| Chapter One Introduction | 第1-15页 |
| ·Overview | 第8-9页 |
| ·The Rationale of the Study | 第9-11页 |
| ·Objectives of the Study | 第11-12页 |
| ·Methodology and Data to be Investigated | 第12-14页 |
| ·The Organization of the Thesis | 第14-15页 |
| Chapter Two Literature Review | 第15-28页 |
| ·Delimitation of Hedging and Hedge | 第15-17页 |
| ·What is Hedging? | 第15-16页 |
| ·What is a Hedge? | 第16-17页 |
| ·The Research Status Quo Abroad and at Home | 第17-26页 |
| ·The Research Abroad | 第17-24页 |
| ·The Research at Home | 第24-26页 |
| ·Political Diplomatic Language | 第26-28页 |
| Chapter Three Theoretical Framework | 第28-34页 |
| ·Systematic-functional Grammar | 第28-30页 |
| ·The Ideational Component | 第28-29页 |
| ·The Interpersonal Component | 第29-30页 |
| ·Textual Component | 第30页 |
| ·Adaptation Theory | 第30-31页 |
| ·Grice's Theory of CP Maxims and Conversational Implicature | 第31-32页 |
| ·The Politeness Principle | 第32-34页 |
| Chapter Four Pragmatic Analysis of Hedging | 第34-49页 |
| ·The Indeterminacy of Hedging | 第34-36页 |
| ·Categories of Hedges | 第36-49页 |
| ·Approximator | 第36-42页 |
| ·Shields | 第42-49页 |
| Chapter Five A Case Analysis | 第49-62页 |
| ·The Ideational Metafunction | 第49-53页 |
| ·Increase in Fuzziness | 第50-52页 |
| ·Decrease in Fuzziness | 第52-53页 |
| ·Interpersonal Metafunction | 第53-59页 |
| ·Politeness Strategy | 第54-56页 |
| ·Co-operative Principle | 第56-57页 |
| ·Self-protection Strategy | 第57-59页 |
| ·Textual Metafunction | 第59-62页 |
| ·Textual Strategy | 第59-60页 |
| ·The Macrostructure | 第60页 |
| ·Discourse Marker | 第60-62页 |
| Chapter Six The Conclusion | 第62-64页 |
| ·Summary of the Present Study | 第62页 |
| ·Limitations and Suggestions for Further Investigation | 第62-64页 |
| Bibliography | 第64-66页 |
| Acknowledgements | 第66页 |
