CONTEXUALLY-BOUND WORDS

The context-bound word is a word whose meaning is clear only in a specific context.
Context is the text that comes immediately before or after a particular word or phrase
and helps to explain its meaning. The context is classified into micro- and
macrocontext. The microcontext is a word surrounding within a sentence or phrase.
The macrocontext is a larger text (a passage, a story, etc) where the word is used.
In translation both types of context are essential for guessing the meaning of a
polysemantic word or a homonym. For example, a macrocontext is ery important for
translating newspaper headlines which are characteri!ed by ellipses not only of
structural words but also of notional parts of the sentence.
It is obligatory for a translator to ta"e into account, along with the context, the
consituation, which is often called bac"ground "nowledge. This notion implies
awareness of the time, place, and circumstances of what is spo"en about. For
example, to translate the following microdialogue#

2:5.
seeral ersions might be offered depending on the situation# How much? Two
dollars five ce!s. (in the store)$"ha!#s !he score? Two !o five (after a
match)$ "ha!#s !he !ime? $ive miu!es af!er !wo.
The context helps to find a translation e%uialent to a word not fixed in the dictionary
or fixed in the dictionary but with another meaning. For example, in his
noel &nin written in 'nglish, (. )abo"o used the phrase a ver% commo&lace
mid to characteri!e a hero. )one of the dictionary e%uialents
('()()*+, -.'-/*+, 01-+) suited the translator (*arabturlo), who found his
own e%uialent# /2(3(24/)*+ 56. This is an occasional,
irregular equivalent, fitting in a certain context. +n occasional e%uialent is obtained
by substituting one word for another one to better reeal the contextual meaning.
,er time, a contextual meaning may become a normatie meaning fixed by the
dictionary. This occurred, for instance, with the word dear. +ll dictionaries translated
it as 728+, 6-*+, 9'-6*+. *ut in the phrase m% dear this word is used as a term
of a ery formal address and, therefore, corresponds to the
-ussian 85'5:(;(46*+, which has recently been fixed by the .-olume )ew
'nglish--ussian /ictionary, edited by 0. +presyan.
To find an occasional e%uialent to a word, a logical method of interolation is used.
The contextual meaning of a word, expressed by the occasional e%uialent, is found
by studying the whole semantic structure of the word and deducing the appropriate
meaning from the two ad1acent meanings fixed in the dictionary.
For example, in the sentence The waves lap !he <rai!e of !he em=a>me!. the
word la& contextuali!es its two meanings at the same time# 2) to drin" by ta"ing up
with %uic" moements of the tongue, which corresponds to the
-ussian((/, ;(7) 0-/, 8/(/? and 3) to moe or hit with little waes and
soft sounds, corresponding to the -ussian041(/1@. The first meaning brings up an
image of some "ind of creature. The image is retained with the interpolated e%uialent
in translation# A)* -;5/ 82()-/ )('424;)+.
)o doubt, to interpolate the e%uialent, a translator should be aware of all the
meanings a word has by using translation and monolingual dictionaries, as well as
dictionaries of synonyms and thesauri.
+nother way to translate a word whose dictionary e%uialent does not suit a translator
is to explain the meaning of the word. For example, at a meeting the chairperson can
say, 4Br. C will =e our !ime>ee&er.5 The word !ime>ee&er has the following dictionary
e%uialents# D2)64/2(;-1/, D2)64/2-1/, 1E4/E- :2464)-, but none of
them suits the style or the con-situation. Thus, a better solution for a translator will be
translation by explanation# F107-) G. '574/147-/ .( 248(64)/6 1'2()-@.
6sually explicatory translation is applied to neolo!is"s, or newly coined words not
yet fixed by bilingual dictionaries# e.g., Heo&le wi!h caIdo a!!i!udes are esse!ial !o
e!er&rise cul!ure.
J97-, 8/:*4 ):*6 74(6, E4) :(;)*7@ 024702-)-6(/41/:(.