| Acknowledegments | 第1-5页 |
| Abstract in Chinese | 第5-7页 |
| Abstract in English | 第7-11页 |
| Chapter One Introduction | 第11-14页 |
| ·Object of the present research | 第11页 |
| ·Significance and objectives of the present study | 第11-12页 |
| ·Research method of the study | 第12-13页 |
| ·Layout of the thesis | 第13-14页 |
| Chapter Two Review of the Relevant Literature | 第14-31页 |
| ·Definition of vagueness and pragmatic vagueness | 第14-18页 |
| ·Definition of vagueness | 第14-16页 |
| ·Delimitation of pragmatic vagueness | 第16-18页 |
| ·Relevant researches on vagueness | 第18-23页 |
| ·Source-oriented research | 第19-20页 |
| ·Application-oriented research | 第20-21页 |
| ·Interpretation-oriented study | 第21-23页 |
| ·The theoretical framework of the present study | 第23-31页 |
| ·Verschueren's Linguistic Adaptation Theory | 第23-28页 |
| ·Grice's Theory of Conversational Implicature | 第28-29页 |
| ·Brown & Levinson's face theory | 第29-31页 |
| Chapter Three Variability of pragmatic vagueness phenomenon | 第31-38页 |
| ·Pragmatic vagueness as a communicative strategy | 第31-32页 |
| ·Pragmatic vagueness at the phonetic level | 第32-33页 |
| ·Pragmatic vagueness at the lexical level | 第33-35页 |
| ·Hedge | 第33-34页 |
| ·Use of fuzzy category identifiers | 第34页 |
| ·Use of commendatory evaluative adjectives | 第34-35页 |
| ·Using euphemism | 第35页 |
| ·Pragmatic vagueness at the syntactic and discourse level | 第35-38页 |
| ·Pragmatic vagueness shown by conversational implicature | 第35-36页 |
| ·Employing indirect speech acts | 第36-38页 |
| Chapter Four Negotiation when choosing pragmatic vagueness | 第38-47页 |
| ·Rules versus principles | 第38-39页 |
| ·Cooperative Principle employed in pragmatic vagueness | 第39-41页 |
| ·Politeness Principle | 第41-44页 |
| ·Principle of Economy | 第44-47页 |
| Chapter Five Adaptation of vague expressions to context | 第47-64页 |
| ·Linguistic adaptation realized through pragmatic vagueness | 第47-48页 |
| ·Adaptation of pragmatic vagueness to context | 第48-64页 |
| ·Verschueren's Theory of Context | 第48-49页 |
| ·Adaptation to the language users: utterer and interpreter | 第49-51页 |
| ·The utterer's many voices | 第50页 |
| ·The interpreter's many roles | 第50-51页 |
| ·Adaptation to the mental world | 第51-60页 |
| ·Adaptation to utterer's motivation | 第52-57页 |
| ·Adaptation to emotions | 第57-58页 |
| ·Adaptation to the interpreter's stereotyped expectation | 第58-60页 |
| ·Adaptation to the social world | 第60-64页 |
| ·Adaptation to the social conventions | 第60-62页 |
| ·Adaptation to the communicators' social position | 第62-64页 |
| Chapter Six Conclusion | 第64-68页 |
| Bibliography | 第68-70页 |
