Longman Dictionary of

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content word
sets out to measure. For example, a test of pronunciation skills in a language
would have low content validity if it tested only some of the skills
that are required for accurate pronunciation, such as a test that tested the
ability to pronounce isolated sounds, but not STRESS, INTONATION, or the
pronunciation of sounds within words. Content validity is of particular
importance in CRITERION-REFERENCED TESTs, where the test content must
represent the content of what has been taught in a course.
content word n
words can be divided into two classes: content words and function words.
Content words are words which refer to a thing, quality, state, or action
and which have meaning (lexical meaning) when the words are used
alone. Content words are mainly nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs,
e.g. book, run, musical, quickly.
Function words are words which have little meaning on their own, but
which show grammatical relationships in and between sentences (grammatical
meaning). Conjunctions, prepositions, articles, e.g. and, to, the,
are function words.
Function words are also called form words, empty words, functors, grammatical
words, structural words, structure words. Content words are also
called full words, lexical words.
see also WORD CLASS
context n contextual adj
that which occurs before and/or after a word, a phrase or even a longer
UTTERANCE or a TEXT. The context often helps in understanding the particular
meaning of the word, phrase, etc. For example, the word loud in
loud music is usually understood as meaning “noisy” whereas in a tie
with a loud pattern it is understood as “unpleasantly colourful”. The
context may also be the broader social situation in which a linguistic item
is used. For example, in ordinary usage, spinster refers to an older unmarried
woman but in a legal context it refers to any unmarried woman.
see also CONTEXTUAL MEANING
context clue n
also contextualization clue
in comprehension, information from the immediate setting surrounding
an item in a text and which provides information that can be used to
understand the meaning of an item. Such clues may be lexical or grammatical.
In speech context clues include the verbal, paralinguistic and
non-verbal signs that help speakers understand the full meaning of a
speaker’s utterances in context.
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