| Acknowledgements | 第1-4页 |
| Abstract (English version) | 第4-6页 |
| Abstract (Chinese version) | 第6-9页 |
| Chapter 1 Introduction | 第9-11页 |
| ·Preliminary remarks | 第9页 |
| ·The general framework of the thesis | 第9-11页 |
| Chapter 2 A Historical Review of Ambiguity Investigations | 第11-17页 |
| ·Definitions and types of ambiguity | 第11-13页 |
| ·Definitions of ambiguity | 第11-12页 |
| ·Classifications of ambiguity | 第12-13页 |
| ·Pragmatic ambiguity and pragmatic ambivalence | 第12页 |
| ·Types of semantic ambiguity | 第12-13页 |
| ·The oppositions in ambiguity studies | 第13-17页 |
| ·The opposition between Aristotle and Plato | 第13-14页 |
| ·The opposition in modern ambiguity studies | 第14-17页 |
| Chapter 3 The Nature of Ambiguity | 第17-33页 |
| ·The diachronic perspective | 第18-21页 |
| ·The grammatical metaphorical perspective | 第21-26页 |
| ·Elucidating Halliday's term "grammatical metaphor" | 第21-22页 |
| ·Ideational ambiguity | 第22-25页 |
| ·Interpersonal ambiguity | 第25-26页 |
| ·The synchronic perspective | 第26-29页 |
| ·The function of ambiguity in realization of interpersonal metafunction | 第27页 |
| ·The function of ambiguity in realization of textual metafunction | 第27-29页 |
| ·The nature of ambiguity | 第29-33页 |
| Chapter 4 Ways of Disambiguation | 第33-43页 |
| ·The traditional ways of disambiguation | 第33-36页 |
| ·The systemic way of disambiguation | 第36-43页 |
| ·The context theory | 第36-39页 |
| ·Case studies | 第39-43页 |
| Chapter 5 Ambiguity and Some of Its Cognate Terms | 第43-46页 |
| ·Grammatical ambiguity and the interchangeable terms in the systemic-functional linguistics | 第43-44页 |
| ·Grammatical ambiguity and the interchangeable terms in traditional linguistics | 第44-46页 |
| Chapter 6 Summary, Conclusions and Suggestions for Future Studies | 第46-49页 |
| ·Summary | 第46-47页 |
| ·Conclusions | 第47页 |
| ·Suggestions for further researches | 第47-49页 |
| Bibliography | 第49-51页 |
