法律語(yǔ)境及其對(duì)法律翻譯影響

AbstractContextplaysanindispensableroleinthestudyoflanguagemeaning.Withoutcontext,therewillbenobasefortheunderstandingandexpressionofmeaning.Becauseofitsmeaninginterpretationfunction,thestudyofcontexthasgraduallyseparatedfromthestudyofpragmatics,developedtobeanindependentinterdisciplinaryfieldandplayedamajorroleinstudieswhicharerelatedtothestudyoflanguagemeaning,suchascontextintranslation,contextinliteratureandcontextinlaw.Thisstudyaimstoexaminethedefinition,classificationandfunctionof“l(fā)egalcontext”whichistheapplicationofcontextualtheoryintolegallanguageandtheinfluencesof“l(fā)egalcontext”onlegaltranslationandlegalinterpretation.Throughthepresentstudy,itisfoundthat“l(fā)egalcontext”hasitsownparticularcharacteristicscomparedwith“generalcontext”wherethoseparticularcharacteristicscandeviatelanguagemeaning.Thuslegalpractitionersshouldnevertakewordstooliterally,butrealizetheshiftoflanguagemeaningfromgeneralmeaningtoparticularmeaningintheprocessoflegalinterpretationandlegaltranslation.Thepresentstudychoosesthemethodofanalyzingfromgeneralityleveltoindividualitylevel.Generalitylevelreferstotheintroductionof“generalcontext”.Then,basedonthegeneralknowledgeofcontextualtypesandfunctions,thepresentstudygoesdeeperintoindividualitylevelandexploresthecharacteristicsofaparticularcontext-“l(fā)egalcontext”.Inordertostrengthenthepersuasionofcurrentstudy,plentyofexamplesandcaseshavebeenemployed.Sincetherearestillplentyofgapsexistingin“l(fā)egalcontext”leftuntouched,furtherresearchesandstudiesareneeded,especiallyonempiricalstudy.Itishopedthattheresearchingframeworkanddirectionestablishedinthepresentpapercancontributeanyinspirationforfuturescholars.KeyWords:languagemeaning;context;legalcontext;legalinterpretation;legaltranslation.2摘要語(yǔ)境在對(duì)語(yǔ)言意義的研究中起著無(wú)可替代的作用，離開了語(yǔ)境，意義的理解和表達(dá)就無(wú)從談起。語(yǔ)境的這一功能促使對(duì)其研究從語(yǔ)用學(xué)中分離出來成為獨(dú)立的跨學(xué)科研究領(lǐng)域。特別是在與研究語(yǔ)言意義密切相關(guān)的領(lǐng)域如：語(yǔ)境與翻譯學(xué)，語(yǔ)境與文學(xué)，語(yǔ)境與法學(xué)中起著重要的作用。本文旨在研究法學(xué)中的語(yǔ)境觀，即“法律語(yǔ)境”，其定義，分類和功能，以及該語(yǔ)境對(duì)法律意義的理解和法律翻譯的影響。通過本文的研究，我們得出由于“法律語(yǔ)境”較于“一般語(yǔ)境”具有其特殊性，而特殊的語(yǔ)境必定會(huì)使語(yǔ)義產(chǎn)生偏離，那么法律工作者在從事法律意義闡釋和法律翻譯的過程中必須意識(shí)到此種語(yǔ)義轉(zhuǎn)移，切忌望文生義。本文采用從共性到個(gè)性的分析方法。所謂共性研究即對(duì)“一般語(yǔ)境”進(jìn)行定義，以分析抽象的語(yǔ)境類型和功能為基礎(chǔ)，從而延伸到個(gè)性研究即探求具體語(yǔ)境的特征，分類及功能。這里指的具體語(yǔ)境即“法律語(yǔ)境”。為了使分析更具說服力，本文選取了眾多范例以供讀者認(rèn)同。深入的實(shí)證研究還有待今后繼續(xù)進(jìn)行，法律語(yǔ)境”還有許多空白點(diǎn)值得探討。筆者希望本文所構(gòu)建的研究框架以及研究方向，對(duì)今后的學(xué)者有所啟示。關(guān)鍵詞：語(yǔ)言意義；語(yǔ)境；法律語(yǔ)境；法律闡釋；法律翻譯3““CHAPTERONEINTRODUCTION1.1RationaleforthestudyAtfirstglancecontextisbynomeansafreshtopicandthetheoryofcontextanditsimpactontranslationhasbeenanalyzedfromdifferentaspectsbymanydistinguishedscholars,whetherathomeorabroad.Asforthetheoryofcontext,generallyspeakingithasbeendividedintotwocategoriesbyBritishlinguistB.Malinowski,namelysituationalcontextandculturalcontext.Differentcontextualfactorsthatmayhavegreatinfluenceontheunderstandingofmeaninghavebeenclassifiedintoseveralspecifictypes.AccordingtoD.Hymes,thetypesofcontextualfactorsincludeaddressorandaddressee,audience,topic,setting,channel,code,message-form,event,keyandpurpose.Moreover,therelationshipbetweencontextanddiscourse,contextualfactorsanddiscoursestructureshasalsoattractedgreatattention.Allthesestudiesoncontextviewcontextasoneabstractconcept,however,thestudyofspecificcharacteristicsofcontextwhenithasbeenappliedtospecificfieldslikelaworliteraturehasbeenignored.Thereisalackofthestudyofdynamiccontextwhichaimstoputtheintentionofcognitionsubjectintoconsideration.Withtheaboveproblemstatementofcontext,thispaperattemptstonarrowthestudyrangeofcontextinto“l(fā)egalcontext”whichsurelyhasitsowncharacters,classificationsandfunctionsduetouniquelegallanguage,legalcultureandlegalsystemandtoexpoundtwospecificphenomenaoflegalcontext,“defaultoflegalcontext”and“shiftoflegalcognitivecontext”.Asforthestudyoftheimpactofcontextontranslation,scholarssuchasPeterNewmark,E.A.Nida,B.HatimandI.Masonemphasizethatthefunctionofcontextinthetranslationprocessisnotonlytoassistwithunderstandingthemeaning,butalsoplaysadecisiveroleinchoosingsuitabletranslationstrategies.Whetherusingliteraltranslationorfreetranslation,translatorswouldfirstandforemostexaminethecontextoftheoriginaltext.Ifthecontextoftheoriginaltextiseasilyunderstoodandacceptedbythereader,literaltranslationisoftenchosen.Ontheotherhand,ifthecontextoftheoriginaltextishardforthereader,freetranslationischosen.Ofcourse,freetranslationandliteral4translationareonlytwotranslationstrategiesorprinciples.Othertranslationmethodssuchas“domestication”and“foreignization”or“retrospective”and“prospective”shallbeadoptedaccordingtodifferentcontextualenvironments.Thus,whenitcomestolegaltranslation,duetoitsuniquecontextualenvironment,differenttranslationstrategiesshallbetaken.Thispaperwillfocusonthecorrespondingtranslationstrategiestothephenomenaof“defaultoflegalcontext”and“shiftoflegalcognitivecontext”.1.2StatementofproblemsExistingstudiesinlegalcontextleadscholarsintoanewfieldofcontextualstudywhichisnearlyuntouchedandalsodemonstratethenecessitytoreconsiderspecifictranslationstrategiesregardingtheuniquecharacteristicsoflegalcontext.However,withlessthan20years’studyofthehistoryoflegalcontext,wefoundthatthereisalackofresearchinitcomparedwiththestudyofcontextorthestudyoftranslationtheoriesandmethods.Evenifwedohaveresearchersworkingonthissubject,thestudyrangeisrathersmallandtheinformationisratherlimited.Itisquitedifficulttofindenoughwritingdataormaterialsorpersuasivetheoriestosupportmyargument.Hencepresentstudyonlegalcontextanditsimpactontranslationstrategiescouldbeconsideredasapioneeringtask.1.3PurposeofthestudyThecurrentstudyisconductedasanattempttoanswerthefollowingthreeproblems:(1)Whataretheuniquecharacteristicsoflegalcontextandwhatinfluencedoesithaveontheunderstandingoflegaltexts?(2)Howdothephenomenaof“defaultoflegalcontext”and“shiftoflegalcognitivecontext”takeplace?(3)Accordingtotheabovementionedphenomenaoflegalcontext,whatkindoftranslationstrategiescouldtranslatorsapplyinordertotransformthewholemeaningofthesourcelanguageintothetargetlanguage?1.4SignificanceofthestudyThepresentstudyisexpectedtobebeneficialandvaluablefortheresearchoflegalcontextandthepracticeoflegalEnglishtranslation.Thefindingsofthestudyaresupposedtomaketranslatorsawareoftheuniquecharacteristicsoflegalcontextwhichdiffersfrom5onelanguagetoanother,oneculturetoanotherandaffectstheinterpretationofmeaning.Thus,whentheydolegaltranslation,theyshalltakedifferentlegalcontextsintoconsiderationandvarytranslationstrategiesaccordingly.1.5DefinitionoftermsThispaperwillemploythefollowingtermsfrequently.Forconsistencyandharmonyofthewholeanalyses,itisnecessarytodefinethemattheverybeginning.1.5.1LegalcontextContextisthepartofatextorstatementeitherinwrittenformorspokenform,whichsurroundsaparticularwordorpassageanddeterminesitsmeaning.Inthisstudy,insteadofanalyzingverbalcommunication,onlythecontextinwrittenformisexamined.Solegalcontextheremeansthespecificcircumstancesrelevanttolegallanguageinwrittenform,thusforthesakeofconvenienceandbrevity,thelegaltextherealsosimplymeansawrittenlanguageone.1.5.2TranslationThemeaningoftranslationdiffersfromscholartoscholar.Generallyspeaking,translationasaprocessandtranslationasaproductcanbedeemedastworesultsoftranslation.Translationasaprocesstendstorefertotranslationasameansofinterculturalcommunication.Bycontrast,translationasaproducttendstorefertostudytranslationasastableendofthetranslationaction.Hereinthispaper,theauthortookcontextualenvironmentintoconsiderationinpracticeoftranslationwheredifferentcontextualfactorsmaydiffertranslationresults.Therefore,translationhereissupposedtobeaprocessratherthanaproduct.1.6LayoutofthepresentstudyThepresentstudyconsistsoffivechapters.ChapterOneconsistsofanobservationofthecurrentstudyrangeandsuccessofcontextandtranslationtheories;astatementofresearchproblems;anexplanationofthepurposeandsignificanceofthepresentstudy;adefinitionofcertaintermsandthestructureofthepaperitself.6ChapterTwoisaliteraturereviewwhichmakesadetailedreviewofthestudyofcontextanditsimpactontranslationtheoriesandmethods:adescriptionofwhathasbeengiven,whataretheproblemsremainedtobesolved.ChapterThreeisthebeginningofthemainbodyofthisthesis.Besidestheintroductionofauthor’snewunderstandingofcontext,italsoaimstoanalyzetheapplicationofthestudyofcontextinlegallanguage,wherethelegalcontextisendowedwithspecificcharacteristicsandfunctions.ChapterFournarrowsthestudyoflegalcontextintotwospecificandtypicalphenomena,namelythe“defaultoflegalcontext”and“shiftoflegalcognitivecontext”.Andcorrespondingtranslationstrategiesaresuggestedinthischapter.ChapterFivereachestheconclusion,statesthelimitationsofthisstudyandputsforwardsomesuggestionsonfuturestudy.7CHAPTERTWOLiteratureReview2.1StudiesoncontextTheconceptualdesignofthispaperisbasedonthetheoryofcontext.Beforeweusethetheoryofcontextintoanalyzingitsinfluenceonmeaningandtranslation,wemustfirstknowhowcontextbecomesoneofcentraltopicsoflanguageresearchandwhathavealreadybeendoneinthehistoryofcontextualstudies.2.1.1HistoryofstudiesoncontextintheWest.ContextualtheoryintheWesthasalonghistorybeginningfromthe1920s.Sincethenitsanalyzingscopeanddevelopmenttrendhavebeenconstantlywidenedanddeepened.Thusasystematicthinkingofcontexthasbeenformedincludingvariousdefinitionsaccordingtodifferentscholars,sophisticatedclassificationsanddetailedstudyingofitsfunctions.Sincethe1950sthestudyoflinguisticshasexperiencedanimportanttheoreticalshiftfromanalyzinglanguagestructuretostudyinglanguagefunctions.Thisgavebirthtothefollowingrelativesubjects:Pragmatics,SocialLinguistics,FunctionalLinguistics,PsychologicalLinguistics,ApplicablelinguisticsandCommunicativeLinguistics.Withthesuccessandpopularityofthesenewsubjects,thestudyofcontexthasbeenfixedinanimportantpositioneversince.Focusingonfunctionsoflanguage,differentlinguisticschoolspickcontextasanimportantparameterfortheirstudy,whichhasmadethestudyofcontextasignificantissueinthestudyoflinguisticsintherecent20years.Here,thispaperwoulddiscussfivetypicalcontextualtheoriesinhistory:Malinowski’scontextofsituationandcontextofculture,Firth’sviewofcontext,Hymes’sinterpretationofcontext,Halliday’sregistertheoryandSperber&Wilson’sintroductionofcognitivecontext.Malinowski’scontextofsituationandcontextofcultureMalinowskipublisheshisarticle“TheProblemofMeaninginPrimitiveLanguage”asasupplementtothearticle“TheMeaningofMeaning”byC.K.OgdenandI.A.Richards,inwhichsemanticproblemshasbeendiscussed.Heillustratesthattherearetwokindsofcontextualfactorsthatmayaffecttheunderstandingoflanguagemeaning.Oneiscontextofsituationandtheotheriscontextofculture.Malinowskibelievesthatwordmeaning8dependsontheirrespectivecontextwhichisinvolvedinbothsocialandculturalpsychology.Soinordertounderstandlanguagemeaningcorrectly,Malinowshisuggeststhatweshallbreaktheanalyzinglimitationsofcontextwhichnowisonlywithinlanguageitselfandextendtogeneralsituation,culturalandsocialpsychology.InviewofMalinowski,“utteranceandsituationareboundupwitheachother;thecontextofsituationisindispensableforunderstandingwords”(Malinowski,1923:306).Themeaningofanutterancedoesnotresultinaddingliteralmeaningofonewordafteranotherbutitcomesfromthesituationalcontextinwhichtheutteranceoccurs.Heclassifiesthreetypesofcontextofsituation.Thoseare:(1)situationinwhichputativelyspeechinterrelatesdirectlywithbodilyactivitythatisculturally‘significant’,(2)narratives—thesituationofthemomentofnarrationandthesituationreferredtobythenarrative,and(3)situationinwhichspeechisusedtofill—sotospeak—aspeechvacuum.Theimportanceof“contextofsituation”hasbeendescribedas“Exactlyintherealityofspokenorwrittenlanguages,awordwithoutlinguisticcontextisamerefigmentandstandsfornothingbyitself,sointherealityofaspokenlivingtongue,theutterancehasnomeaningexceptinthecontextofsituation”(Malinowski,1923:307).Thefactorof“Contextofculture”notonlyreferstoimmediatesighttounderstandtextsbutalsoindicatesthewholeculturalhistorybehindtexts.Duetothefactthatdifferentculturalhistoryexistsindifferentcountriesandcommunities,whenwetrytounderstandothercountries’differentlanguagesorcustoms,contextofculturecanbehelpful.Withthehelpofknowingadditionalinformationlikewheredoesthetexttakeplaceandwhendoesittakeplacecanhelptounderstandthetextmore.ItisworthnotingthatMalinowskihasalsoconsideredthestudyofsituationalandculturalcontextfromthetranslationperspective.Heclaimsthattranslationmustgobeyondunderstandingtheinternalpartsoflanguageandaccesstotheresearchandanalysisofsituationalcontextandculturalcontext.Firth’sviewofcontextFirth’sviewofcontextwasinheritedanddevelopedonMalinowski’sview.Anythingmoreisthatheprovidedhisfellowscholarsamoredetaileddescriptionaboutcontext.Heremarked,“Logiciansareapttothinkofwordsandpropositionsashaving‘meaning’somehowinthemselves,apartfromparticipantsincontextofsituation.Speakersandlistenersdonotseemtobenecessary.Isuggestthatvoicesshouldnotbeentirely9dissociatedfromthesocialcontextinwhichtheyfunctionandthatthereforealltextsinmodernspokenlanguagesshouldberegardedashaving‘theimplicationofutterance’,andbereferredtotypicalparticipantsinsomegeneralizedcontextofsituation”(Firth1957:226).Hepointedoutthatifweconsidercontextinanarrowway,itincludessentencesorpassagesinthefrontorafteradiscourse,whileinamuchbroadersense,contextcanrevealtherelationoflanguageandsocialenvironmentwherehuman’sverbalcommunicationandsocialactivitiesarecloselylinkedandintertwined.Inhisview,wecanlinkallmeaningfulaspectsandnon-linguisticfactorstogetherthroughlanguagestudy.MainlyFirthdividedcontextintolinguisticlevelandsituationallevel.Asforthelinguisticlevel,ithasmoresubdivisionssuchasphonologicallevel,lexicalorsemanticlevel.Thestudyoflinguisticlevelisbasedonlanguagestudyitselfanditreferstothecollocationorthecompanyalinguisticelementkeeps.Sincethefocusofthispaperisonnon-linguisticelementswhichincludeobjects,behaviorandevents,thedescriptionofthelinguisticlevelwillbeleftforothers.Asforthesituationallevel,knowingthedifficultyofsummarizingallthefactorsthatmakeupasituation,Firthstillmadeamodellistcoveringbothsituationalcontextandlinguisticcontextofatext:A.

Therelevantresponseofparticipants,persons,personalities.(a)Theverbalactionoftheparticipants;(b)Thenon-verbalactionoftheparticipants;B.C.

Topicsincludingnon-linguisticandnon-humanobjectsandevents.Thesignificantinfluenceofverbalaction(LiuRunqing,FengZhongxin,2004).Firthheldthatdifferentelementsofonesentenceatanylevelandalsothecorrespondingcontextonthatlevelcandeterminesentencemeaning.Accordingly,fiveaspectswhichconsistthemeaningofanysentencehasbeenlistedasfollows:(a)(b)(c)(d)(e)

Eachphonemetoitsphoneticcontext;Eachlexicalitemtotheothersinthesentence;Eachword’smorphologicalrelation;Eachgivensentence’stypeasbeinganexample;Eachsentencetoitscontextofsituation(LiuRunqing,FengZhongxin,2004).ThefirstfouraspectshavebeenleftasidebyFirth.LikeMalinowski,thestudyofcontextofsituationisFirth’smajorconcern.ContextofsituationpointedoutbyFirth10includesathoroughrangeofculturalsettingandpersonalhistoryofparticipants,comparedwithpreviousstudiesinwhichthecontextofsituationissimplyforrecognizingthecontextofsituationvariesinfinitely.Amongthemheillustratesatypicalcontextofsituationwhichreferstosocialrolesplayedbyitsparticipants.Inanotherwords,socialroleswhichisdeterminedbysocialsituationinFirth’sviewcandetermineyourwords.Itisnotyoutochooserandomlywhattosay,butitisyoursocialroledetermineswhatyoushouldsayindifferentconversations.Hymes’sinterpretationofcontextSociolinguistDellHymesalsomadegreatcontributiontothestudyofcontext.Hymesputforwardthatcontextembraceseightfactors.HetookanethnographicapproachtoanalyzecontextandtooktheeightfactorsintoconsiderationinSPEAKING.Forthesakeofconvenience,HymesusesSPEAKINGasanacronymtodisplayvariousrelevantfactors.Situation(referringtosettingandscene)Participants(referringtotheidentityofparticipantstheirrelationship)Ends(referringtooutcomesandgoals)Actsequence(referringtowhatissaidandhowcanitbepresented)Key/mannerInstrumentalities(referringtochannelandform)Norms(referringtothenormsofinteraction)GenresInHymes’understandingofcontextthesecontextualfeaturescanbehelpfultocharacterizeaparticularcommunicativeevent.Alsoheviewedthatcontexthasbothfunctionsofrestrictingpossiblescopeofinterpretationandstrengtheningtheintendedinterpretation,althoughitsoundscontradictory.ItisobviousthatHymeslooksatcontextmainlyfromnon-linguisticperspective.Halliday’sregistertheoryLinguistHallidaywhoisstillactiveonthestudyofcontextnowadayshasalsomadegreatachievement.BasedonFirth’sconceptofthetypicalcontextofsituation,Hallidayusedtheterm“register”asanequivalentto“context”.“Register”inHalliday’sperspective,containsthreemajorfactors,namely,fieldofdiscourse,modeofdiscourseandtenorofdiscourse.TheabovementionedcomponentsconstitutewhatHallidaycalledsituationor11contextofsituationofatext.Fieldofdiscoursereferstothelanguageusers’purposiveroleinatextualsituation.Differentindividualhasdifferentlinguisticreflectionondifferentsituationsinwhichtextshaveoccurred.TwosidesofpurposiveroleshavebeintroducedbyHalliday,namelytechnicalornon-technical.Non-technicalrolesrefertoweather,health,currentnewsandotherpossiblerelatedfields,forinstance,anindividual’sactionof“establishingpersonalcontact”.Inthecontrast,technicalrolesrelatetospecialistfieldsinwhichpeopleobtainspecialknowledgeaboutsubjectmatters,forexample,thephonologyandmorphology.Inaword,thefielddeterminestheselectionofexperientialmeanings.Modeofdiscoursereferstothelinguisticreflectionbetweenlanguageuserandtransmissionmedium,andwhetherlanguageuserwillchoosethewayofspokenlanguageorwrittenlanguage.Tenorofdiscourseistheresultofmutualrelationshipsamongparticipantsincludingspeakersandlistenersinlanguageevents.Thatistosay,thereexistrelatedvariationstheusercanusetohisaddressee(s)throughlanguage-whetherhisaimistopersuade,teachorassume.Thelanguagereceivercandetermineandinterpretthemeaningoflanguageaddressorthroughlanguageaddressor’stenor.Somefieldsofdiscourses,however,becauseofassociatingwithspecifictenorsandtenors,canaltertheabovementionedmode.InHalliday’sview,sinceeachcomponentofthesituationcanmakeadifferenceinmeaninginterpretation,theanalysiscanresultincomplicatedprocedures.Butthisistheexactwayofillustratinghowcanlanguagebeinaccordancewithdifferentsubjects,intentionsandsituationsincommunication(Halliday,1978).Sperber&Wilson’sintroductionofcognitivecontextSperber&WilsonmentionedinthebookRelevance:communication&cognition,contextisapsychologicalconstructanditassociateswithhearer’sassumptionsabouttheworld.Thoseassumptionsratherthantheactualstateoftheworldcanaffecttheinterpretationofanutterance(Sperber&Wilson,2001).Sperber&Wilsonconsideredcontext,insteadofbeingphysical,isbeingmental.Asallhumansliveinthesamephysicalworld,sameinformationcanbereachedfromthesameenvironment.Logically,thesamementalrepresentationscanbebuiltupinthesamephysicalworld.Thispracticewouldn’tvanishuntiltheendofhumanera.However,inthislifelongpractice,thesamementalrepresentationscannotbeformedduetoourdifferencesinphysicalenvironmentsorcognitiveabilities.Cognitiveabilitiesincludeindividualperceptualabilitiesandinferentialabilities,whichresultfromdifferentlanguagespeople12speakordifferentmemoriespeoplepreserveordifferenttheoriespeoplebelievein,ordifferentexperiencespeopleconduct.Anysingledifferencecanattributetodifferentrepresentationsandinferences.Hence,itisclearnow,theresultofthesamerepresentationisnotonlyaboutthesamephysicalenvironment.Eventhesamephysicalenvironmentisguaranteed,becauseofdifferentcognitiveenvironments,meaninginterpretationmaybealtered.(Sperber&Wilson,2001).Sperber&Wilsontookfurthersteptoexplainthatcontextismorethanjustrelatedtoimmediatephysicalenvironmentorprecedingorfollowingelementsofutterances.Factorslikefutureexpectations,scientificassumptionsorreligiousbeliefs,memories,generalculturalhypothesis,mayallaffectmeaninginterpretation.Allthosefactors,includingthosewhichhasnotbeenmentionedbytheauthor,candetermineindividual’scognitiveenvironment.Allthosefactorscanhelpanindividualperceiveorinferdifferentmattersinfrontofhim.Anindividual’scognitiveenvironmentisnotindependent.Itstillreflectsandassociateswithhisphysicalenvironmentandcognitiveabilities(Sperber&Wilson,2001).Otherscholars’pointofviewoncontextIntheWest,wealsohavephilosopherAristotlewhoelaborated,“Spokenlanguageisthesymboloftheexperienceofmindandwrittenlanguageisspokensymbols”(LiKuiwu,1984,p.55),hewastryingtoprovethatlanguageusers,beingonefactorofcontext,coulddeterminethemeaningofthewords.LinguistG.Leechadvocatedthatcontexthasthreemajorfunctionsovertheinterpretationofmeaning:1)Contexteliminatescertainambiguitiesormultiplemeaningsinthemessage.2)Contextindicatesthereferentsofcertaintypesofwordwecalldeictic(this,that,here,there,now,then,etc.),alsothereferentsofotherexpressionsofdefinitemeaningsuchasJohn,I,You,He,It,andtheman.3)Contextsuppliesinformationwhichthespeaker/writerhasomittedthroughellipsis(Leech,1974/1981).2.1.2HistoryofstudiesoncontextintheEastIntheEast,wehaveDuyufromtheSpringandAutumnDynasty,LiuXiefromtheSouthernDynastiesandMaJianzhongwhowroteinhisChineselanguagegrammarbook《馬氏文通》that“Wordshavenofixedmeanings,nofixedcategories.Itisonlytheco-textcouldtellthemeaningandcategoryofwords”(“字無(wú)定義，故無(wú)定類，必先知其上下文義為何耳”).Theco-textmentionedhereisonefactorofcontextbecauseco-textcanatleastreconstructsomepartofphysicalcontextandmoreimportantlyitcanarriveat13someinterpretationofwholetext,evenifthereislackofinformationaboutplaceandtimeofutteranceorlackofinformationaboutthespeaker/writerandhisintendedrecipient.Themoreco-textthereis,ingeneral,themoreaccuratetheinterpretationis.Actually,inmostcases,textcancreateitsowncontext.Startingfromthe20thcentury,Chinesescholarshavedonemoreworkoncontext,whichisinagreementwiththewesternscholars.ChenWangdaoproposedtheconceptof“situation”whichissimilartotheconceptof“context”.Inhisview,situationcontains“5-W,1-H”:why,what,who,where,whenandhow,anycombinationofwhichwillaffectrhetoricactivities(ChenWangdao,1979).ProfessorWangDechunintheearly1960’sdiscussedtheenvironmentoflanguageuse,proposingthediscussionoflanguageenvironmentwasthebasisofrhetoricandindicatingthatcontextcouldbedividedintotwoparts,objectivecontextandsubjectivecontext.Objectivecontextisdeterminedbyfactorslikespace,targets,timeandsetting,whilesubjectivefactorsisdeterminedbyfactorslikesocialstatus,characteristics,professions,backgrounds,moodandmindoftheparticipants(WangDechun,1989).Ontheissueofclassificationofcontext,professorHeZhaoxiongdividedcontextinto“in-languageknowledge”and“out-languageknowledge”.AccordingtoProfessorZhuXiaonong,contextcouldbeclassifiedintolinguisticcontextandnon-linguisticcontext.Moreover,ProfessorWangJianhuastudiedtheclassificationofcontextthroughthreelayers.Inthefirstlayer,hegenerallydividedcontextinto“in-languagecontext”,“by-languagecontext”and“ex-languagecontext”;andtheninthesecondlayer,hefurtherdividedeachcontextclassificationwhere“in-languagecontext”couldbefurtherdividedintotextualcontextandsententialcontext,“by-languagecontext”couldbefurtherdividedintoadjoincontextandspotcontextand“ex-languagecontext”couldbefurtherdividedintocognitivecontextandsocialculturalcontext.Inthethirdlayer,hespecificallydescribedthefactorswithineachcontextclassification.Textualcontextincludesthetextandparagraphfactors;sententialcontextconcludesneighboringsentencesandco-text;adjoincontextincludestemporaryfactorslikestyle,mood,postureandmedia;spotcontextincludestime,place,setting,topic,targets;cognitivecontextincludesbothknowledgeoftherealandnon-realworld;socialculturalcontextincludesfourmajorelements,namely,culturaltradition,thingmode,ethnicalcustoms,timedifferencesandsocialpsychology.Ontheissueoffunctionsofcontext,ChenZhi’AnandWenXudevelopedthe