As we know context is the environment of achieving meaning during the process of using language. Once words or sentences are used, the speeches are produced. Every unit of language is applied in the certain situation, it is fictional that any semantic meaning do not happen in any context. Therefore, the relationship between context and meaning is close and important.
Generally, context is divided into two major categories, (i) linguistic context, in terms of, which refers to including the connection between paragraph, sentences, words in the article or the conversation the systemic relationship of the language.(ii)social context, or named social situation, include situation, topic, status of speakers and listeners, communicative relationship, background of culture, etc. Otherwise, when a conversation is ongoing, body language such as wink, facial expression, gesture, playing the role of deputy languages, are involved in social context.
Relationship between meaning and context
(1) Make polysemy to be single-meaning lexeme
Any language in the world, polysemy must be the most common groups, however, which exceed our needs during communicative since we have to deliver a single meaning to make listeners or readers to get the meaning more detail and exact. For Chinese example:
这顿饭没有菜 [ ɀə tun fan mai you tsha:i ] อาหารมื้อนี้ไม่มีผัก
菜[tsha:i ] has two lexical meanings, vegetable and dishes without the context. But if the environment is given, and meanings will be more detail, since the context has the conditions and limitation in selection meaning.
Another example:
“ไก่ไม่กินแล้ว”
We also can have two translations, one is “people do not eat chicken”, another meaning is “the chicken does not eat”. But when we sit around the table, ambiguity will not happen again, the meaning of sentence should be: we do not eat chicken.
The third example:
“ไม่เปิดแอร์เดี๋ยวเราจะร้อนตายเลย”
เรา in Thai is a polysemy which has three lexical meaning, I, we, you. We will not make sure the real detail meaning without the context.
(2) Context supplement the omitted meaning
Context can supplement the meaning which do not appear in the language, so that help listeners to accurately understand the speakers. Such as น้ำ ,water, in the different situation has different meanings. When walk in the night, someone shouting suddenly “น้ำ”, means “mind your step, there is water in the front”; when a patient say “น้ำ” with hoarse voice, it should mean “I want some water to drink”; when in the fire scene, “น้ำ” means need water to stop the fire.
(3) Context give the temporary meaning
Every word, clause or sentence has fixed meaning which are generally accepted in certain society although they have more than one meaning. But in the context, word, clause or sentence can be given the temporary meaning. It is high frequency to happen this kind of phenomenon. The fixed meaning of a word is the summary and abstract of myriad situations during language users using the word. Temporary meaning is a kind of activations, stimulate the semantic feature of word, but what feature can be activated depends on the environment of word occurrence and culture background.
( For Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin) Crying it, Jerusalem.
From semantic feature, “cry” has the semantic feature [+human], but the fixed meaning of “Jerusalem” is “the holy land of Islam, Judaism and Christianity”, a place or a city does not possess the semantic feature [+human], it cannot cry. Since the background that the Jews take Jerusalem as their own territory, and the information that appear in the context, we conclude that “Jerusalem” here hold the temporary meaning “Jews”.
Even one word can have the opposite meaning in different. Such as“เลว”(bad) in Thai. When the girl say “เลว” to the man who she loves, she does not meaning that the man is really bad, but means “good”.
(4) Context has the retraining effect in language selection and using
Social characteristics, culture traditions are important part of social context. The essential nature of language is social feature. Therefore, language use reflect social culture character, users’ culture background can also constrain and influence the language selection. Language using must be not only in accordance with status, age, gender, occupation, education level etc. social factors, but also correspond communicative situations, communication topic, languages should have the coincidence with particular social conventions. Chinese is a implicit nationality, when people propose marriage they will not direct like western people say “I love you” “marry me” this kind of expressions. In the countryside, the girl will use a very tactful way to tell that she agree to marry the man. Such as, “I will cook for you the whole life”.
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