| Acknowledgements | 第1-5页 |
| Abstract in English | 第5-7页 |
| Abstract in Chinese | 第7-12页 |
| CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION | 第12-25页 |
| ·WHAT IS FUZZINESS? | 第14-15页 |
| ·RELEVANT STUDIES ON FUZZINESS | 第15-20页 |
| ·A BRIEF INTRODUCTION TO HEDGES AND HEDGING | 第20-22页 |
| ·SIGNIFICANCE OF THE RESEARCH | 第22-23页 |
| ·DATA COLLECTION AND METHODOLOGY | 第23页 |
| ·OUTLINE OF THE THESIS | 第23-25页 |
| CHAPTER 2 HEDGES AND HEDGING | 第25-31页 |
| ·AN OVERVIEW OF THE STUDIES ON HEDGES | 第25-29页 |
| ·Semantic studies on hedges and hedging | 第25-27页 |
| ·Pragmatic studies on hedges and hedging | 第27-29页 |
| ·DEFINITION OF HEDGES AND HEDGING | 第29-31页 |
| CHAPTER 3 CATEGORIZATION OF HEDGES AND REALIZATION OF HEDGING | 第31-61页 |
| ·CATEGORIZATION OF HEDGES | 第31-47页 |
| ·Grammatical categorization | 第31-35页 |
| ·Semantic categorization | 第35-38页 |
| ·Pragmatic categorization | 第38-47页 |
| ·REALIZATION OF HEDGING | 第47-61页 |
| ·Realization of English hedging | 第47-55页 |
| ·Realization of Chinese hedging | 第55-59页 |
| ·Realization of Japanese hedging | 第59-61页 |
| CHAPTER 4 SEMANTIC FEATURES OF HEDGES | 第61-68页 |
| ·CANCELLABILITY | 第61-63页 |
| ·MARKEDNESS | 第63-64页 |
| ·INDEFINITENESS | 第64-66页 |
| ·INDIRECTNESS | 第66-68页 |
| CHAPTER 5 A PRAGMATIC ANALYSIS OF HEDGING | 第68-88页 |
| ·HEDGING AND CONVERSATIONAL IMPLICATURE | 第68-70页 |
| ·HEDGING AND COOPERATIVE PRINCIPLE | 第70-77页 |
| ·Hedging and the maxim of quality | 第72-74页 |
| ·Hedging and the maxim of quantity | 第74-76页 |
| ·Hedging and the maxim of relevance | 第76页 |
| ·Hedging and the maxim of manner | 第76-77页 |
| ·HEDGING AND POLITENESS PRINCIPLE | 第77-83页 |
| ·Hedging and Tact Maxim | 第80页 |
| ·Hedging and Generosity Maxim | 第80-81页 |
| ·Hedging and Approbation Maxim | 第81页 |
| ·Hedging and Modest Maxim | 第81-82页 |
| ·Hedging and Agreement Maxim | 第82-83页 |
| ·Hedging and Sympathy Maxim | 第83页 |
| ·PRAGMATIC FUNCTIONS OF HEDGES | 第83-88页 |
| ·Giving right amount of information | 第84-85页 |
| ·Achieving politeness | 第85-86页 |
| ·Saving face | 第86页 |
| ·Avoiding taking full commitment to the proposition | 第86-88页 |
| CHAPTER 6 CONCLUSION AND LIMITATIONS | 第88-96页 |
| ·CONCLUSION | 第88-95页 |
| ·LIMITATIONS | 第95-96页 |
| BIBLIOGRAPHY | 第96-100页 |
