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题
目Analysis of the contextual meaning of
English
Word
作 者
张 芳 丹
层 次 本
科
专 业 英 语
学 号
指导教师
×年×月×日
××大学成人高等教育
毕业论文（设计）评审表
姓名
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指导老师
论文题目
〔摘要〕
As is known to us, the
context is the
environment that the word is
used , it often determines
the exact meaning
of words. Nowadays, more and more
words
appear to express new concepts with the
development of the science and technology. But
not
every concept has its own word. Therefore,
many common
words are used to express some new
concepts, then a
common word has its special
meaning due to the place
where it is used,
namely contextual meaning. In this
paper, the
author divides context into two parts:
figures
of speech, culture. The analysis on contextual
meaning of English words is able to provide a
clue for
understanding the meaning of English
words used in some
special context rightly as
well as to avoid
embarrassment caused by
interpreting a word literally.
性别 女
专业
学号
英语
年 月 日 答辩（或完成）日期
Analysis of the contextual meaning of English
Word
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注：此表一式二份，与学籍表一起进入学员毕业档案
××大学
毕业设计（论文）任务书
学院
学生姓名： 学号： 专业： 英语
1
设计（论文）题目及专题：
Analysis of the contextual meaning
of English Word
2 学生设计（论文）时间：自 年 月
日开始至 年 月 日止
3 设计（论文）所用资源和参考资料：
〔1〕Nida , E .A . Language in Culture and
Society. New York : Harper&Row . 1964.
(the
whole book)
〔2〕Ogden, C. K and Richard, I. A. The Meaning
of Meaning 〔M〕. London: Rout ledge
and Kegan
PAUL. 1923. (the whole book)
〔3〕Saeed, J. I. Semantics. Oxford: Blackwell.
1997. (from page 53 to 132)
〔4〕胡壮麟.语言学教程〔M〕.北京：北京大学出版社.2005.6 (the whole
book)
〔5〕何伟.英语语篇中的时态研究. 北京大学出版社.2008.2
(from page 50 to 193)
4 设计（论文）完成的主要内容：
Ⅰ． Contextual Meaning and Figures of
Speech
Ⅱ.
Contextual Meaning and Culture
5 提交设计（论文）形式 （设计说明与图纸或论文等）及要求：
〔1〕要求认真、独立完成毕业论文（设计）的写作
〔2〕要求按照学校规定的论文（设计）格式撰写论文（设计）
〔3〕要求及时同指导老师进行沟通，按步骤完成论文（设计）的写作和答辩工作。
6 发题时间： 年 月 日
指导教师： （签
名）
学 生：
（签名）
Analysis of the contextual meaning of
English Words
张芳丹
Abstract
As is known to us,
the context is the environment that the word is
used,
it often determines the exact meaning of
words. Nowadays, more and more
words appear
to express new concepts with the development of
the science
and technology. But not every
concept has its own word. Therefore, many
common words are used to express some new
concepts, then a common word
has its special
meaning due to the place where it is used, namely
contextual meaning. In this paper, the author
divides context into two
parts: figures of
speech, culture. The analysis on contextual
meaning
of English words is able to provide a
clue for understanding the meaning
of English
words used in some special context rightly as well
as to avoid
embarrassment caused by
interpreting a word literally.
Key Words
English words; context;
contextual meaning
Ⅰ． Contextual Meaning
and Figures of Speech
Ti is known to
all that language is the means of communication.
In communication,
figurative language is often
employed by writers or speakers to make his idea
concrete and vivid. A fresh, proper figure of
speech can appeal to the imagination,
create
mental picture and make the speech or writing
vivid, impressive and
interesting. English, as
a communication device, are full of figures of
speech.
Most of figures of speech are based on
resemblance in image. They may be direct
or
implied comparison, likening inanimate objects to
people or addressing them as
such. Some
figures of speech are based on the association
between the things and
people, between the
part and the whole, or between opposite things,
etc. others
come into being through usage,
proverbial relationship or exaggeration. To
English learner, what matter after all
is not exactly how many
kinds of figures of
speech there are in English language, but
how
well one can learn to understand and even make use
of them.
Words to an essay are bricks to a
building, or molecules to
a substance, small
as they are, unimportant they are not, to
some
extent, the figures of speech can be treated as
the
contexts of English word. Therefore, in
order to study the
contextual meaning of
English words which used figuratively.
So the
author in this paper analyzes some common figures
of
speech context in English language.
A. Metonymy
As we know the
name of an object or concept are often replaced
with some other words related to or suggested
by the original,
so the original of course has
its contextual meaning. Here is
an example for
illustration:
The
Cross
, the
Crown
, the
Scales
may all
As
we have been the
Sword
----
Robert
Frast
In this sentence, the Cross does
not mean a shape like an
upright post with a
bar cross it, but stand for the Christian
religion; the Crown is not a circular
decoration usually made
of gold with jewels in
it, which a king or queen wears on their
head,
but represent power; the Scales is not a machine
for
weighing things, but stand for trade.
Another example as
followings may be much
clearer.
Whenever you come into a DIY
restaurant, you can see an
advertisement mark
Beware of the Bottle. Does it mean that you
should be careful with the glass or plastic
container for
liquids? In fact, the word
bottle presents a definite picture
of the wine
container, and this sentence may remind you beware
of drinking wine.
It is a common
phenomenon that metonymy is used in social
communication. It is difficult to list all the
examples that
metonymy is used in our life,
but we can clearly understand
the meaning of
the word which used in metonymy through this
conclusion: In metonymy, since the name of an
object or concept
is often replaced with some
other words related to or suggested
by the
original, so the contextual
meaning of
the words refers to the meaning which the original
related to or suggested.
B
Metaphor
Metaphors are found in
all languages. They can make vivid; what
is
more, they can bring so much life to language.
English is
rich in metaphor and one often
finds expressions such as
following:
She
has a heart of stone----she is callous, iron-
heart.
He is a fox----he is sly, cunning,
crafty, and tricky.
In those examples above,
it can be found that stone and fox
are used to
make striking comparison; one can image how dull
the statement would be without the metaphors.
But metaphors
in English language may not be
easily understand by English
language
learners, they may have come across sentences like
Tom have done.
Tom saw his friend John was
bullied on his way home, but did
not help
John. “You chicken ”, John said, looking at Tom
with
contempt.
Students may have been
puzzled, unless they know that chicken
here
means a coward, a person without courage.
From
the example cited above, it is clear that people
often
associate certain qualities with certain
creatures or objects.
These qualities often
arouse reactions or emotion. Similarly,
metaphorical expressions are very common in
speech and text.
They serve the purpose of
relating something that is difficult
or
abstract to something that is more concrete or
imaginable.
Besides embodying the overall
meaning of something in more
concrete terms,
they also help us describe and convey our
feelings and attitude about people and
situations. In contrast,
there is often a
background for such association to the speaker,
but the qualities that are associated, or the
emotions that
are aroused, may not always be
understood by the language
learners. As a
result, one thing can be concluded is that the
contextual meaning of words used in metaphor
often refers to
the characters of the
original.
C Allusion
It is well- know that in most
languages people are likely to
embellish their
speech or writing in reference to characters
or events that has dramatic and vivid
connotation. English has
a tremendous amount
of allusions, which result from mythology,
fables, historical or events, fairy tales, the
Bible, famous
literary works and so on. Such
references----allusions not
only make the
language richer, but also make people who use
it much more relaxed and easier. But
occasionally because
allusion is a reflection
of rich culture heritage of the people
who use
it, such allusions are not always easy to
understand,
especially for foreign language
learner. It is impossible for
applying a
language without understanding word’s meaning, for
example:
This is the Cadillac of
Chinese tea.
That project, which seemed so
promising, turned out to be a
Pandora’s Box in
the former example, people may be puzzled
by
the Cadillac, but the background information may
help you.
In the 20th century, hi-tech gives
birth to hi-tech products, then
hi-tech
products lead to brand-name products, after it
brand-name
products become allusions which go
beyond their original meaning of their
own.
Cadillac is a famous car, usually refers to things
of high quality.
So the former sentence means
this is the first-rate Chinese tea. Similarly,
people often say Cadillac of German beer.
In the latter example, language
learner may be puzzled because Pandora’s
Box
here is an allusion. In Greek mythology, Pandora
was the first woman
sent to the earth by God
as a form of punishment. Jupiter gave her a box
which she was to give to the man who married
her. When the box was finally
opened, all the
evils that were in it flew out, and since then
have caused
trouble to mankind. So Pandora’s
Box usually means a present or thing
which may
seem valuable, but brings trouble and misfortune.
As analyzed above, every allusion may have its
origin and accepted meaning;
usually the
meaning of English words used in allusion could
not be taken
literally. For example, the old
man of the sea does not mean the old man
who
lives on the
sea but a
boring heavy burden or a nuisance. So in a word,
in allusion,
the contextual meaning of words
refers to the enlightenments form the
allusion. It seems clear that during
comprehension, both figurative and
literal
information are available, but figurative language
has the effect
of making the abstract more
concrete. Figurative language also provides
the emotional and attitudes about the speaker.
Although occasionally
words used in figures of
speech bring out misunderstanding to them, one
can make close acquaintance with them and make
good use of them through
above analysis.
Consequently, the analysis on contextual meaning
of
English words caused by figures of speech
helps us not only understand
what we read and
heard, but also appreciate more fully the art of
the
English language.
Ⅱ.Contextual Meaning and Culture
As it is known to all, the culture refers
to the total pattern of beliefs,
customs,
institutions, and techniques that characterize the
life of a
human community. So language cannot
be separated from culture. Language
reflects
the culture of a nation on the one hand and is
greatly influenced
by that particular culture
of a nation on the other hand. As a result,
words, as the basic component of a language,
are influenced and shaped
by culture. It is
just as a linguist Lado has said“ the meanings of
words
are usually culturally determined or
modified. They represent an analysis
of the
universe as grasped in a culture.”(Ogden, 1923) It
is interesting
that different language might
use different color terms to describe the
same
object or phenomenon. In fact, black tea is not
black, but red in
color. English words are
often interpreted literally and misunderstood
by English language learners for lacking of
culture information. The
title First Lady for
the wife of the U.S president may cause
misunderstanding when some people have an
assumption that “there is a
first lady, there
must be a second lady, and may even a third, or
even
more, polygamy in the White House!” To
get rid of analogous
misunderstanding, it is
necessary to take culture information into
account to understand the meaning of English
culture words accurately.
Comparatively speaking, idioms and
culture of different nations are more
difficult to English language learner.
A Idioms
Nida
(1964) once pointed out culture has a great effect
on the meaning
of idioms; consequently, it is
difficult to comprehend words with
regardless
of culture context. Idioms in broad sense may
include set
phrases, proverbs, saying,
epigrams, slang expressions, colloquialisms,
and quotation and so on. (Guo & Li, 2003)Idiom
is an important part of
the language and
culture of society, they are often hard to
understand,
but people may get some
enlightenment from the following story. There
is a story: A foreign student in the U.S
sitting by a window, reading
a book, she heard
someone yelling “Look out!” so she stuck her head
out of the window, just then a board hurtled
down from above, narrowly
missing her, she
looked up, half in anger, half in fright. There
was a
man on the roof doing repairs. “didn’t
you hear me call ‘look out’?”
he demanded.
“Yes, and that’s what I did ” she replied. Whether
it
is true or not, the story illustrates the
problem with idioms. They are
almost
impossible to understand from the meaning of the
individual words,
idioms can be taken as the
combination of English words which take culture
as background; it can be known that the
meaning of an idiom must be seen
as a whole. A
simple definition of idiom would be the use of
common word
in a special sense. To spill the
beans, for instance, is not at all
connected
with beans; it means to tell something that is
secret. As for
the meaning of words used in
idioms, we should think of the context they
offered or look up the dictionary to find the
accepted meaning in order
to grasp the precise
contextual meaning.
B Culture of
Different Nations
The different
historical background, geographical positions,
religious
beliefs, customs life styles and
value system, people speaking different
languages have their own special
interpretation of the same world. In
each
language, there are particular labels or names for
objects, events,
experience and feeling as the
speech community has
arbitrarily decided to name them so. In English
speaker’s mind, “magpie” is not so pleasant
and people often associate
it with person who
chat a sot, but it is an auspicious bird in
Chinese
people’s mind, and is always
associated with good luck and joyous
occasions. Many Chinese people believe that
“when the singing, the happy
event is coming”,
since culture of various nations has many
differences,
so it is worth paying attention
to the meaning of English words which
often
show English countries’ culture, and English
language learners
should understand them by
putting themselves into English-speaking
countries’ shoes.
Likewise,
there exists a great important difference in what
intellectual
mean between U.S cultures and
Chinese culture. In China, the term
intellectual means engineers, interpreters----
people who have had a
college education----a
middle school teacher. In many Chinese rural
areas,
even middle school students are
considered intellectual. In the U.S and
Europe, however, intellectual would conclude
only people of high academic
satus such as
college professors, but not ordinary college
students. So
the terms cover a such smaller
range of people. As for the reason why
those
differences happened, it is unnecessary to
mention. These two
examples illustrate that
one must be careful in assuming that bilingual
dictionary definitions give exact equivalence
in meaning or that deferent
language always
have word to express the same thing. To English
language
learners, one had better not only
study the words, but also study the
culture..
Conclusion
From
the sociolinguistic point of view we know that
vocabulary not only
changes, but also changes
quickly. Changes in lexicology and grammar are
much slower, but the changes in vocabulary are
much faster, when people
meet with new objects
and new ideas, they have the need of new words to
express them. (Timothy, 2004)In the course of
the development of language
old words die out,
new words are added , and existing words change
their
meaning. It is obvious that gradual
change of meaning in words is a
universal
feature of human language.
The meaning of an English word may
have many meanings; sometimes a
word used in a
context has its specific meaning. In order to
grasp the
exact meaning of their given word,
one should take its context into
account, such
as figures of speech, culture. From what have been
analyzed,
we know that figures of speech have
an important effect on word’s context
meaning.
Metonymy, as a very common, useful and effective
language device,
is an important factor in the
shift of meaning that involves substitution
of
the name of one thing for that of another closely
associate with it.
The contextual meaning of
English words often refers to the meaning which
the original related to or suggested. At
present, many writers,
especially journalist
and news reporters use it frequently. Metaphor is
a way of describing something by saying it has
the qualities of something
else, and it also
plays an important part in the contextual meaning
of
words. The foundation of metaphor is based
on a strong resemblance between
the two things
described. In this case, one term expressing one
thing
may indicate another thing. So we should
learn to grasp the hidden
association between
two unlike elements in a metaphor. Allusion is an
art of speaking about something in an indirect
way, so the contextual
meaning of words refers
to the enlightenment from the allusion. Although
the above analysis of the effect of figures of
speech on the context
meaning of English words
are not complete, the future work is able to
discuss it more detailed as well as
comprehensive.
Culture, from the above
definition, we know that it contains much
background information. So for the sake of the
understanding of those
words appeared in
culture, we should grasp the background
information
of culture word firmly.
Seeing that the above analysis we can find that
the context of English
language provides us an
important clue for understanding the exact
meaning of words. Learning a language aims not
only to make acquaint with
them but also to
make use of them. In our daily life, we use
context meaning
of English words all the time,
apparently saying, it is just a common
phenomenon in our life, but if we take this
phenomenon out and analyze
in detail, it is
not difficult to discover that it is the very
phenomenon
that cause our misunderstanding of
words as well as better understanding
of
contextual meaning of English words used in
various areas. In
conclusion, a systematical
analysis on the contextual meaning of English
words provides an important clue in guessing
the contextual meaning of
English words
appearing in different areas and avoids some
misunderstandings to the words used in
different context. That is to say,
the
analysis contributes to English language learning
and employing. So
for English learner, to
acquire the contextual meaning, we can guess the
meaning from this clue in reading some English
magazines, it will do good
to our English
learning.