一般来说，在说话或写作时，我们应该清楚、准确、小心，尤其是在一些正式场合。但事实并非如此，相反，模糊限制语在言语交际和书面表达中经常使用。它们被认为是一种有效的语言交际策略，作为人类语言的一种普遍现象，模糊限制语的使用已经成为语言学研究的一部分，更是整个世界逐渐成为一个地球村。随着经济的高速发展和国家之间的密切关系，国际商务变得越来越重要。在谈判过程中应用的所有策略和细节对谈判的效果至关重要，这将进一步影响企业的最终结果。考虑到谈判的重要性，谈判者们运用不同的策略来实现其目的，尽管在以往的模糊限制语研究中已经取得了丰硕的成果，但它仍然是当今语言学研究的一个热门话题。由于模糊限制语的广泛存在和商务谈判的重要性，本文选择了商务谈判中的模糊限制语作为研究对象。同时，模糊限制语的适当使用也发挥了许多良好的语用功能和其他作用，鉴于此，笔者阅读了大量的文献和论文，希望能为本文的研究找到新的思路。
Chapter I Introduction
1.1 Background of the Study
In common opinion, when speaking or writing, we are supposed to be clear,precise and careful, especially on some formal occasions. But in fact it is not the case.On the contrary, hedges are often used in both verbal communication and writtentexts. And they are considered to be an effective linguistic strategy in communication.As a common phenomenon of human language, the employment of hedges has beenpart of linguistic study for many years.What’s more, the whole world is gradually becoming a global village. With thehighly developing economy and close relationship between countries, internationalbusiness is becoming more and more important. All strategies and details applied inthe process are crucial to the effect of negotiation, which will further affect the finalresult of the business. Considering the importance of negotiation, negotiators applydifferent strategies to fulfill their purposes.Although there have been some fruitful achievements in the previous studies ofhedges, it is still a hot topic in linguistic study nowadays. Due to the wide existenceof hedges and the importance of business negotiations, hedges in businessnegotiations were chosen as the subject of this study. And the appropriateemployment of hedges does fulfill many good pragmatic functions and other effects.In view of this, the author has read quite a lot of literature and papers in hope offinding something new for this study.
.........
1.2 Significance of the Study
This paper has both theoretical significance and practical significance in thefollowing four respects:Firstly, vagueness is an inevitable part of our communications, and fuzzylinguistics is becoming an important discipline in linguistic study. Besides, businessnegotiations become more and more popular under the background of globalization. This study makes a combination of the two important topics and offers a differentperspective to the study of hedges in English business negotiations.Secondly, Adaptation Theory, the theoretical framework of this study iselaborated in detail. Hedges in business negotiations are explained from all of thefour angles, which can cast some more light on the study of hedges in businessnegotiations from pragmatic perspective.Thirdly, this study can arouse businessman’s awareness of using the strategies ofhedges and help people to better understand the mechanism and functions of hedgesin business negotiations so that they can apply the strategies more effectively andfinally conduct business negotiations more successfully.Fourthly, this study can also help business English teachers to better explain theemployment of hedges in business negotiations and improve students’ study. Inaddition, they can appropriately apply what they have learnt in daily communicationand improve their communicative competence.This thesis attempts to analyze hedges in English business negotiations underAdaptation Theory, aiming to help people know better the pragmatic strategies andtheir effects, apply the strategies more effectively and finally conduct businessnegotiations more successfully.
…………
Chapter II Literature Review
2.1 Clarification and Definition of Hedges
For the many terms used by people to express imprecise and unspecifiedinformation, such as generality, ambivalence, ambiguity, fuzziness, vagueness andhedges, many linguists have their different definitions in different times.In terms of generality, Shi Anshi (1993, pp. 55-56) considers that generality is auniversal feature of meaning and a matter of unspecification. Zhang Qiao (1998, p.28)
