摘要

   歧义作为一种语言现象在任何语言中都存在，它指一种表达方式有两种或两种以上的理解意义。英语歧义包括词汇歧义、语音歧义、语法/结构歧义及修辞歧义。本文从语用学的角度，结合语用学的言语行为理论、会话含义理论和语用预设等理论分析研究歧义在广告中的语用价值。歧义的巧妙运用是广告更灵活、恰当、高效又不失幽默地表达推销产品或服务意图，实现广告的目的。

关键词：歧义；广告；语用价值

Abstract

     Ambiguity is a common linguistic phenomenon that one expression can be interpreted into more than two ways. It can be classified into lexical ambiguity, phonetic ambiguity, grammatical/structural ambiguity, and rhetorical ambiguity. Based on the Speech Act Theory, the Theory of Conversational Implicature, and Pragmatic Presupposition, this thesis analyses the pragmatic values of ambiguity in commercial advertisements. Proper use of ambiguity can make commercial advertisements more efficient, flexible, appropriate and even humorous way, thus achieve the purpose of sales promotion.

Keywords: ambiguity; advertisement; pragmatic value

1. Introduction

About two thousand and three hundred years ago, the Greek scholar Aristotle first put forward the ambiguity problem. W.Empson’s Seven Types of Ambiguity (1930), J.G.Kooij’s Ambiguity in Natural Language (1971) are influential works of ambiguity study. Joseph F．Kess ＆ Ronald A．Hoppe (1980) clamed in their book Ambiguity in Psycholinguistics that ambiguity exists everywhere in language. Pragmatics studies the ambiguity in situational contexts which concern when and where the communication takes place and also the number and identity of the participants involved. Pragmatic ambiguity arises when the speaker uses uncertain, vague, and indirect words to the hearer in a particular situation or context, so that it comes into being more than one kind of interpretations. Pragmatic ambiguity is widely used in our daily life, literature works, oral speech and commercial advertising.
This thesis mainly focuses on the pragmatic values of ambiguity in the commercial advertisements. As is well known, the purpose of advertisements is to make an impact on people's minds, but time and space are limited, as is human attention. Actually the key to successful advertisement is to attract the customers' eyes. And ambiguity has become an effective tool of making a good advertisement.