The Role Of Context In Lexical Semantics: Analyzing How Different Contexts Affect The Meanings Of Words And Phrases, With Examples From Various Languages
Keywords:
Lexical semantics, polysemy, frame semantics, componential analysis, prototype theory, contextual meaning, cross-linguistic analysis, semantic shifts, idiomatic expressions, machine translation, natural language processing, language learning, cultural context.Abstract
The study of lexical semantics, a subfield of linguistics that looks at word meanings and how context affects interpretation, is examined in this article. To illustrate how words carry meaning and change depending on linguistic, cultural, and situational settings, it offers a thorough examination of several important theoretical frameworks, including componential analysis, prototype theory, frame semantics, and distributional semantics. Cross-linguistic research between Uzbek and English reveals both language-specific and universal patterns in semantic interpretation, especially with regard to politeness tactics, idiomatic phrases, and polysemy. With an emphasis on the need of semantic shifts for language acquisition, natural language processing (NLP), and intercultural communication, the challenges in contextual analysis and machine translation are also covered in the study; a comparative approach is adopted, so contributing to a more comprehensive knowledge of how meaning is constructed, interpreted, and changed across languages and contexts.
References
Katz, J. J., & Fodor, J. A. (1963). The Structure of a Semantic Theory. Language, 39(2), 170-210.
Rosch, E. (1975). Cognitive Representations of Semantic Categories. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 104(3), 192-233.
Fillmore, C. J. (1982). Frame Semantics. In Linguistics in the Morning Calm (pp. 111-137). Seoul: Hanshin Publishing.
Harris, Z. (1954). Distributional Structure. Word, 10(2-3), 146-162.
Talmy, L. (1985). Lexicalization Patterns: Semantic Structure in Lexical Forms. In T. Shopen (Ed.), Language Typology and Syntactic Description (pp. 57-149). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Wierzbicka, A. (1996). Semantics: Primes and Universals. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Grice, H. P. (1975). Logic and Conversation. In P. Cole & J. L. Morgan (Eds.), Syntax and Semantics (Vol. 3, pp. 41-58). New York: Academic Press.
Tuggy, D. (1993). Ambiguity, Polysemy, and Vagueness. Cognitive Linguistics, 4(3), 273-290.
Gumperz, J. J. (1982). Discourse Strategies. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Hymes, D. (1974). Foundations in Sociolinguistics: An Ethnographic Approach. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.
Paradis, C. (2012). Lexical semantics. In The encyclopedia of applied linguistics. Wiley-Blackwell.
Stanley, J. (2005). Semantics in context. Contextualism in philosophy: Knowledge, meaning, and truth, 221, 254.
Yusupov, O. N. (2016). Cognitive semantics in context. Wschodnioeuropejskie Czasopismo Naukowe, 7(2), 84-87.
Kwantes, P. J. (2005). Using context to build semantics. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 12(4), 703-710.
Bezuidenhout, A. (2017). The role of context in semantics: A Relevance Theory perspective. Meaning, Context and Methodology, 91-114.
Spätgens, T., & Schoonen, R. (2018). The semantic network, lexical access, and reading comprehension in monolingual and bilingual children: An individual differences study. Applied Psycholinguistics, 39(1), 225-256.
Verspoor, C. M. (1997). Contextually-dependent lexical semantics.
Goddard, C. (2001). Lexico-semantic universals: A critical overview. Linguistic typology, 5(1), 1-65.
Kaiser, E., Runner, J. T., Sussman, R. S., & Tanenhaus, M. K. (2009). Structural and semantic constraints on the resolution of pronouns and reflexives. Cognition, 112(1), 55-80.
Verspoor, C. M. (1997). Contextually-dependent lexical semantics.
