| Acknowledgements | 第1-6页 |
| Abstract | 第6-8页 |
| 内容摘要 | 第8-11页 |
| Chapter 1 Introduction | 第11-15页 |
| ·Background of the study | 第11-12页 |
| ·Significance | 第12-13页 |
| ·Theoretical significance | 第12-13页 |
| ·Practical significance | 第13页 |
| ·Overview of the thesis | 第13-15页 |
| Chapter 2 Literature Review | 第15-25页 |
| ·Definition of hedges | 第15-17页 |
| ·Related study at home and abroad | 第17-24页 |
| ·Zadeh’s fuzzy set theory | 第17-19页 |
| ·Lakoff’s study of hedges | 第19-22页 |
| ·The study of hedges in China | 第22-24页 |
| ·Summary and the present mode | 第24-25页 |
| Chapter 3 The Classification of Hedges | 第25-33页 |
| ·Approximators | 第25-30页 |
| ·Adapators | 第26-28页 |
| ·Rounders | 第28-30页 |
| ·Shields | 第30-33页 |
| ·Plausibility shields | 第30-31页 |
| ·Attribution shields | 第31-33页 |
| Chapter 4 The Pragmatic Analysis of Functions of Hedges | 第33-49页 |
| ·Hedges and conversational implicature | 第34-38页 |
| ·Grice’s conversational implicature | 第34-35页 |
| ·Cancellability of hedges in conversational implicature | 第35-37页 |
| ·Indeterminacy of hedges in conversational implicature | 第37-38页 |
| ·Hedges and cooperative principle | 第38-42页 |
| ·Grice’s cooperative principle | 第38-39页 |
| ·Hedges and the maxim of quality | 第39-41页 |
| ·Hedges and the maxim of quantity | 第41-42页 |
| ·Hedges and politeness principle and face threatening acts | 第42-47页 |
| ·Politeness principle and FTA | 第42-44页 |
| ·The relation between hedges and face and politeness principle | 第44-47页 |
| ·Summary | 第47-49页 |
| Chapter 5 A Brief Analysis of Functions of Hedges in Different Contexts | 第49-66页 |
| ·Methodology | 第50-52页 |
| ·Corpus Description | 第50-51页 |
| ·Procedure | 第51-52页 |
| ·Data Analysis and Discussion | 第52-64页 |
| ·Quantitative Description of Hedges in Different Contexts | 第52-55页 |
| ·Detailed Analysis of Functions of Hedges in Different Contexts | 第55-61页 |
| ·Reasons for Different Functions of Hedges in Different Contexts | 第61-64页 |
| ·Results of the Analysis | 第64页 |
| ·Summary | 第64-66页 |
| Chapter 6 Conclusion | 第66-70页 |
| ·Main Findings | 第66页 |
| ·Implications | 第66-69页 |
| ·Limitations of this Study | 第69页 |
| ·Summary | 第69-70页 |
| Bibliography | 第70-74页 |
| Publications | 第74页 |
