模糊语言 英文PDF电子书下载

Chapter 1 What is vague language? 1

1.1 Introduction 1

1.2 Defining vague language 5

Acknowledgements 10

1.3 Vagueness and communication 13

The author and series editors 15

Foreword 17

1.4 The treatment of vague language in this book 17

Text data,its sources,and presentation 19

1.5 A working definition of vague language 19

1.6 The place of vagueness in the study of language 20

1.7 Organization of the book 21

Chapter 2 Theory and methodology of the study of vague language 23

2.1 Idealization 23

2.2 Meaning and what it means to study meaning 24

2.3 Levels of analysis of language 26

2.4 Making judgements about language 27

2.5 Distinguishing between semantics and pragmatics 28

2.6 Semantics 30

2.7 Representations of meaning 30

2.8 Pragmatics 31

2.9 'Context'and'pragmatics' 34

2.10 Vagueness versus ambiguity 34

2.11 Methodology 38

2.12 Examples and other data 39

2.13 Transcription of recorded data 41

Chapter 3 Approximating quantities with numbers and approximators 42

3.1 Introduction 42

3.2 The general meaning of approximator+n structures 44

3.3 About,around,and round 45

3.4 Approximately 50

3.5 n or m 53

3.6 n or so 59

3.7 Partial specifiers 62

3.8 Combinations of approximators 68

3.9 Numbers in approximations 70

3.10 Implicatures and entailments of approximator+n structures 72

3.11 Cross-linguistic comparison 74

3.12 Summary 75

Chapter 4 Approximating quantities with round numbers 78

4.1 Using a precise number with a vague meaning 78

4.2 'Round'numbers=reference point numbers 81

4.3 'Faded' numbers as approximations 86

4.4 How do we know when an apparently exact number is an approximation? 87

4.5 Exaggeration 89

4.6 Using a plural number name to approximate a quantity 90

4.7 Cross-linguistic comparison 93

4.8 Summary 94

Chapter 5 Approximating quantities with non-numerical vague quantifiers 95

5.1 Introduction 95

5.2 Approach 96

5.3 Plural quantifier+of+noun 100

5.4 A+singular quantifier(+of+noun) 104

5.5 Other uses of pseudopartitives 109

5.6 Vague quantifier+countable noun 111

5.7 Adverbs of frequency 116

5.8 Summary 118

Chapter 6 Referring vaguely to categories 119

6.1 Introduction 119

6.2 An outline analysis 120

6.3 Testing for the meaning of vague category identifiers 123

6.4 The structure of the tags 131

6.5 Structure of exemplar+tag 132

6.6 Co-occurrence restrictions 140

6.7 Summary 143

Chapter 7 Thingy and whatsisname:placeholder words 157

7.1 Introduction 157

7.2 Examples 158

7.3 Semantics and pragmatics 162

7.4 Summary 164

8.2 Analytical approach 165

8.1 Introduction 165

Chapter 8 The uses of vague language 165

8.3 Three scenarios showing vagueness 166

8.4 Giving the right amount of information 173

8.5 Deliberately withholding information 178

8.6 Using language persuasively 179

8.7 Lexical gaps 180

8.8 Lacking specific information 184

8.9 Displacement 186

8.10 Self-protection 188

8.11 Power and politeness 190

8.12 Informality and atmosphere 191

8.13 Women's language 192

8.14 Summary 194

Chapter 9 Going beyond the information given 196

9.1 Summary 196

9.2 Implications for language understanding 198

9.3 Language and the world 201

9.4 Consequences for linguistics 202

9.5 Applications of the study of vague language in English 204

9.6 An exercise on the analysis of vague language 206

9.7 Looking forward 208

Bibliography 210

Glossary 216

Index 222