Analyze and comment on the following.State the roles of context in determination of word meaning. Illustrate your points with examples.

Analyze and comment on the following.State the roles of context in determination of word meaning. Illustrate your points with examples.

CONTEXT PALYS A VITAL ROLE IN THE FOLLOWING THREE ASPECTS. 

1)ELIMINATION OF AMBIGUITY. WHEN A WORD WITH MUTIPLE MEANINGS IS USED IN INADEQUATE CONTEXT, IT CREATES AMBIGUITY, E.G. "HE IS A HARD BUSINESSMAN." THE WORD HARD IN THIS CONTEXT CAN MEAN BOTH ‘’HARDWORKING‘ AND ‘DIFFICULT’. THE CONTEXGT FAILS TO NARROW DOWN THE MEANING SO THAT IT IS DIFFICULT FOR THE READER TO DECIDE WHAT EXACTLY THE SPEAKER MEANS. 

2) INDICATION OF REFERENTS. ENGLISH HAS A LARGE NUMBER OF WORDS SUCH AS NOW/THEN, HERE/THERE, I/YOU, THIS/THAT, WHICH ARE OFTEN USED TO REFER DIRECTLY TO PEOPLE, TIME, PLACE, ETC. WITHOUT CLEAR CONTEXT, THE REFERENCE CAN BE VERY CONFUSING. FOR EXAMPLE, THE WORD NOW ALWAYS MEANS THE TIME OF SPEAKING, NATURALLY REFERRING TO A PAST TIME WHEN THE SPEECH TOOK PLACE IN THE PAST OR A PRESENT MOMENT IF THE PERSON IS SPEAKING. 

3)PROVISION OF CLUES FOR INFERRING WORD MEANING. CONTEXT MAY PROVE EXTREMELY VALUABLE IN GUESSING THE MEANINGS OF NEW WORDS. CONTEXT CLUES VARY A GREAT DEAL BUT CAN BE  SUMMED UP AS FOLLOWS: DEFINITION; EXPLANATION; EXAMPLE; SYNONYM; ANTONYMY, HYPONYMY; RELATIVE DETAILS; WORD STRUCTURE.