenvironmentofcommunication,whileinventedcontextisthefabricatedenvironmentthatalwaysappearsinfictionsandpoems.Verbalcontextisthecontextthatexpressesinlanguage,andnon-verbalcontextalwaysreferstogesturesandbodylanguages.

Fromtheaboveclassifications,onecaneasilyfindthatdifferentclassificationshavemanysimilaritiesandoverlaps.Bothoftheseclassificationsarereasonableinsomeaspects,butimperfectinsomeotheraspects,sowecannotsaywhichoneisbetterthananother.Butalloftheseinterpretationsofcontextarestaticandfixed,andallofthecontextualcomponentsareregardedasstatic,fixedandisolated.Asthedeepeningofthecontextstudy,asthecombinationofthecontextstudyandcommunicationstudy,traditionalandstaticcontextstudycannotmeettheneedsofdevelopingcommunicationanymore.Peopleneedtodiscusscontextinanewperspective.3.3.Discussiononcontextintheperspectiveofpragmaticsandrelevance

3.3.1.Staticcontextanddynamiccontext

Aswhatisdiscussedabove,thetraditionalviewsofcontextarestaticandfixed.Butthestaticstudyoncontextcannotmeettheneedofdynamiccommunicationprocess.AccordingtoThomas,meaningisnotfixedonlydecidedbywords,andthespeakeralonealsodoesnotarouseit;meaningisdynamicanditdependsonthenegotiationofcommunicators.Andsheconsideredthepragmaticsas“thestudyofinteractivemeaning”.Inherview,contextisdynamicandchangingallthetimeaccordingtoallthefactorsrelevanttocommunication.[15]Mostofthecontextualfactorsaredeveloping,andallthedevelopingfactorswouldprobablybecometheelementsofcontext.

Asweallknow,therearemanycomponentsformingthecontext,andthesecontextualcomponentsare“thepoolofsharedknowledge”,whichareveryimportanttounderstandtheutteranceortext.Butnotallthecontextualcomponentscanbeseenascontext,onlythosecloselyrelatetothecurrentcommunicationcanformthecontext.ProfessorLiuHuanhuipointedoutthatalltheprobablecontextualcomponents,objectiveorsubjective,wouldnotformthecontextiftheylosetherelevancetothelinguisticcommunication.”.[16]

Commonly,peopleregardthelinguisticcommunicationasarprocessofcircular,whichalltheparticipatorsplaytherolesofspeakerandheareralternatively.ButFrankDancesuggestedthattheprocessofcommunicationisaprocessoftwistingascendance,andthelinguisticcommunicationisacontinuouslydevelopingprocess.[17]Everysuccessininformationandmeaningtransformationmeansthatthecommunicationwouldbeuptoanewheight.Otherwise,ifaparticipatordoesnotunderstandormisunderstandoftheotherparticipator’sintentionalmeaning,thecommunicationwouldbeblockedordrawnback.Inanotherword,thelinguisticcommunicationisdynamic,thepreciousinformationistheforewordofthelatterinformation,andthenthelatterinformationbecomestheforewordofthenextlatterinformation.Inthisway,thecontextischangingasthecommunicationisdeveloping.Hence,contextisadynamicconceptaswellascommunication.

Intheperspectiveofpragmatics,“staticcontextisbynomeansunimportant,butweattachémoreimportancetodynamiccontext,becausecommunicationisbasedoninteractivemeaninggenerationandinterpretationontheonehand,andondynamicnegotiationandinterpretationofcontextontheother,andallcommunicationstartsfromacertainrelevantgivencontext,andfollowingtheostensive-inferencemodel,dynamicallyandeffectivelyarrivesattheinvisibleimplicitpremiseandimplicitconclusion.”[18]Actually,theprocessofunderstandinganutteranceoratextisaprocessofcontextpropositionandselection.Thehearershouldselectsomerelevantcontextualcomponentstoformacommunicationenvironmentwithinlimitedtime,sothatonecanunderstandtheutteranceortextmorequicklyandeffectively.

Undertheframeworkofdynamiccontext,contextisnotstaticallyseenasthepoolofsharedknowledgerelatingtoanutterance,butseenasacontinuouslydevelopingprocess,whichreflectsthedynamicrelationsbetweencommunicatorsandenvironment.Ononehand,thecommunicatorsshouldberestrictedbycontext,thatis,anutteranceismeaningfulonlyifitcanadjusttoacertaincontext.Ontheotherhand,thecommunicatorscanintentionallymanipulatethecontextualcomponentstoformacontextthatisbeneficialtotheirlinguisticcommunication.Inotherwords,thecommunicatorsarenotonlycontrolledbycontext,theyalsocontroltext.

3.3.2.Cognitivecontext

Intheperspectiveofrelevancetheory,contextisapsychologicalconcept:“Acontextisapsychologicalconstruct,asubsetofthehearer’sassumptionsabouttheworld.”[19]Soinrelevancetheory,contextdoesnotrefertosomepartofexternalenvironmentofthecommunicators,beitprecedingorfollowinganutterance,situationalcircumstances,culturalfactors,naturalandsocialenvironment,etc;itratherreferstopartoftheir“assumptionsabouttheworld”orcognitiveenvironment,asitiscalled.Sothecognitivecontextdiscussescontextintheperspectiveofrelevancetheoryandundertheframeworkofcognition.Thenotionof‘cognitivecontext’takesintoaccountthevariousexternalfactorsbutplacestheemphasisontheinformationtheyprovidedanditsmentalavailabilityfortheinterpretationprocess.[20]AccordingtoSperberandWilson,“thecognitivecontextofapersoncomprisesapotentiallyhugeamountofveryvariedinformation.Itincludesinformationthatcanbeperceivedinthephysicalenvironment,informationthatcanberetrievedfrommemory----initselfavaststoreofinformation,includinginformationderivingfromprecedingutterancesplusanyculturaloranyotherknowledgestoredthere----andfurthermoreinformationthatcanbeinferredfromthosetwosources.”[21]Sinceanyofthisinformationcouldserveasthepotentialcontext,themostimportantquestionforasuccessfulcommunicationis:howthehearersortranslatorsmanagetoselecttheactual,speaker-intendedassumptionsfromamongalltheassumptionstheycoulduseformtheirenvironment?Lookatthefollowingexamples:

(5).A:Doyoulikerugby?

B:IamaNewZealander.

Int