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Abstract Vagueness is a basic feature of language. Vagueness in language has been studied for many years by many researchers and scholars at home and abroad. This thesis first introduces the definition of vague language, and then mainly expounds vagueness’ pragmatic functions in people’s daily communication. Finally, the paper points out the findings of the study.
Keywords vaguenessvague languagepragmatic functions
一、Definition of Vague Language
Vagueness is a very common phenomenon in language use. Nowadays more and more people begin to realize it. There are many scholars and researchers who have tried to define vagueness or vague language, but the term “vagueness” seems very hard to be mined since the term“vague”itself，as Ullmann（Ullmann，1962：118）puts it，“is quite vague and ambiguous.”
In the famous book the Philosophy of Language, Alston (1964:84) makes the definition as “a term is said to be vague, if there are cases in which there is no definite answer as to whether the term applies”. That is, vagueness of a term is shown by borderline cases, when people are uncertain whether to apply or not apply the term.
二、Pragmatic Functions of Vague Language
（一）Supplying the right amount of information
Sometimes the speaker uses vague words or expressions as a communicative device to supply the hearer the right amount of information for the purpose of conversation.
For example, a lady gets up in the morning, seeing all her flowers are frozen dead. She may begin her chatting with her neighbor.
It’s really cold last night and I lost some flowers with the frost.
(Adopted from Channell, 2000)
Here, obviously the speaker knows how many flowers she lost, yet she uses “some flowers” instead of precise number, just for the purpose of chatting. Thus, the exact number of the dead flowers is not important, and it needn’t be told out.
（二）Deliberately withholding information
In many circumstances, the speaker uses vague language deliberately to hide information, though they know the information might be expected by their hearers.
She is about 29 years old. (from Channel,2000)
This sentence doesn’t sound unusual to Chinese, but in case of some people with the knowledge of western culture, his sentence indicates the hidden information of the speaker. As we know, in the west, in general, the age of a lady’s is considered to be her individual privacy. Ladies always hope to be looking young, and do not like to be said thirty. Therefore, the motivation of the speaker’s vague expression lies in withholding the true age so as to defend his/her individual privacy.
（三）Protecting oneself
Some speakers employ vague language as a safeguard, esp. some hedges to guarantee that they are not wrong at any time. For example:
We haven’t seen each other for quite a long time, probably all of your children have grown up.
Here the children whom the speaker is referring to are in a dynamic state of development, and also the speaker has not seen the children for quite a long time. So he uses the hedge”probably” to express his careful formality and extreme caution.
（四）Showing politeness
Politeness is a universal phenomenon, it’s the symbol of human civilization, and it can thus be seen as one of the basic social guidelines for human activities interactions.
In social communications, the speakers use vague language tactfully just for the purpose of politeness. The speaker wants to be close mentally with the hearer so much that the hearer can feel comfortable, and thus accept the speaker’s utterance more easily.
For example, A is going to the shop, B asks A to buy him some bread just as A leaves:
A: So you’d like some bread?
B: Or something. Anything edible will do.
(From Channell, 2000)
Here, B doesn’t want to request directly, but tries to show his gratitude, so he politely offers A options within the category of “anything edible will do, bread or something” in order that A may buy him some food willingly.
The example shows that politeness is a feature of language in use, and using vague language is one of the ways to show politeness to others and at the same time, it also relates to the speaker’s motivations.
三、 Conclusion
Based on the analysis and discussions in previous chapters, the major findings of the study can be summarized as follows:
1. Vague language, if used appropriately, can play the roles of self-protection and showing politeness.
2. People employ vague language when they fail to remember the correct or exact words, when they are unknowledgeable, when they want to show their cooperation and politeness, or when they deliberately want to express their particular illocutionary for hidden intention. The use of vague language can, to some degree, help them achieve purpose and enhance the understanding of each other.
References：
[1] Brown, P. & Levison, S. Politeness: Some Universals in Language Usage [M]. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1987.
[2] Channell, J. Vague Language [M]. Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press, 2000.
[3] Levision, S. Pragmatics [M]. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1983
[4] Russell, B. Vagueness [J], Australian Journal of Psychology and Philosophy, 1923(9):84-92.
[5] Yule, G. Pragmatics [M]. Shanghai: Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press, 2000.（編辑郑云东）
Keywords vaguenessvague languagepragmatic functions
一、Definition of Vague Language
Vagueness is a very common phenomenon in language use. Nowadays more and more people begin to realize it. There are many scholars and researchers who have tried to define vagueness or vague language, but the term “vagueness” seems very hard to be mined since the term“vague”itself，as Ullmann（Ullmann，1962：118）puts it，“is quite vague and ambiguous.”
In the famous book the Philosophy of Language, Alston (1964:84) makes the definition as “a term is said to be vague, if there are cases in which there is no definite answer as to whether the term applies”. That is, vagueness of a term is shown by borderline cases, when people are uncertain whether to apply or not apply the term.
二、Pragmatic Functions of Vague Language
（一）Supplying the right amount of information
Sometimes the speaker uses vague words or expressions as a communicative device to supply the hearer the right amount of information for the purpose of conversation.
For example, a lady gets up in the morning, seeing all her flowers are frozen dead. She may begin her chatting with her neighbor.
It’s really cold last night and I lost some flowers with the frost.
(Adopted from Channell, 2000)
Here, obviously the speaker knows how many flowers she lost, yet she uses “some flowers” instead of precise number, just for the purpose of chatting. Thus, the exact number of the dead flowers is not important, and it needn’t be told out.
（二）Deliberately withholding information
In many circumstances, the speaker uses vague language deliberately to hide information, though they know the information might be expected by their hearers.
She is about 29 years old. (from Channel,2000)
This sentence doesn’t sound unusual to Chinese, but in case of some people with the knowledge of western culture, his sentence indicates the hidden information of the speaker. As we know, in the west, in general, the age of a lady’s is considered to be her individual privacy. Ladies always hope to be looking young, and do not like to be said thirty. Therefore, the motivation of the speaker’s vague expression lies in withholding the true age so as to defend his/her individual privacy.
（三）Protecting oneself
Some speakers employ vague language as a safeguard, esp. some hedges to guarantee that they are not wrong at any time. For example:
We haven’t seen each other for quite a long time, probably all of your children have grown up.
Here the children whom the speaker is referring to are in a dynamic state of development, and also the speaker has not seen the children for quite a long time. So he uses the hedge”probably” to express his careful formality and extreme caution.
（四）Showing politeness
Politeness is a universal phenomenon, it’s the symbol of human civilization, and it can thus be seen as one of the basic social guidelines for human activities interactions.
In social communications, the speakers use vague language tactfully just for the purpose of politeness. The speaker wants to be close mentally with the hearer so much that the hearer can feel comfortable, and thus accept the speaker’s utterance more easily.
For example, A is going to the shop, B asks A to buy him some bread just as A leaves:
A: So you’d like some bread?
B: Or something. Anything edible will do.
(From Channell, 2000)
Here, B doesn’t want to request directly, but tries to show his gratitude, so he politely offers A options within the category of “anything edible will do, bread or something” in order that A may buy him some food willingly.
The example shows that politeness is a feature of language in use, and using vague language is one of the ways to show politeness to others and at the same time, it also relates to the speaker’s motivations.
三、 Conclusion
Based on the analysis and discussions in previous chapters, the major findings of the study can be summarized as follows:
1. Vague language, if used appropriately, can play the roles of self-protection and showing politeness.
2. People employ vague language when they fail to remember the correct or exact words, when they are unknowledgeable, when they want to show their cooperation and politeness, or when they deliberately want to express their particular illocutionary for hidden intention. The use of vague language can, to some degree, help them achieve purpose and enhance the understanding of each other.
References：
[1] Brown, P. & Levison, S. Politeness: Some Universals in Language Usage [M]. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1987.
[2] Channell, J. Vague Language [M]. Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press, 2000.
[3] Levision, S. Pragmatics [M]. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1983
[4] Russell, B. Vagueness [J], Australian Journal of Psychology and Philosophy, 1923(9):84-92.
[5] Yule, G. Pragmatics [M]. Shanghai: Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press, 2000.（編辑郑云东）