英语论文Vague Expressions of Quantity in English.doc

文档介绍：Vague Expressions of Quantity in English
People have many beliefs about language; an important one is that ‘good’ usage involves (among other things) clarity and precision. Hence, it is believed that in languages, ambiguities, imprecision are to be avoided. This is rather too simple a view, and likely to be positively misleading as an instruction to those learning about how to use them, especially second language users of English. Most speakers of English are particularly aware of the frequency of vague language use (until it is pointed out to them) and this fact is in itself of interest. In the introduction, it will set out to introduce the general knowledge of vague language, and specifically to work towards vague expressions of quantity in the next.
I. Introductions
Vague Language
Some language is vague, and we understand it as vague and assign vague meanings to it. But what kind of expressions and words are counted as vague language in English?
Definition of Vague Language
This paper will work with the following definition of vague language and its use.
An expression or word is vague if:
(1) It can be contrasted with another word or expression, which appears to render the same proposition;
(2) It is purposely and unabashedly vague;
(3) Its meaning arises from the intrinsic uncertainty referred to by Peirce.
Peirce (1902) is often considered as the originator of the notion of vagueness in language. And he was perhaps the first to try to formulate the notion in a rigorous way, as follows:
“ A proposition is vague where there are possible states of things concerning which it is intrinsically uncertain whether, had they been contemplated by the speaker, he would have regarded them as excluded or allowed by the proposition. By intrinsically uncertain we mean not uncertain in consequence of any ignorance of the interpreter, but because the speaker’s habits of language were indeterminate; so that one day he would regard the proposition as exclud