| Acknowledgements | 第1-5页 |
| Abstract (in English) | 第5-7页 |
| Abstract (in Chinese) | 第7-12页 |
| Chapter One Introduction | 第12-17页 |
| ·The object of the study | 第12-13页 |
| ·The rationale and objectives of the study | 第13-14页 |
| ·Methodology and data collection | 第14-15页 |
| ·The organization of the thesis | 第15-17页 |
| Chapter Two Literature Review | 第17-31页 |
| ·Introduction | 第17页 |
| ·Nonsystematic research before 2004 | 第17-27页 |
| ·Rhetorical approach to DMI | 第17-18页 |
| ·Logical approach to DMI | 第18-21页 |
| ·Pragmatic approach to DMI | 第21-27页 |
| ·Fisher's fake failure to understand | 第21-23页 |
| ·Weigand's planned misunderstanding | 第23-24页 |
| ·Dascal's non-standard misunderstanding | 第24-25页 |
| ·Tzanne's intentional misunderstanding | 第25-27页 |
| ·Systematic research since 2004 | 第27-29页 |
| ·Achievements and insufficiencies of the past research | 第29-31页 |
| Chapter Three DMI and Relevant Concepts | 第31-45页 |
| ·Introduction | 第31页 |
| ·Classical approach to categories | 第31-33页 |
| ·The prototype theory | 第33-38页 |
| ·The category of DMI | 第38-40页 |
| ·Concepts relevant to DMI | 第40-43页 |
| ·Theory application | 第43-45页 |
| Chapter Four A Prototype Study on DMI | 第45-74页 |
| ·Introduction | 第45页 |
| ·The process of DMI | 第45-55页 |
| ·The cognitive bases of utterance interpretation in DMI | 第46-48页 |
| ·Shared cognitive model | 第46-47页 |
| ·The tendency to prototypical interpretation | 第47-48页 |
| ·A cognitive analytical framework of the process of DMI | 第48-51页 |
| ·A simple prototype study on the process of DMI | 第51-55页 |
| ·Different degrees of membership of the interpretations of S1's utterance | 第52页 |
| ·Tendency to prototypical interpretation of utterances | 第52-53页 |
| ·Nonprototypical response | 第53-54页 |
| ·The distance between prototypical and nonprototypical interpretations | 第54-55页 |
| ·Various means linking contextualized prototypical meaning with nonprototypical meaning | 第55-72页 |
| ·CNM & inadequate information | 第55-57页 |
| ·CNM & overinformative information | 第57-59页 |
| ·CNM & indeterminacy | 第59-72页 |
| ·CNM & lexical ambiguity | 第59-64页 |
| ·CNM & homophones | 第60-61页 |
| ·CNM & polysemy | 第61-62页 |
| ·CNM & deixis | 第62-64页 |
| ·CNM & structural ambiguity | 第64-65页 |
| ·CNM & information focus ambiguity | 第65-67页 |
| ·CNM & scope of meaning | 第67-68页 |
| ·CNM & figurative language | 第68-70页 |
| ·CNM & conversational implicature | 第70-72页 |
| ·Summary | 第72-74页 |
| Chapter Five Conclusion | 第74-79页 |
| ·Major findings | 第74-76页 |
| ·Implications | 第76-77页 |
| ·Limitations and suggestions | 第77-79页 |
| Bibliography | 第79-82页 |
