A Pragmatic Study Of Vague Language Used By Females From Perspective Of Relevance Theory

The vagueness is one of human natural language essential characteristics; it is universal and inevitable in communication. For over 30 years, the vague language study in our country is mainly concentrated on the vague semantic discussion. This thesis is chiefly a pragmatic study of vague language used by females from perspective of relevance theory. It is not a static research of single vague words and expressions, but more of a dynamic research of vague language used by females in everyday communication, and it involves the relevance theory to carry on the analysis of vague language used by females in human communication.The author tries to make analysis from the following four aspects:1) the concept of communication and context of relevance which account for the vague language used by females;2) the principles of relevance which females obey in everyday communication;3) the effect of ostensive inference in relevance theory on vague language used by females;4) the pragmatic functions of vague language used by females within the framework of the relevance theory.The author selects the TV series Desperate Housewives as analyzing material, uses quantitative and qualitative methodology to make a pragmatic study of vague language used by females from perspective of relevance theory, the author finds out that the vague language helps females to communicate effectively, and the pragmatic function is more positive.