On The Expressions Of Culturally-loaded Words In Context

This thesis ventures a study on the expressions of culturally-loaded words in English and Chinese by the analysis of them in co-text, situational and cultural contexts.Chinese and English belong to different language families. Each language has some characteristics which may be different from those of the other. Vocabulary is the key element of a language. It is difficult and sometimes even impossible for a language learner to find an equivalent for a culturally-loaded word in the target language. The thesis holds that the expressions of culturally-loaded words are determined by the context in which it occurs. Without the help of a context, a word will not appear to have a definite meaning.When comprehending culturally-loaded words, language users usually find it difficult to fully understand the meaning of words in specific context, let alone choose appropriate words to express themselves. To repair this deficiency and to improve language users' word power, the author advocates applying contextual theories to comprehending the expressions of culturally-loaded words. This has proved to be an effective way.This thesis is divided into six parts inclusive of the introduction and conclusion.In chapter 1 the author mainly explains the theoretical framework, purpose and methodology, the structure of thesis, motive and questions and significance of writing this thesis.In chapter 2 the author gives a brief account of the literature review on the contextual theories.In chapter 3 the author focuses on the three types of co-texts and discusses the relation between the meaning of culturally-loaded words and them.In chapter 4 he analyzes the expressions of culturally-loaded words in the situational context held by Halliday as register.In chapter 5 he states the main four factors affecting cultural differences between...