摘 要   
   
关联理论指出交际是一种有目的、有意图的明示-推理过程。在关联理论中，交际语境并不是传统意义上的静态语境，而是人类为了理解话语在大脑里产生的动态假设。关联理论包括两大原则，即认知原则和交际原则。认知原则认为人类认知倾向于最大关联；同样交际原则指明每一个明示交际行为都有其最佳关联。英语谚语作为人类智慧与文化的结晶，被普遍运用于日常交际中，不同情况下的使用也往往表达不同的含义，然而很少有人从语用学的角度对其进行分析。本课题试图从关联理论角度对英语谚语进行解读，探究英语谚语在日常交际中的使用，以及使用后达到的语用效果。通过大量的文献研究和实例分析，本文发现在交际中使用英语谚语会产生两方面的特殊语用效果：一方面英语谚语的使用会导致会话关联性的减弱，从而产生幽默、回避、委婉、美化的效果；另一方面英语谚语的使用会导致会话关联性的增强，产生简洁、明确、谦虚、生动的效果。本研究旨在对日常交际中英语谚语的使用和理解起到一定的指导作用，从而丰富关联理论在英语谚语方面的研究。

关键词：关联理论；英语谚语；语用效果

ABSTRACT
   
According to the Relevance Theory, communication is an Ostensive-Inferential process with purposes and intents, and context is not the traditional and static one but dynamic hypotheses that help people understand the meaning in the communication. There are two principles in Relevance Theory: cognitive principle and communicative principle. Cognitive principle means that every person’s cognition tends to get the optimal relevance, and communicative principle indicates that each ostensive communication has the best relevance. As a crystallization of human wisdom and culture, English proverbs are wildly used in daily communication, and they express different meanings under varied situations. However, few analyses have been done on English proverbs from the perspective of pragmatics. Therefore, this paper attempts to analyze English proverbs from the perspective of relevance theory. In order to probe its application in daily life and various pragmatic functions, after the literature review and case study, it is found that the use of English proverbs will have mainly two special pragmatic effects. For one thing, the use of English proverbs will weaken the relevance of the conversation and thus achieve the effects of humor, avoidance, euphemism and beautification. For another, the use of English proverbs will strengthen the relevance of the conversation and thus achieve the effects of conciseness, clearness, modesty and vividness. This study aims to have a guiding value for the use and understanding of English proverbs in daily communication, and enrich the studies of English proverb from the perspective of relevance theory.  

Key words: Relevance Theory; English proverb; pragmatic effects