A Study Of Vagueness And Its Pragmatic Functions In Business Negotiation

Vagueness of language is a universal phenomenon. Since the concept and theory of fuzzy linguistics was proposed in 1960's, researchers have made much systematic descriptive study on vague language, especially on the aspects of semantics. But little interpretive study on the same topic has been conducted. Most people hold the opinion that business negotiation has always been requiring clear and concrete language, so the systematic study of vague language in business negotiation has been neglected. In fact, vague language is widely used in international business negotiation.The present thesis is a pragmatic analysis of vague language in business negotiation. By introducing different aspects of vague terms and the existence of vagueness, this thesis is to expound vagueness of language in business negotiation based on Cooperative Principle and Politeness Principle. This thesis is composed of four chapters except for introduction and conclusion:This paper begins with a brief introduction of the theoretical background of present study, methodology of this thesis and the significance of the study, and then shows the outline of the whole thesis.Chapter 1 dwells on the subject matter of this study—vagueness. It presents the review of fuzzy linguistics, offers the previous study of vagueness from four perspectives, provides the diversity of the definitions and gives the reasons of existence of vague language from four aspects.Chapter 2 studies linguistic realization of vagueness in business negotiation. The definition of business negotiation and the characteristics of vagueness in this genre are illustrated. Linguistic realization of vagueness of language in business negotiation is analyzed from lexical level, syntactical level and contextual level.Chapter 3 is the theoretical basis of this thesis, which illustrates vagueness in business negotiation from the angle of pragmatics. It gives the definition and classification of pragmatic vagueness. Great efforts have been made to analyze the vague expressions in business negotiation mainly by Cooperative Principle and Politeness Principle. Chapter 4 aims at explicating the pragmatic functions of vagueness in business negotiation. Vague language in business negotiation can achieve the following effects: creating harmonious atmosphere, achieving politeness, being self-protecting, being flexible and tactful, avoiding or shifting responsibility and avoiding contradiction. However, pragmatic vagueness may not work well if it is not used appropriately. By introducing some negative aspects of exaggerating vagueness of language, it cautions people to treat vagueness of language scientifically: not to ignore and not to exaggerate or abuse.Although some limitations can be found in the present study, it necessarily has its important implications. The negotiators who are aware of vagueness strategy and make use of it appropriately are more likely to communicate more accurately and effectively in business negotiations. This thesis would be a great help for business negotiators and business students to better realize his communicative intentions or better understand both parties'intended meaning of vague language.