A course In Modern English Lexicology

§ 43. Extra-Linguistic Context
(Context of Situation) only linguistic factors: lexical groups of words, syntactic structure of the context and
so on. There are cases, however, when the meaning of the word is ultimately determined not by these linguistic factors, but by the actual speech situation in which this word is used. The meanings of the noun ring, e.g.
in to give somebody a ring, or of the verb get in I've got it are determined not only by the grammatical or lexical context, but much more so by the actual speech situation.
The noun ring in such context may possess the meaning ‘a circlet of precious metal’ or ‘a call on the telephone’; the meaning of the verb to get in this linguistic context may be interpreted as ‘possess’ or ‘understand’
depending on the actual situation in which these words are used. It should be pointed out however that such cases, though possible, are not actually very numerous. The linguistic context is by far a more potent factor in determining word-meaning.
It is of interest to note that not only the denotational but also the connotational component of meaning may be affected by the context. Any word which as a language unit is emotively neutral may in certain contexts acquire emotive implications. Compare, e.g., fire in to insure one’s property against fire and fire as a call for help. A stylistically and emotively neutral noun, e.g. wall, acquires tangible emotive implication in Shakespeare’s Midsummer Night’s Dream (Act V, Scene 1) in the context “O
wall, О sweet and lovely wall".1
Here we clearly perceive the combined effect of both the linguistic arid the extra-linguistic context. The word wall does not ordinarily occur in combination with the adjectives sweet and lovely. So the peculiar lexical context accounts for the possibility of emotive overtones which are made explicit by the context of situation.
Another type of classification almost univer-
§ 44. Common Contextual
Associations. sally used in practical classroom teaching is Thematic Groups known as thematic grouping. Classification of vocabulary items into thematic groups is based on the co-occurrence of words in certain repeatedly used contexts.
In linguistic contexts co-occurrence maу be observed on different levels. On the level of word-groups the word question, for instance, is often found in collocation with the verbs raise, put forward, discuss, etc., with the adjectives urgent, vital, disputable and so on. The verb accept occurs in numerous contexts together with the nouns proposal, invitation, plan and others.
1 St. Ullmann. Semantics. Oxford, 1962, pp. 130, 131. See also ‘Semasiology’, § 8, p.
20.