• 3.Conveying emotional overtones • O grim-look’d night! O night with hue so black! O night,which ever art when day is not! O night! O night! Alack,alack,alack! • Thou wall,O wall,O sweet and lovely wall, • Show me thy chink, to blink through with mine eyne.Thanks courteous wall: Jove • Shield thee well for this!
• Do you think he will? • I don’t know.He might. • I suppose he ought,but perhaps he feels he can’t. • Well,his brothers have.They perhaps think he needn’t. • Perhaps eventually he may.I think he should,and I very mush hope he will.
Unit 5
Pragmatic Meaning of Words
Meaning and Context
• 1.Lexical context • a.Reform is becoming the most important story of this generation. • b.Some reporters broke the story. • c.He’ll be happy if that story holds up. • d.The Rita Hayworth story is of the saddest. • e.A young man came to Scott’s office with a story.
• “THE?” • “THE.”Returned the instrument maker.Upon that he whistled as he filled his glass,and seemed that they were making a holiday indeed.(Charles Dickens,Dombey and Son) • Note:a strong white wine produced in the island of Maderia. • “Some chicken,some neck!” • Out in the Wl,through whom I see no bliss; • Curs’d be thy stones for thus deceiving me • (Shakespeare,Midsummer Night’s Dream)
• 2.Grammatical context • get+n.;get+adj.;get+n+adj.;get+inf.;get+n+i nf. • 3.Textual /Discourse context • “How goes it?”asked Captain Cuttle. • “All well,”said Mr Gills,pushing the bottle towards him. He took it up,and having surveyed and smelt it,said with extraodinary expression:
The Role of context in deciding word meaning
• • • • 1.Eliminating ambiguities He finally reached the bank. a.He is astrong swimmer anyway. b.He took out some money and then hurried home. • 2.Specifying refernts and the range of meaning