The so-called contextual meaning is always individual, occasional and context-bound. It lives only in its context and disappears if the context is altered.
The contextual meaning of a word is usually semantically richer than the dictionary meaning because of the connections which it arouses.
In an atomic war women and children will be the first hostages.
Первыми жертвами в атомной войне будут женщины и дети.
The dictionary meaning of the word “ hostage ” is заложник, but in this context it is synonymous with “ victim ” as every hostage might become a victim and die. Thus the contextual meaning of a word is not arbitrary, it is inherent in its semantic structure and is brought out by the writer who is able to perceive its potentialities.
The vital role of context in bringing out different lexical-semantic variants and its importance in translation are well illustrated by the use of the noun and the verb “frustration, to frustrate”.
That there is a great deal of frustration in the land today is made evident by a proliferation of societies, leagues, committees, councils and crusades which propose to stop the clock or to turn its hands back.
О наличии в настоящее время глубокого разочарования в стране говорит множество всяких обществ, лиг, комитетов, советов и крестовых походов, которые стремятся остановить время или повернуть его вспять.
A second common denotation of the Rightist group is that they tend to attribute every frustration to betrayal by traitors.
Второй общей чертой всех правых групп является склонность приписывать все неудачи измене и предательству.
It is hard to escape a conclusion that the essential negativism of the “either - or” approach is designed to frustrate rather than forward any kind of agreement.
Нельзя не прийти к выводу, что крайний негативизм подхода «или – или» (все или ничего) рассчитан на срыв, а не на заключение любого соглашения.
Words of Wide Meaning
Words possessing a wide volume of meaning are peculiarly adaptable to different contexts.
The commanding officer singled him out because of his university background. (Nicholas Monserrat)
Командир выбрал его, так как он был человек с университетским образованием.
…he was a landlord with a Tory background.
…он был помещиком и происходил из семьи консерваторов.
Parents of genuine hippies find themselves up against a type of mentality with which they are unprepared, either by background or experience, to cope.
Родители убежденных хиппи сталкиваются с таким образом мыслей, с каким они не могут справиться ни благодаря своему воспитанию, ни своему жизненному опыту.
Did reporters usually allow the Secretary of State to determine after an interview whether it was going to be on the record, off the record or only for background. (Carl Bernstein, Bob Woodward).
Неужели корреспонденты обычно позволяли Государственному секретарю решать после интервью будет ли оно считаться официальным, неофициальным, или данным только для их информации.
In certain cases the translator has to turn to a wider context which sometimes comprises a whole paragraph a whole chapter or a whole book.
Thus in Chapter LIII of “Vanity Fair” Thackeray describes the unexpected return of Rawdon Crawley from the debtor’s prison and his consternation when he finds his wife in the company of Lord Steyne.
“T he wretched woman was in a brilliant full toilet ”.
The adjective “ wretched ” has the following meanings: miserable, unhappy, afflicated, inferior, of bad quality or no merit, contemptible, unsatisfactory, causing discontent or discomfort or nuisance. (The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Current English).
Thackeray, a moralist, condemned immorality throughout his writing. Aware of this the translator naturally chooses contemptible.
На этой презренной (низкой, подлой, вероломной, коварной) женщине был роскошный вечерний туалет.
