| Declaration | 第1-6页 |
| Acknowledgement | 第6-7页 |
| Abstract | 第7-10页 |
| Contents | 第10-13页 |
| Chapter 1 Introduction | 第13-19页 |
| ·The object of the study | 第13-14页 |
| ·The rationale of the study | 第14-15页 |
| ·The objective of the study | 第15-16页 |
| ·The significance of the study | 第16-17页 |
| ·The data-collection and methodology of the study | 第17页 |
| ·The outline of the study | 第17-19页 |
| Chapter 2 Criticism of previous approaches to verbal irony | 第19-27页 |
| ·Traditional approach to verbal irony | 第19-21页 |
| ·Mention-based approach to verbal irony | 第21-24页 |
| ·Pretense-based approach to verbal irony | 第24-26页 |
| ·Summary | 第26-27页 |
| Chapter 3 How irony is distinguished from nonirony | 第27-34页 |
| ·Definition of verbal irony as implicit display of ironic environment | 第27-30页 |
| ·Ironic environment | 第27-28页 |
| ·Implicit display | 第28-30页 |
| ·Distinguishing irony from nonirony | 第30页 |
| ·Some related concepts | 第30-33页 |
| ·Irony and sarcasm | 第31-32页 |
| ·Irony and jokes | 第32-33页 |
| ·Summary | 第33-34页 |
| Chapter 4 Conceptual framework of the study | 第34-42页 |
| ·A brief introduction to the adaptation theory | 第34-37页 |
| ·A functional perspective on language use | 第34-35页 |
| ·Three key notions | 第35-36页 |
| ·Four angles of investigation | 第36-37页 |
| ·Critical aspects of the adaptation theory related to the ironic utterances | 第37-40页 |
| ·Contextual correlates of adaptability | 第38-40页 |
| ·Dynamics of adaptability | 第40页 |
| ·A tentative framework of the realization of ironic utterances | 第40-42页 |
| Chapter 5 Functions of verbal irony in social and mental world | 第42-50页 |
| ·Arriving at the purpose of criticism | 第42-44页 |
| ·Making a mocking sense | 第44-45页 |
| ·Lessening the face-saving effect | 第45-46页 |
| ·Creating a humorous effect | 第46-47页 |
| ·Building an environment of intimacy | 第47-48页 |
| ·Summary | 第48-50页 |
| Chapter 6 Realization of adaptation in ironic utterances | 第50-70页 |
| ·Adaptation to the utterer's negative emotion | 第50-52页 |
| ·Adaptation to the utterer's motivation | 第52-54页 |
| ·Adaptation to the social relationships | 第54-57页 |
| ·Adaptation to the hierarchical relationships | 第54-56页 |
| ·Adaptation to the close or intimate relationships | 第56-57页 |
| ·Adaptation to the ambiguity strategy | 第57-61页 |
| ·Politeness theory: indirectness of verbal irony as politeness | 第57-58页 |
| ·The ambiguity strategy | 第58-61页 |
| ·One main type of ironic utterances with prominent Chinese feature | 第61-70页 |
| Chapter 7 Conclusion | 第70-74页 |
| ·Major findings | 第70-71页 |
| ·Implications of the present study | 第71-72页 |
| ·Limitations of the present study | 第72-74页 |
| Bibliography | 第74-79页 |
