Context

Verbal contexts contribute to the interpretation of a word by helping to select the applicable sense or use. Some contexts are deemed diagnostic, in this regard, while others are relatively less helpful. I call them »indifferent«, such as colors and shapes for names of objects, since all objects have a color and a shape. Rare or less common words have a similar effect: »pellucid« in »a pellucid writing style«, for instance. If the contextual term or co-occurrent is itself polysemous, the larger context is required. For example, »pellucid« means both »easy to understand« and »lucid«, which cannot be applied simultaneously.

Verbal or linguistic context of a word or expression is the actual lexical environment in which the unit occurs. It is distinguished from the situational or pragmatic context which involves the speaker and hearer of the utterance and various social and cultural factors, as well as what the lexical units refer to. Verbal contexts of a unit are often called its distribution or paradigm. As do units they vary in generality. For instance, “wife” is more specific than “world”. Co-occurrence of general terms will often result in what are called “vague” sentences or even truisms. In contrast, utterances made up of very specific words tend to become less intelligible.