Abstract

Vagueness is an inherent feature of language. As a significant phenomenon of speech act, vagueness has been widely used in daily linguistic interaction. When it comes to international politics and foreign affairs concerning national interest, vague language becomes all the more crucial as it functions prominently in press conferences as well as on many other important diplomatic occasions. Owing to the effective function vague language performs in foreign affairs, this study analyzed vague language used on diplomatic occasions from the pragmatic perspective.
Analysing pragmatic vagueness in diplomatic language is of great significance for learning, understanding and using diplomatic language in the successful practice of diplomatic activities as well as enriching linguistic studies on vague language. With a comprehensive review of vague language studies, the vague diplomatic language was discussed on the basis of established linguistic theories. The author summarized pragmatic vagueness characteristics and diplomatic language features together with their definitions and functions. Then, on the basis of the theoretical foundation of Grice’s Cooperative Principle and Leech’s Politeness Principle, this study made use of several representative examples of diplomatic practices and discussed them at length. In general, this study generated the following findings:
1) Employing vague language in the diplomatic language either violates or obeys certain maxims of the Cooperative Principle and the Politeness Principle.
2) Vague language is frequently used by diplomats for various purposes and the linguistic realization of vagueness in the diplomatic language can be categorized into three forms: vocabulary, syntax and paragraphs.
3) The proper adoption of vague language on diplomatic occasions plays a significant role in realizing practical purposes of diplomats and promoting the development of diplomatic relations between various countries, achieving the functions of protecting oneself, being polite, declaring position and withholding information.

Key Words：pragmatics；vague language；diplomatic English
 
摘 要

模糊性是语言的基本特征。语言模糊性是语言行为中的一个重要现象，在日常语言交往中随处可见。在国际政治及外交事务方面，模糊语言的使用与功能也极为重要。因外交工作事关国家利益，模糊外交语言被广泛应用于新闻发布会、答记者问及诸多重要的外交场合。因外交事务方面模糊语言的功用及其成效十分显著，笔者拟从语用学视域对外交模糊辞令进行探寻和分析。
从语用学视域对外交语言中模糊现象的分析和研究不仅对如何正确学习、理解和使用外交语言，以及成功地进行外交活动具有重要的指导意义，而且能够进一步丰富模糊语言学的研究成果。本文回顾了国内外模糊语言的相关研究，借助于经典的语言学理论，对外交模糊语言的功能进行考察和剖析，以期说明模糊语言在外交领域的语用功能。笔者对模糊语言和外交辞令的定义、特点及功能等内容进行概述，进而从语用学视域出发，以经典的语言学理论--格赖斯 (Grice) 的合作原则和利奇 (Leech) 的礼貌原则为理论基础，搜集、归纳并分析外交辞令的相关资料。
研究发现：1）在外交辞令中使用模糊语言遵循或违反了礼貌原则和合作原则的相关准则；2）外交人员经常使用模糊辞令以达到不同目的，外交模糊语言的实现主要归纳为三个方面，即词语、句法和篇章上的模糊；3）通过分析发现，在外交事务中恰当地运用模糊语言，能够促进各国间外交关系的发展，从而实现保护自身，表示礼貌，宣明立场，保留信息的语用效果。

关键词：语用学；模糊语言；外交辞令