| Acknowledgements | 第1-4页 |
| Abstract in English | 第4-5页 |
| Abstract in Chinese | 第5-8页 |
| Ⅰ． Introduction | 第8-10页 |
| Ⅱ． Background of Communicative Theories | 第10-19页 |
| 2．1 Semiologists' Code Model of Communication | 第10-11页 |
| 2．1．1 Code Model's Interpretation of Human Communicatin | 第10页 |
| 2．1．2 The Problems Insoluble by Code Model | 第10-11页 |
| 2．2 Grice's Theory of Conversational Implicature | 第11-15页 |
| 2．2．1 Co-operative Principle of Communication | 第11-12页 |
| 2．2．2 Violation of CP and Inference of Conversational Implicature | 第12-13页 |
| 2．2．3 The Inadequacies of Grice's Communicative Theory | 第13-15页 |
| 2．3 Austin and Searle's Theory of Speech Acts | 第15-19页 |
| 2．3．1 Austin's Tripartition of Speech Acts | 第15-16页 |
| 2．3．2 Searle's Theory of Indirect Speech Acts | 第16-17页 |
| 2．3．3 The Strong and Weak Points of Searle's Theory | 第17-19页 |
| Ⅲ． RT's Ostensive-Inferential Communication Model | 第19-31页 |
| 3．1 Mutual Manifestness of Cognitive Environments: the Basis of Communication | 第19-22页 |
| 3．1．1 What is Cognitive Environment? | 第19-20页 |
| 3．1．2 Mutual Manifestness of Cognitive Environments | 第20-22页 |
| 3．2 RT's Ostensive-Inferential Communication Model | 第22-31页 |
| 3．2．1 RT's Definition of Communication:Ostensive-Inferential Act | 第22-23页 |
| 3．2．2 Ostension on the Part of the Speaker | 第23-25页 |
| 3．2．2．1 The Reference and Purpose of the Speaker's Ostension | 第23-24页 |
| 3．2．2．2 Two Intentions of the Speaker's Ostension | 第24-25页 |
| 3．2．3 Inference on the Part of the Hearer | 第25-31页 |
| 3．2．3．1 The Reference of the Hearer's Inference | 第26页 |
| 3．2．3．2 The Properties of the Hearer's Inference | 第26-29页 |
| 3．2．3．3 The Deductive Apparatus of the Inference | 第29-31页 |
| Ⅳ． Relevance Principle for Ostensive-Inferential Communication | 第31-40页 |
| 4．1 The definition of relevance | 第31页 |
| 4．2 Contextual Effect and Conditions for Relevance | 第31-34页 |
| 4．2．1 The Definition of Contextual Effect | 第31-33页 |
| 4．2．2 Contextual Effect is the Required Condition for Relevance | 第33页 |
| 4．2．3 Contextual Effect is the Sufficient Condition for Relevance | 第33-34页 |
| 4．3 Contextual Effect, Processing Effort and Degree of Relevance | 第34-35页 |
| 4．4 The Principle of Optimal Relevance | 第35-40页 |
| 4．4．1 Two Criteria for Optimal Relevance | 第35-38页 |
| 4．4．2 Communicative Principle of Relevance | 第38-40页 |
| Ⅴ． RT's Role in Utterance Production and Interpretation | 第40-52页 |
| 5．1 Successful Communication and Optimal Relevance | 第40-41页 |
| 5．2 Relevance Principle's Restraints on Utterance Production | 第41-43页 |
| 5．3 Relevance Principle's Role in Utterance Interpretation | 第43-52页 |
| 5．3．1 Utterances with Semantic Ambiguity | 第43-45页 |
| 5．3．2 Utterances with Incomplete Propositional Form | 第45-47页 |
| 5．3．3 Utterances with Implicit Meaning | 第47-49页 |
| 5．3．4 Utterances with Metaphorical Meaning | 第49-50页 |
| 5．3．5 Utterances with Ironical Meaning | 第50-52页 |
| Ⅵ． An Evaluation of RT's Approach to Communication | 第52-58页 |
| 6．1 The Chief Contributions of Relevance Theory | 第52-56页 |
| 6．1．1 RT has Established a Communicative Model Superior to Traditional Ones | 第52页 |
| 6．1．2 Relevance Principle is an Improvement on Grice's Co-operative Principle | 第52-53页 |
| 6．1．3 RT Rationally Substitutes‘Mutual Manifestness' for‘Shared Knowledge' | 第53-54页 |
| 6．1．4 RT has Introduced the Idea of Dynamic Context | 第54-55页 |
| 6．1．5 RT Aims at Interpretation of both Implicit and Explicit Communication | 第55-56页 |
| 6．2 The Limitations of Relevance Theory | 第56-58页 |
| 6．2．1 The Optimally Relevant Interpretation cannot Necessarily Agree with the Speaker's Intention | 第56页 |
| 6．2．2 RT Tends to Formalize and Simplify the Cognitive Process of Communicative Subjects | 第56-58页 |
| Bibliography | 第58-62页 |
