لخّصلي

.It is contextual considerations that make the difference between structural linguistics and sociolinguistics, pragmatics and discourse analysis.J.R. Firth (a linguist) expounded this study and in his contextual theory of meaning argues that context is the bedrock of any linguistic enterprise because "normal linguistic behaviour as a whole is meaning effort, directed towards the maintenance of appropriate patterns of life" (Firth 1957: 223). Since every utterance occurs within a "culturally determined context of situation" meaning is tied to that context about the speaker and the ways he perceives himself, his roles in the society and his relationship with other members of the society.As pragmatics investigates context-based meaning it will be impossible to talk about pragmatics without reference to the context in which utterances are made.Context refers to the situation, within which language functions.

.    Context refers to the situation, within which language functions. It may be physical/environmental, social context or institutional situation, including events, time, culture or social conventions that can influence language use. The first use of the term “context of situation” is attributable to Bronislaw Malinowski, a social anthropologist, who in his study of language behaviours among some native Indians concluded that language is a “mode of action” and as social behaviour is closely tied to the relevant social situation in which it is used (Malinowski 1935). The meaning of words was not to be restricted to sounds of utterances or their grammatical structure but must include the “pragmatic context” in which they are uttered. J.R. Firth (a linguist) expounded this study and in his contextual theory of meaning argues that context is the bedrock of any linguistic enterprise because “normal linguistic behaviour as a whole is meaning effort, directed towards the maintenance of appropriate patterns of life” (Firth 1957: 223).
    Since every utterance occurs within a “culturally determined context of situation” meaning is tied to that context about the speaker and the ways he perceives himself,
his roles in the society and his relationship with other members of the society. As pragmatics investigates context-based meaning it will be impossible to talk about pragmatics without reference to the context in which utterances are made. And as a matter of fact, linguistic codes are actually selected and used according to some social sets of standards. It is contextual considerations that make the difference between structural linguistics and sociolinguistics, pragmatics and discourse analysis. We shall look at the features of context as we examine the various types of contexts.