A Study Of Pragmatic Vagueness From The Perspective Of Relevance Theory

Vagueness is a traditionally focused topic of the study of epistemic theory as well as semantic theory about which there have appeared a large quantity of articles, and among which semantic factors are highly involved and consequently cognitive factors are seldom taken into account. Couched within Sperber and Wilson's (1986/1995) Relevance Theory, the thesis makes the claim that pragmatic vagueness is a linguistic choice and a communicative strategy chosen by interlocutors to achieve optimal relevance. The author, based on the relevant discussions on vagueness at home and abroad in recent years, makes a systematic analysis of pragmatic vagueness in the new light of cognitive pragmatics with passing comments on the limitations of the explanations provided by epistemic theory, semantic theory, speech act theory and Co-operative Principle. Linguistic devices at different levels such as phonology, lexicon, rhetoric and speech act work as pragmatic vagueness triggers to facilitate the search for optimal relevance. The conclusion is that pragmatic vagueness conforms to the Principle of Relevance in that it can achieve the greatest cognitive effects with the least processing efforts. The communicative functions of pragmatic vagueness include giving right amount of information, expressing the addresser's propositional attitude, manipulating the focus of the addressee's attention and achieving humorous and polite effects. Appropriate use of pragmatic vagueness as a communicative strategy is of positive significance to the development of learners'pragmatic competence and the avoidance of pragmatic failure.