Deliberate ambiguity as motivated strategy

IF 1.3 2区文学 Q2 COMMUNICATION

Language & Communication Pub Date : 2023-12-11 DOI:10.1016/j.langcom.2023.11.003

Rong Chen , Fengguang Liu

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

In this paper, we investigate ambiguity in language use that is intended by the speaker. Our overall argument is that, as a general feature of language resulting from the indeterminacy of meaning at all levels of language, ambiguity can be taken advantage of in specific contexts for a host of purposes. Given that an ambiguous utterance has (at least) two possible meanings – A and B – there are two logical possibilities for a speaker in a deliberate ambiguity: to mean both A and B or to mean only A (or B). However, a closer examination of the literature and available data reveal a far more complicated picture: there are more strategies under either of these possibilities, each of which closely interacts with the context and is motivated by the speaker's purpose of communication in that context. The treatment of deliberate ambiguity in the present study is thus more coherent theoretically and more comprehensive in coverage than what is found in the sizable literature on the subject.

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故意模糊作为动机策略

在本文中，我们研究了语言使用中说话人意图的模糊性。我们的总体论点是，作为由语言各个层面意义的不确定性所产生的语言的一般特征，歧义可以在特定语境中被利用来达到一系列目的。鉴于一个模棱两可的语句（至少）有两种可能的含义--A 和 B--说话人在故意模棱两可的情况下有两种合乎逻辑的可能性：既指 A 也指 B，或只指 A（或 B）。然而，通过对文献和现有数据的仔细研究，我们会发现一个复杂得多的情况：在这两种可能性下都有更多的策略，每一种策略都与语境密切相关，并受说话人在语境中的交际目的所驱使。因此，本研究对蓄意歧义的处理在理论上更加连贯，在覆盖面上也比有关该主题的大量文献更加全面。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Language & Communication Multiple-

CiteScore

3.40

自引率

6.70%

发文量

期刊介绍： This journal is unique in that it provides a forum devoted to the interdisciplinary study of language and communication. The investigation of language and its communicational functions is treated as a concern shared in common by those working in applied linguistics, child development, cultural studies, discourse analysis, intellectual history, legal studies, language evolution, linguistic anthropology, linguistics, philosophy, the politics of language, pragmatics, psychology, rhetoric, semiotics, and sociolinguistics. The journal invites contributions which explore the implications of current research for establishing common theoretical frameworks within which findings from different areas of study may be accommodated and interrelated. By focusing attention on the many ways in which language is integrated with other forms of communicational activity and interactional behaviour, it is intended to encourage approaches to the study of language and communication which are not restricted by existing disciplinary boundaries.