Analysis How Context Remove Language Ambiguity

【Abstract】In the field of linguistics ambiguity refers to features of sentence， in other words， a sentence can be explained into many meanings， while it does not produce enough information so as to define its meaning. It is necessary to distinguish ambiguity based on context in order to confirm the scope of ambiguity.

【Key words】ambiguity context

1. Meaning as Context

The view that meaning is found in the context within which a particular expression is uttered suggests that we can derive meaning from， or reduce it to， the observable context. Such an approach to meaning clearly draws on sociology. Lets look at the following example：

I was near that bank yesterday.

We cannot derive the precise meaning from its literal meaning. But suppose that we are standing by a river， and I say that sentence. You certainly understand the bank as a “river bank”， not a “financial institution”. Likewise， if we are on the Wall Street， and I say that sentence， you do not think that I am referring to the edge of a river but the financial institution. Then it turns out that the context determines the meaning.

2. Disambiguity

The phenomenon of ambiguity is widespread. Then the paper will deal with how to remove them by means of context.

2.1 Homonymy

Words which have the same linguistic form but are different in meaning are called Homonymy. Some examples are： bank （of a river）—bank （financial institution） and pupil （at school）—pupil （in the eye） etc. Due to the very reason， ambiguity comes into being. Out of context， what the speaker want to convey may fail in the end. For instance：

I was near that bank yesterday.

We cannot derive the precise meaning from its literal meaning. But suppose that we are standing by a river， and I say that sentence. You certainly understand the bank as a “river bank”， not a “financial institution”. Likewise， if we are on the Wall Street， and I say that sentence， you do not think that I am referring to the edge of a river but the financial institution. Then it turns out that the context determines the meaning.

Another example：

Whats wrong with the pupils？

We can catch the sentence meaning easily， but the utterance meaning is not defined clearly. Suppose we put it in a given situational context A or B， then what the speaker want to convey is easy to catch.

Situational context A： at school

The speaker means there is something wrong with the students. Maybe the students do not listen to teachers， or finish their homework and something like these.

Situational context B： in hospital

The speaker means there is something wrong with eyes. Maybe something blew into the eyes， so that the speaker is uneasy.

From the analysis above， the given situational context narrows down the best choice from the meanings of a word.

2.2 Context on Connotative Meaning

Connotative meaning cannot show word meaning on its own， it must work based on conceptual meaning. It may be different at different layers such as from person t person， from age to age， from country to country etc. For example， the word home means family in conceptual meaning， but in connotative meaning it has more meaning than family. In the sentence： there is no place like home. Home suggests connotative meaning such as warm， comfortable and happy etc. however， it suggests cold and boring etc. for persons who do not love their home.

Apart from nouns， the same verb could also be made use of to express different meanings under various given contexts. In the following examples， the verb make produces various meanings， although the conceptual meaning is produce.

1. He will make this town his base.

2. He made London by 3： 00 pm.

3. I made the distance about 10 miles.

4. He never made me such requests.

5. He made general after a few months.

6. He made me the minute he saw me.

In the six sentences above， all of which use the same language signal make， but they are in different linguistics contexts， accordingly， their meaning is distinguish. In （1） make means choice， （2） means arrive， （3） means estimate， （4） means put forward， （5） means assign， （6） means recognize

From the sentences above， the category of word meaning is transferred in different given linguistics contexts. Therefore， contexts on connotative meaning can make best choice among multi-meaning word， in other words， they can distinguish ambiguity.

3. Conclusion

This paper mainly discusses how to remove ambiguity on basis of various kinds of meaning and context theory. One given context only generates one type of language meaning， in other words， context makes the best choice among the potential language meaning. Therefore， the given context is the condition to remove ambiguity. On the contrary， ambiguity will come into being when the given context disappears. As the saying goes： “No context， no text”

References：

[1]Geoffrey Leech，Semantics.Penguin，1981.

[2]李荣宝 歧义研究述评[J].福建外语，1992.13.2：58-60.

[3]袁淑娟.语境在词汇学习中的作用[J].东岳论丛2010，31（2）.

作者简介：李娜（1986.7-），女，汉族，河南辉县人，武警工程大学助教，硕士生，研究方向：英语语言文学。