EBS 280: Introduction to Semantics

Lecture 4
Topic: Defining Context
 Lesson Outline

• Objectives
• Readings
• Defining context
• Types of context
• Characteristics of context
• Summary
• Self-study questions
 Lesson Objectives

• By the end of the lesson, the student teacher should be able to:
1. explain the meaning of context
2. identify and explain the types of context.
3. state and explain, at least, three characteristics of context.
4. identify meanings appropriate to a given context
 Readings
• Required reading
• Sekyi-Baidoo, Y. (2002). Semantics: An introduction. Kumasi: Wilas Press Ltd. Chapter 9.
• Further reading
• Adams, O. A. (2013). A handbook on aspects of semantics. Cape Coast: Cape Coast
University Press.
 Key words
Please find the meanings of the following words on the internet and write them
down in your notebook for discussion with your tutor:
1. context
2. co-text
3. linguistic environment
4. paralinguistic
5. situation
 (A) Defining Context
üContext is any set of linguistic or
.
non-linguistic resources by
which any utterance is produced or interpreted.

üIn other words, context refers to any resources which help a

listener/reader to produce or interpret any utterance.
üWe must understand the context not as ‘the meaning’ but as a
resource which help us to interpret linguistic expressions.
. (Sekyi-Baidoo, 2002)
 • A) Defining Context

• Some of these resources include neighbouring words/sentences,

manner of speech production, ideas of the past, our values, already
acquired knowledge, gestures, facial expressions, physical
environment, etc.
• Context therefore includes all situations that helps a listener to access
meaning from a message or utterance.
•
B) Aspects of Context
There are two main aspects or types of context: Linguistic context &
Situational context

i. Linguistic context:
üLinguistic context embraces all that is in a language which helps us to produce
utterances: that is syntactic and phonological elements in a language.
üSyntactic elements include how we construct sentences and the relationship
among the words. Phonological elements include volume, ‘stress’, ‘tone’ of
the voice.
 B) Aspects of Context

i. Linguistic context cont’d …

üThe verbal element alone is known as co-text. E.g. The presence of
‘to cash money’ in “I’m going to the bank to cash money” helps us
to interpret ‘bank’ as financial institution.
üThe paralinguistic elements include stress for emphasis, volume, or
tone of utterance
 ii. Situational context

• Situational context deals with cultural and social realisations of language.

• It includes:
a) Participants: speaker, hearer (either passive or active), their roles, status, etc.
b) The nature of interaction, e.g., reprimanding students, staff interaction, official, or informal,
exchanges
c) The larger culture ( e.g., beliefs, values, history, etc.) of the society.
d) Body language i.e. gestures, eye contact, facial expressions etc.
• I am going to the bank. In this example, the physical presence of “a check book” found
on the speaker helps one to interpret bank as “a financial institution”, rather than “river
bank”.
 Relevance, shared knowledge,
Characteristics of Context dynamism, indeterminacy,
continuity

1. Context should be relevant. There are different experiences and knowledge, the
speaker selects what is relevant to communicate meaning, as well as using the
appropriate context to interpret meaning. Thus, we select from a large body of
knowledge those aspects that are relevant to constitute context.
2. Indeterminacy of context. There is wideness of human experiences, thus,
context may at times be imprecise or vague when it comes to interpreting an
utterance. It may also be attributed to the complexity of context.
 3. Context may depend on continuity.

• Context may depend on continuity of events or happenings for full

realisation of meaning and not its part. For instance, if a sentence being
interpreted is part of a larger structure, we need to continue reading the
other parts of the entire structure before getting the full understanding..
 Characteristics of Context

4. Dynamism of context. The change in contextual resources/elements (such as time,

situation, audience, relationship, etc.) may lead to different interpretations of the same
utterance. For example, the utterance You are mad may be interpreted as a joke
between two friends at a time of playing, but will be interpreted as an insult between
the same friends when the situation changes to be a serious fight or misunderstanding.

5. Context as shared knowledge. For an utterance to be appropriately communicated

and interpreted, both the speaker and the listener need to have common knowledge
about the context, else different meanings are likely to be achieved.
 Summary

• We have learnt that successful production and interpretation of meaning depend

largely on context.
• Context can be both linguistic and non-linguistic. The use of verbal expressions,
previous knowledge, circumstances, participants, environment, etc. need to be
considered in determining meaning .
• We have looked at aspects of context as linguistic and situational.
• Finally we looked at the characteristics of context as relevance, indeterminacy of
context, continuity of context, dynamism of context and context as shared
knowledge.
 Self-study questions

1. What is context?
2. With appropriate examples, differentiate between linguistic context and situational
context.
3. Briefly discuss three features of context.
4. Explain the role of context in meaning.
5. Using context, find the meaning of the underlined expressions.
i. The bank called to inform me that my loan was pregnant.
ii. Musah is quite loquacious. He really loves to talk.

iii. “Don’t sulk”, my mother said. “I need someone to talk to”

 REPARED BY:

q Dr. Isaac N. Mwinlaaru

• EDITED BY:
• MR.JONAS ADU
• MR. YAW KYEREMEH SARKODIE
 Contributors

Prepared by: Edited by:

• Christopher Ankomah • Dr. Isaac N. Mwinlaaru
• Kingsley M. Yeboah • Mr. Jonas Adu
• Yaa Asantewaa Bediako • Mr. Yaw Kyeremeh Sarkodie