经济新闻语篇中模糊限制语的语用功能研究_英语论文

A Study of Pragmatic Functions of Hedges in Economic News Discourse 

摘要

模糊限制语最早由Lakoff提出,他指出模糊限制语就是一些“把事情弄得模模糊糊的词语”。模糊限制语普遍存在于日常生活中，在言语交际中起着积极作用。当今社会，经济新闻对人们的生活越来越重要。经济新闻的主要作用就是报道事实和传递信息，因此经济新闻的语言必须客观、准确和简洁，但是这并不意味经济新闻中不能出现模糊限制语。相反，恰当地使用模糊限制语会有助于经济新闻的报道。基于Prince对模糊限制语的分类，本文以网络版China Daily中经济新闻为语料，分析模糊限制语在经济新闻中的类型和语用功能。研究表明程度变动型模糊限制语、范围变动型模糊限制语、直接缓和语、间接缓和语在经济新闻语篇中均有使用，并起着提高准确性，增强自我保护，避免绝对化，易于接受的功能。作者希望该研究有助于拓宽经济新闻的研究范围，丰富模糊限制语的研究语料，并且帮助新闻报道者在报道新闻过程中更好的使用模糊限制语。

关键词：经济新闻；模糊限制语；类型；语用功能

Abstract

Hedges were first put forward by G. Lakoff and he pointed that hedges are words which can make things fuzzier or less fuzzy, and hedges are universal in our daily life, which have positive functions in verbal communication. Nowadays, economic news has played a more and more important role in people’s daily life. The main functions of economic news are to report facts and convey information. Therefore, the language of economic news should be objective, accurate, and brief. However, it doesn’t mean that hedges can’t be used in economic news discourse. On the contrary, appropriate employment of hedges can make good effects on economic news. On the basis of Prince’s classification of hedges, this thesis is to study the types and pragmatic functions of hedges in economic news that come from the website of China Daily. Four types of hedges, including adaptors, rounders, plausibility shields and attribution shields, are involved in economic news, and the employment of hedges can achieve some pragmatic functions, such as accuracy-increasing, self-protecting, absoluteness-avoiding, and acceptability-raising. The author hopes that this study can enlarge the research scope of economic news discourse; enrich the research materials of hedges and help reporters to make better use of hedges in economic news reports.

Key Words: economic news  hedges  types  pragmatic functions 

Contents

Acknowledgements I

Abstract II

摘要 III

Chapter One Introduction 1

1.1 Background of This Study 1

1.2 Significance of This Study 1

1.3 Structures of This Study 1

Chapter Two Literature Review 3

2.1 Hedges 3

2.1.1 Definitions of Hedges 3

2.1.2 Classifications of Hedges 3

2.2 Economic News 4

2.3 Previous Studies of Hedges in Economic News Discourse 4

2.3.1 From the Aspect of Comparison between English and Chinese 4

2.3.2 From the Aspect of Cross-culture 5

2.3.3 From the Aspect of Vague Numbers 5

2.3.4 From the Aspect of Vague Words in the Title of Economic News 6

Chapter Three Analysis of Hedges in Economic News Discourse 7

3.1 Two Types of Hedges in Economic News Discourse 7

3.1.1 Approximators in Economic News Discourse 7

3.1.2 Shields in Economic News Discourse 7

3.2 Pragmatic Functions of Hedges in Economics News Discourse 8

3.2.1 Accuracy-Increasing Function 8

3.2.2 Self-Protecting Function 9

3.2.3 Absoluteness-Avoiding Function 10

3.2.4 Acceptability-Raising Function 11

Chapter Four Conclusion 13

4.1 Major Findings 13

4.2 Limitations and Suggestions for Further Study 13

References 14