Gee, J. p. (2008). Social linguistics and literacies: Ideology in discourses (3rd edition). New York, NY: Routledge.
Meaning is something we negotiate and contest over socially. It is something that has its roots in "culture" in the very deep and extended sense that it resides in an attempt to find common ground. That common ground is very often rooted in the sorts of things we think of us "cultures". Two people don't need to "share a culture" to communicate. They need to negotiate and seek common ground on the spot of the here and now of social interaction and communication. (p. 13)
Call this the context principle: guesses about what words mean (what other words they are intended to exclude or not as applicable) are always relative to assumptions about the context. Our three principles—the exclusion principle, the guessing principle, and the context principle—imply claims about meaning that are deeply opposed to our common sense (and many academic) beliefs about the matter. Words have no meanings in and of themselves and by themselves apart from other words. They have meanings only relative to choices (by speakers and writers) and guesses (by hearers and readers) about other words , and assumptions about contexts. (p. 101)
Call this the context principle: guesses about what words mean (what other words they are intended to exclude or not as applicable) are always relative to assumptions about the context. Our three principles—the exclusion principle, the guessing principle, and the context principle—imply claims about meaning that are deeply opposed to our common sense (and many academic) beliefs about the matter. Words have no meanings in and of themselves and by themselves apart from other words. They have meanings only relative to choices (by speakers and writers) and guesses (by hearers and readers) about other words , and assumptions about contexts. (p. 101)
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