On Vagueness in Semantics論語義模糊

Abstract： This paper explored three types of vagueness in semantics， they are vagueness by numbers， quantifiers and approximators， then argued that if we use vagueness appropriately the degree of precision of our expression would be improved.

摘 要：本文主要對語義模糊的三種形式進行了分析，指出數詞、量詞、約數詞的使用可以造成語義模糊，進而指出恰當運用語言的模糊性可以增強語言表達的精確度。

Key words： Vagueness； numbers； quantifiers； approximators

關鍵詞：模糊性；數詞；量詞；約數詞

[中圖分類號]：H31 [文獻標識碼]：A

[文章編號]：1002-2139（2012）-24--01

I、Introduction

A well accepted definition of vague language is that“If an expression or word can be contrasted with another word or expression which appears to render the same preposition； or it is purposely and unabashedly； or its meaning arises from the intrinsic uncertainty， the expression or word is vague”（Channel，2000）.Much of studies suggested that vagueness is present in a great deal of language use， and that therefore a complete theory of language must have vagueness as an integral component. There appeared two contradictory points of view： one argued that vagueness in language is a bad thing， the other believed that it is a good thing. This paper holds that vagueness is not a bad thing by analyzing the reasons for the existence of vagueness and classification of vagueness in English semantics.

II、The Types of Semantic Vagueness

2.1 Vagueness by numbers

2.1.1 Using a precise number with a vague meaning

In this case an apparently precise sentence can be used with a vague meaning.

Sam is six feet tall.

Odessa has a population of one million

Vagueness in these sentences is caused by using an exact number， for example， （2） would not normally be considered 1 if the actual population of Odessa were 1，002，593.

2.1.2 Using a plural number name to approximate a quantity

This kind of vagueness is caused by using one of the number names in the plural form.

I’ve told him thousands of times.

Do you have to fill in hundreds of forms before you go to Yugoslavia？

2.2 Vagueness by quantifiers

2.2.1 Plural quantifier + of + noun

I mean we’ve got bags of language labs down there… there’s always say people doing French and German …

（6）… and generally within the er human brain lots of processes are going on at the same time…

In （5） the clearest fact about bags is that it is part of the spoken language and not part of the written. In terms of syntactic behavior， bags of seems happier wit countable than with uncountable nouns， as in the cited example. In （6） loads of appeared. Unlike bags of， loads of appears in the written form. However， most of its occurrences appear to be in direct or reported speech， indicating that it is still not formal.

2.2 2 A + singular quantifier （ + of + noun ）

（7） It is not a bad idea to give people a bit of fun I the morning when they read their daily paper.

The bloke next door said English washing-machines were a load of rust.

In example （7） there is a vague expression using a bit of. It refers to a single one of something divisible into separate items （a piece/bit of paper）， or to a section of something not divisible （a piece/bit of land ）. Then let’s see a load of which occurs in （8）. There is a strong tendency in the example for collocations which is negative， such as a load of old rubbish， a load of old codswallop， a load of much.

2.2.3 Vague quantifier + countable noun

Some quantifiers behave like numbers in the sense of being distributed like numbers. They go directly with their noun， or， like numbers， may be followed by of， for example： many （more， most）， several， some， few （fewer， fewest），a few. The following is an example in this case：

My garden has few weeds.

2.2.4 Adverbs of frequency

These adverbs are included because it is possible to replace some of them with exact amounts of frequency， indicating that they are a deliberately vague choice. For example， I see my parents occasionally， as against I see my parents twice a year.

2.3 Vagueness by approximators

About， around and round appear to be interchangeable in most examples， and test results for about and around indicate that they have the same effect on the meaning of an approximation. These words appear as modifiers to a number and they always appear before the number（n）. Here is an example：

I wonder what time I’ve got to go to the dentist. It’s always round four o’clock.

III、Conclusion

Through the analysis this comment can be get， that is there is enough reasons for the existence of vague language because it has various types， so the speaker or writer can achieve certain goals by using it. So for every foreign language learner it is necessary to acquire the ability of judging where we should give precise quantities or other information， and where a more vague reference will be sufficient.

References：

1、F. R. Palmer. Semantics. Cambridge University Press. 1981.

2、 John I. Saeed. Semantics. Beijing： Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press. 2000.

3、 Joanna Channel. Vague Language. Shanghai： Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press. 2000.