Context-Related Semantics: Evaluation of Expressive Quality of Lexical Items

The aim of this paper is to point out and analyse the closest environment of lexemes that are intended to have expressive qualities within the given contexts. The analysis focuses on words, whose primary meanings are not characterised by expressiveness, and, if found in a different (neutral) context, they would not necessarily be perceived as subjective, emotionally loaded expressions. The material analysed in this paper consists of selected volumes of the popular series of J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter books. The introductory part of the paper is theory-based: it clarifies the reasons for such choice of the material; it also explains why the semantic and stylistic character of a larger context is significant in understanding the connotation of a particular word within this context. The analytical part is divided into three sections, focused on three major types of contextual indicators of expressiveness, which were distinguished in the analysed material.