In our discussion of the last two examples, we emphasized the influence of context. There are different kinds of context. One kind is described as linguistic context, also known as co-text. The co-text of a word is the set of other words used in the same phrase or sentence. The surrounding co-text has a strong effect on what we think the word probably means. In the last chapter, we identified the word bank as a homonym, a single form with more than one meaning. How do we usually know which meaning is intended in a particular sentence? We normally do so on the basis of linguistic context. Figure 10.2 Pragmatics 129 If the word bank is used in a sentence together with words like steep or overgrown, we have no problem deciding which type of bank is meant. Or, if we hear someone say that she has to get to the bank to withdraw some cash, we know from this linguistic context which type of bank is intended.

More generally, we know how to interpret words on the basis of physical context. If we see the word BANK on the wall of a building in a city, the physical location will influence our interpretation. While this may seem rather obvious, we should keep in mind that it is not the actual physical situation “out there” that constitutes “the context” for interpreting words or sentences. The relevant context is our mental representation of those aspects of what is physically out there that we use in arriving at an interpretation. Our understanding of much of what we read and hear is tied to this processing of aspects of the physical context, particularly the time and place, in which we encounter linguistic expressions.

اخر الاخبار

اخبار العتبة العباسية المقدسة

قسم الشعائر يواصل تحضيراته لتنظيم عمل المواكب الحسينية في زيارة الأربعين

قسم شؤون المعارف يناقش تحضيرات المؤتمر العلمي الأول لمركز تراث البصرة

قسم الشؤون الفكرية يقيم دورة تطويرية لملاكات هيأة المساءلة والعدالة في الأرشفة الإلكترونية

المجمع العلمي ينظم مجلس عزاء في قضاء الهندية

المزيد

الآخبار الصحية

نصائح عملية للحد من التعرق المفرط في الصيف

أطباء يحذرون: مكمل غذائي شائع قد يدمر الجهاز العصبي

تحذير طبي من تأثير جانبي "غير متوقع" لحقن التخسيس

حمامات الثلج قد تكون خطيرة وأحيانا مميتة.. ما السبب؟

المزيد

الآخبار التكنلوجية

أكبر جدارية شمسية في العالم تدخل موسوعة غينيس.. مشروع ضخم

تسارع دوران الأرض يثير القلق.. وتحذيرات من "كوارث محتملة" ؟

"سوذبيز" تطرح أكبر قطعة من المريخ على الأرض في مزاد علني

أوبن أيه آي تعتزم إطلاق متصفح إنترنت يعمل بالذكاء الاصطناعي

المزيد

مواضيع ذات صلة

Speech acts

Maxim flouts

Flouting the maxims

Comedy pragmatics

Defeasible implicatures

The pragmatics of political interviews

Good cop, bad cop

The co-operative principle

Grice’s theory of implicature

Meaning in context

Pragmatics: saying what you mean

Predicators and arguments