境的概念(Notion of Context)

 

　　所谓语境，就是组织运用语篇的具体环境。环境(environment)是相对于生物活动而言的，可以指影响生物活动的各种外在条件和因素;语境(context)是相对于人的言语活动而言，可以指影响言语交际活动的各种外在条件和因素。

 

　　英语context -词来自拉丁词contextus，早期的意思是the construction of text。从内部构成看，它的前缀con表示together, with的意思，如conspire( = plan together);词根text相当于textus，表示weave( =编织)的意思，如texture(=织物)。作为一个派生词，context就是指weave together(交织在一起)。

 

　　从一般意义上看，英语context(语境)主要有两个含义:一是上下文，二是环境或背景。这可以从《新牛津英语词典》的释义中清楚地体现出来，.

 

　　Context-1. the circumstances or surrounding conditions that form the setting for an

 

　　event, statement, or idea, and in terms of which it can be fully understood and as-

 

　　sessed: the proposals need to he considered in the context of new European move-

 

　　ment. 2. the parts of something written or spoken that immediately precede or fol-

 

　　low a word or passage and that influence or help to clarify its meaning: the complex

 

　　meaning of irony is only graspable in context.

 

　　一The New Oxford Dictionary of English (2001)