| Abstract | 第2-3页 |
| 摘要 | 第4-7页 |
| Chapter 1 Introduction | 第7-12页 |
| 1.1 The Significance of the Study | 第7-9页 |
| 1.2 The Purpose of the Study | 第9-10页 |
| 1.3 The Questions of the Study | 第10-11页 |
| 1.4 The Outline of the Study | 第11-12页 |
| Chapter 2 Literature Review of Purposeful Ambiguity | 第12-22页 |
| 2.1 A General Introduction of Ambiguity | 第12-17页 |
| 2.1.1 The Definition of Ambiguity | 第12-13页 |
| 2.1.2 Traditional Studies on Purposeful Ambiguity Abroad | 第13-16页 |
| 2.1.3 Traditional Studies on Purposeful Ambiguity at Home | 第16页 |
| 2.1.4 Current Studies of Ambiguity in the Field of Pragmatics | 第16-17页 |
| 2.2 Achievements and Limitations of Past Researches | 第17-18页 |
| 2.3 Purposeful Ambiguity and Unintentional Ambiguity | 第18-20页 |
| 2.4 Purposeful Ambiguity and Deliberate Misinterpretation | 第20-22页 |
| Chapter 3 Theoretical Framework and Research Methodology | 第22-34页 |
| 3.1 Relevance Theory | 第22-30页 |
| 3.1.1 Contextual Effects and Cognitive Efforts | 第23-25页 |
| 3.1.2 The Definition of Relevance | 第25-26页 |
| 3.1.3 Ostensive-inferential Communication Model | 第26-29页 |
| 3.1.4 The Principles of Relevance | 第29-30页 |
| 3.2 The Generative Mechanism of Purposeful Ambiguity | 第30-31页 |
| 3.3 Data Collection from Friends | 第31-32页 |
| 3.4 Research Procedure | 第32-34页 |
| Chapter 4 Ways of Realizing Purposeful Ambiguity | 第34-51页 |
| 4.1 Purposeful Ambiguity at the Sound Level | 第34-38页 |
| 4.2 Purposeful Ambiguity at the Lexical Level | 第38-41页 |
| 4.3 Purposeful Ambiguity at the Syntactic Level | 第41-44页 |
| 4.4 Purposeful Ambiguity by the Rhetorical Devices | 第44-47页 |
| 4.4.1 Purposeful Ambiguity by Euphemism | 第44-45页 |
| 4.4.2 Purposeful Ambiguity by Metaphor | 第45-47页 |
| 4.4.3 Purposeful Ambiguity by Idioms | 第47页 |
| 4.5 Purposeful Ambiguity by the Context | 第47-48页 |
| 4.6 Purposeful Ambiguity by Indirect Speech Act | 第48-51页 |
| Chapter 5 Functions of Purposeful Ambiguity | 第51-64页 |
| 5.1 Relevance Affecting the Choice of Purposeful Ambiguity | 第51-53页 |
| 5.2 Creat Special Effects of Communication | 第53-56页 |
| 5.2.1 Making the Dialogue Subtle and Humorous | 第53-54页 |
| 5.2.2 Portraying Characters Vividly and Visually | 第54-55页 |
| 5.2.3 Creating the Rhetorical Effects of Satire | 第55-56页 |
| 5.3 Purposeful Ambiguity and Cooperative Principle | 第56-57页 |
| 5.3.1 Self-protecting | 第56-57页 |
| 5.3.2 Conflict-avoiding | 第57页 |
| 5.4 Purposeful Ambiguity and Politeness Principle | 第57-60页 |
| 5.4.1 Politeness-achieving | 第58-59页 |
| 5.4.2 Face-keeping | 第59页 |
| 5.4.3 Lessoning the Face-threatening | 第59-60页 |
| 5.5 Purposeful Ambiguity and Speech Act Theory | 第60-64页 |
| 5.5.1 Realizing One’s Purposes | 第61-62页 |
| 5.5.2 Indicating the Social Distance | 第62-64页 |
| Chapter 6 Conclusion | 第64-68页 |
| 6.1 Summary | 第64-66页 |
| 6.2 Limitation | 第66页 |
| 6.3 Suggestion | 第66-68页 |
| Bibliography | 第68-71页 |
| Acknowledgements | 第71-73页 |
| 攻读学位期间发表的论文 | 第73页 |
