Contextual Adaptability Of Fuzzy Language In American Presidential Inaugural Addresses

As an inherent property of language, fuzziness appears to pervade all aspects of natural language. Many scholars both at home and abroad have studied fuzzy language in different discourses form a variety of perspectives and made great achievements. Presidential Inaugural addresses(PIAS) are a type of unique and important political style. It is commonly believed that presidential inaugural addresses should seek for refined and precisely worded language. As a matter of fact, fuzziness extensively exists in nature, human society and thought. Fuzzy language frequently appears in inaugural addresses, for it has irreplaceable features and functions. This thesis will analyze the fuzzy language in APIAs through the Adaptation Theory.According to the Adaptation Theory, language use is a process of making choice,during which the context plays an important role. In certain cases, the president should use fuzzy language to achieve their communicative purposes. Fuzzy language is used as a pragmatic strategy by the speaker to adapt to the context. This thesis aims at making an analysis of the contextual adaptability of fuzzy language in APIAs and the functions of fuzzy language.The use of fuzzy language in APIAs is a conscious process which is adapted to the context, including the mental world, the social world and the physical world. In APIAs, the president chooses fuzzy language in order to adapt to the mental world.During the process of adaptability, the use of fuzzy language not only adapts to the mental world of the speaker but also adapts to the mental world of the audience. The mental factors mainly consists of emotions and motivations or intentions. In the speeches, the presidents should express their determination and respect for the citizensin order to gain confidence from them. The fuzzy language can also be chosen to adapt to the social world including social settings and the social values. America is a country with multiple values including democracy, equality, freedom and so on. All these factors have to be considered when the speaker makes a speech. At last, the fuzzy language in speeches can be adapted to the physical world including time and impreciseness of the content. Sometimes, the content itself is fuzzy, under which condition fuzzy language is the only choice.The fuzzy language used in the presidential speeches is a process of contextual adaptability, which can perform certain functions such as: flexibility; self-protection;drawing audience’s attention and politeness. In certain cases especially when expressing the president’s opinions on some sensitive issues, the president tends to choose some fuzzy expressions to avoid absolute expression and be politeness, which can shed off some responsibilities and protect themselves.