The Architecture of Chaucer’s Language

Abstract

If asked ‘what does such-and-such a word mean?’ there is a very good possibility that we might return the question ‘in what context?’ For, although we might be able to offer a meaning for the word, we may not be sure that it is the particular meaning sought; and, if we are not certain of the meaning at all, context will probably help us to recall it. This familiar piece of linguistic behaviour should draw our attention to two closely-related facts: firstly, that the meaning of words is somehow dependent upon the context in which they are used; and, secondly, that differences in meaning may be associated with differences in context.