英語本科畢業(yè)論文-vagueexpressionsofquantityinenglish

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1、　　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 b

2、elieved 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

3、 language users of English. Most speakers of English are particularly aware of the frequency of vague language use (until it is pointe　　I. Introductions　　1.1 Vague Language </

4、p>　　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? 　　1.1.1 Defin

5、ition 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

6、 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

7、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 rigoro

8、us 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 hav

9、e 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 indetermin

10、ate; so that one day he would regard the proposition as excluding, another as admitting, those states 　　1.1.2 Birth of Vague Language Study　　The first savant noticed the vague ph

11、enomenon in language is Eubulides, who was a representative of Megarian School (or eristic School) in ancient Greece of 4 century B.C. He initiated the famous theory' the Sorites Paradox', in which the vagueness

12、of quantity was applied.　　But what regretful was that the vagueness of nature language had been neglected for more than 2300 years since Eubulides. However, it was not accidental in the consideration

13、 of the background before 19century. I'll give a brief introduction in regard to that background. There had been three Great Turns of philosophy since ancient Greece. There are the ancient Ontological Turn, the recen

14、t Epistemological Turn and the contemporary Linguistic Turn. The first two turns concerned about the reality ex　　1.1.3 Place of Vagueness in Language Study and Modern Life　　Vague

15、 language is an interesting and complex area of study, with considerable potent ion for further work. Interest in vagueness in language use and meaning has arisen in a number of disciplines: literary criticism, psycholog

16、y, philosophy. Much of it suggests that vagueness is present in a great deal of language use, and that therefore a complete theory of language must have vagueness as an internal component. 　　Alongs

17、ide its interest, the study of vague language is equally important in its consequences for theory and practice in language studies. On the linguistic theory side, recent linguistic work on meaning has tended to broaden i

18、ts scope to look more at pragmatic aspects of meaning; and the interface between semantics and pragmatics especially has received and is continuing to receive a lot of attention.　　Turning now to prac

19、tical consequences, an understanding of vague language use in English would appear to be valuable in any field, such as teaches, analyses, mathematics, computers and logic. One obvious example is in English language teac

20、hing, where the competent L2 user of English much acquire an awareness of how to understand vague expressions, and how, when, and why to use them. It is often noticed by teaching that the English of advanced student, whi

21、le grammatically, phonologically, and lex　　Having looking briefly at some of the background knowledge，we’ll see to the general notion of vague expressions of quantities.　　1.2 Vag

22、ue Expressions of Quantities　　Vague expressions of quantities form a considerable part of vague language. What’s the actualities and significance in the study of these expressions, and how do we clas

23、sify them? The following introductions will provide the answers.　　1.2.1 Actualities in Vague Expressions of Quantities　　The expression of quantities we have for being vague, many

24、 of which are exceedingly common and instantly recognizable, nevertheless, there is as yet no major study of vague expressions of quantities, and no generally agreed approach to it. Such work as there has being is more t

25、heoretical than descriptive, in the sense that it uses only limited numbers of invented examples to substantiate particular theoretical analyses. The followings are some famous works in which the vague expressions of qua

26、nt　　[1] Channell, J. Precise and Vague Quantities in Academic Writing, 1990.　　[2] Clark, D.D. “Orders of approximation to English dialogue”. Language and　　Co

27、mmunication 1981, 1: 207-236.　　[3] Dubois, B. L. “Imprecise numerical expressions in biomedical slide talks”.　　Language in Society 1987, 16: 527-41. 　　[4] Gu

28、ilbaud, G. “Mathematics and approximation”. Proceedings of the Third　　International Conference on Mathematics Education, 1977.　　[5] Hurford, J. the Linguistics Theory of Numerals

29、. Cambridge: Cambridge　　University Press. 1975.　　[6] Kempson, R. and Cormack, A. “Ambiguity and quantification”. Linguistics and　　Philosophy 1981, 4: 259-310

30、.　　[7] Kennedy, G. “Quantification and the Use of English: a case study of one aspect　　of the learner’s task”. Applied Linguistics, 1987, 8/3: 264-86.　　[8] L

31、akoff, G. “A note on vagueness and ambiguity”. Linguistic Inquiry, 1970, 1:　　357-89.　　[9] Quirk, R. A Grammar of Contemporary English. London: Longman, 1972.&l

32、t;/p>　　[10] Sadock, J. M. “Truth and approximations”. Berkeley Linguistic Society　　Papers,1977, 3: 430-39.　　[11] Sigurd, B. “Round numbers”. Language in Society, 19

33、88, 17: 243-52.　　[12] Wachtel, T. “Distinguishing between approximations”. Journal of Pragmatics,　　1981, 5: 311-22.　　[13] Zadeh, L. A. “Foreword to Kaufmann”

34、. Introduction to the Theory of Fuzzy　　Subsets, New York: Academic Press. 1975.　　1.2.2 Significance in the Study of Vague Expressions of Quantities　　For a ge

35、neral approach to the study of vague expressions of quantities, there are two significances should be highlighted. One is that vague expressions of quantities are very frequently used. While more work is needed, it begin

36、s to look as though vagueness occurs more than preciseness. It is notable that vague expressions of quantities, as a proportion of language, have played an essential role in human’s civilization. They are involved in man

37、y fields of human actions, for instance, business, m　　The second significance is that language users plainly have no particular difficulties with vague expressions of quantities. Human cognition is w

38、ell set up to process vague concepts that computers have difficulty to handle. As we know, computers are much faster in calculation than human beings, whereas they are much lower in intelligence. It is somewhat because

39、of its disability in the handling of vague expressions of quantities. If this vague theory can be well formed and applied in computer p　　1.2.3 Classification of Vague Expressions of Quantities </p

40、>　　There exist a number of ways of being vague about quantities in English. In particular, speakers have the option of either adding something to a precise number or numbers, or using a round number, or usi

41、ng a vague quantifier. In this paper, the vague expressions of quantities will be classified as follows.　　(1) Vague expressions of numbers:　　①Different meanings of number </p&

42、gt;　　②Precise numbers working as round numbers　?、跴lural numbers approximating quantities　　(2) Vague expressions of numbers and approximates 　?、貯pp

43、roximate+ Number 　?、贜umber + or so　　③Combinations of approximates　　Having introduced the background knowledge of vague expressions of quantity, hereafter, th

44、e paper now is ready to move on to consideration of a variety of different vague expressions of quantities. 　　II. Vague Expressions of Numbers　　There exist a number of ways of be

45、ing vague about quantities in English, and the most obvious kind of vague expressions of quantities is vague expressions of numbers. This kind of expressions is in widely use, and because the vagueness, it more or less p

46、resents some problems of interpretation to either speakers or hearers. The following part will discuss some different meanings of numbers.　　2.1 Different Meanings of Numbers 　　I

47、n certain case, some numbers have definitely different meaning, Shakespeare used “Forty” in stead of “many” in some of his novels, such as, “I would beat forty of them” in “Coriolanus, iii, 1” and in “Hamlet, V, 1.” the

48、sentence: “I loved Ophelia; forty-thousand brothers could not, with all their quantity of love, make up my sum.” Some phrases like “a thousand and one”, “a hundred and one”, “seventy times seven”, share the same meaning

49、sometimes. And meanings of other numeral phrases like “sixt　　2.1.1 Vague Expressions from “One” to “Nine”　　(1) One 　　① I come from a one-h

50、orse town.　　Meaning: I come from a small town. 　?、?He always looks after number one.　　Meaning: He is very selfish. 　　(2) Two &l

51、t;/b>　?、?I’ll agree with you when two Fridays come together.　　Meaning: I’ll never agree with you.　?、?He met her a couple of years ago.

52、;　　Meaning: He met her a few years ago.　　(3) Three　?、?Dad came home three sheets in the wind last night.　　Meaning: Dad was drunk when came

53、 home last night.　?、?I'll love you three score and ten.　　Meaning: I’ll love you all my life.　　(4) Four　?、?The bab

54、y can goes on all fours.　　Meaning: The baby can crawl.　?、?Waiter, do you have Four-sales?　　Meaning: Waiter, do you have cheap beers.<

55、b>　　(5) Five　?、?Oh, don’t let me give you bunch of fives.　　Meaning: Don’t make me beat you.　?、?The Fifth Column was caught when the war broken u

56、p.　　Meaning: The spy was caught when the war broken up. 　　(6) Six　　① Mum, who is right, brother or I? Six of one and half a dozen of the o

57、ther.　　Meaning: You two both made mistake.　?、?I’ll go to shanghai by the six-foot way.　　Meaning: I’ll go to shanghai by train.

58、　(7) Seven　?、?You always make my room at sixes and sevens.　　Meaning: You always make my room at odds.　?、?The child was in his seventh heaven with h

59、is new toys..　　Meaning: The child was excited with his new toys.　　(8) Eight　?、?You are to be behind the eight ball if you don’t regret.<

60、;/p>　　Meaning: You are in danger if you don’t regret.　?、?I’m all right but one over the eight.　　Meaning: I’m OK but a little drunk.

61、(9) Nine　?、?Maggie was dressed up to the nines in her birthday party.　　Meaning: Maggie was the belle of her birthday party.　?、?Possession is nine p

62、oints of the law.　　Meaning: Possession is in the top of the law.　　(10) Ten 　　① Let’s take ten and go on working then.

63、　　Meaning: Let’s have a rest and go on working then. 　?、?His failure is ten to one.　　Meaning: He is very likely to fail.　　2.1.2 Other Vague Number Expression

64、s 　　(1) Eleven　　To arrive at the eleventh hour. 　　Meaning: To arrive just before the dead line.　　(2) Twenty　　I ha

65、ve told you not to enter my room twenty times.　　Meaning: I have told you not to enter my room many times.　　(3) Fifty　　We eat the cake fift

66、y-fifty.　　Meaning: We eat half of the cake each.　　(4) Seventy　　There are seventy times seven people in that shop.　　Meaning: There are ma

67、ny people in that shop.　　(5) Hundred 　　People who are always happy are hundred and hundred．　　Meaning: People who are always happy will live long.

68、　　(6) Thousand 　　Oh, now let's come to the sixty-four thousand dollars question.　　Meaning: Oh, now let's come to the important question.　　(

69、7) Million　　Her boss is a million bills.　　Meaning: Her boss is a serious man.　　Concerning the meanings of these numbers in the examples above, though they co

70、ntain exact numbers, we cannot analyze them as precise but vague. Generally, the numbers in these kinds of expressions are highly relevant to the native language, and most favored by the people in fashion. The listed exa

71、mples are just a small part of the vague expressions of numbers, there are still many other expressions in which numbers them have definitely different meanings.　　2. 2 Precise Numbers Working as Roun

72、d Numbers　　Expressions of which, precise numbers working as round numbers, are commonly used in oral English. Even in some authoritative documents, such vague expressions are frequently seen. Hereina

73、fter, I’ll analyze them in two sections.　　2.2.1 Structures and Examples　　(1) Sam is six feet tall.　　(2) Sam has $10,000 in his saving account.<

74、;p>　　(3) Odessa has a population of one million.　　The three examples above are on one reading ‘the inherently approximations’, in the sense that, for example, example (3) would not normally be con

75、sidered false if the actual population of Odessa were 1,002,593. Naturally occurring examples are similar.　　For example:　　Percentage is often used in this way. Some years ago, an

76、 advertisement on British television told viewers about the household disinfectant that ‘Kill ninety- nine percent of all household germs.’ Presumably, most people took this to mean “nearly all”. A joke, current at the

77、time, added the punch line ‘… And the other one percent kills you’. 　　Other example:　　(4) They’ve had one that has destroyed ninety-five percent of their total, in fact ninety-fi

78、ve percent of their total stock.　　The speaker did not really know exactly how much stock was lost, he wanted rather to stress that it was most of it. In these examples, hearers or readers infer, I th

79、ink, from the context supplied by the speaker or writer, which the quantities given are not to be taken as exact. It appears that one reason why we interpret these numbers as approximations is because they are round numb

80、ers in our number system.　　2.2.2 Meaning Analysis 　　For the examples, which are not culturally defined, one question is what triggers the vague as opposed to the exact reading. O

81、ne factor is obviously whether or not the number is round. Consider these invented examples:　　(1) Sam is five feet eleven and a half tall.　　(2) Sam has $9,873 in his savings acco

82、unt.　　(3) Odessa has a population of 1,002,493.　　I submit that it is (at least) very hard to get a reading of these where they are vague, whereas we have seen that the similar ex

83、amples (1) to (3) at the beginning of this chapter are quite normally judged as being vague. The reason is that the three examples above do not contain what we think of as round numbers. Clearly, the presence of a round

84、number is good indication that a vague reading is intended. Further, Menninger (1969) suggests: “the numbers which are more likely to be institutionali　　However, the situation is more complicated tha

85、n just saying that round numbers are used as approximations. It is also the case that what counts as round varies from situation to situation. Much depends on the purpose of the utterance in which a number occurs, as to

86、whether it is perceived as an approximation, or as exact. Here again, we will consider Wachtel’s (1981) examples and analysis, Compare:　　(4) Sam has $10,000 in his savings account.<p&g

87、t;　　(5) Sam has $9,873 in his savings account.　　Of which Wachtel says: ‘10,000 is a round number and 9,873 is not.’ If we are measuring Sam’s wealth to the nearest thousand dollars, but 9,873 is a ro

88、und number if we are measuring his wealth to the nearest dollar, his account may actually contain exactly $9,873.91.　　2.3 Plural Numbers Approximating Quantities　　The third way o

89、f using the number names of English to approximate quantities is to use one of the number names in the plural.　　2.3.1 Examples and Structures 　　(1) Do you have to fill in hund

90、reds of forms before you go?　　(2) And after all, it’s our money; it’s the taxpayers’ money because we’re keeping　　British Rail afloat with hundreds of millions of pounds subsidy

91、a year.　　It is very obvious from examples like these that once again, the rules for vagueness in this way depend on the structure of the base ten number system, and that only the names for a rather r

92、estricted set of reference point numbers is involved. The followings, for example, are not possible:　　(3) Twenty sixes of students arrived.　　(4) I’ve told him fifteens of times.&

93、lt;/p>　　The number names, which can be used in this way in English, are normally the following: hundred, thousand, million, billion, decade, dozen and score. In addition, some combinations are possible to g

94、ive other quantities, for example:　　Tens of thousands　　Hundreds of thousands　　Thousands of millions　　Tens of billions<p&g

95、t;　　Of these, hundreds of thousands seems to be particularly favored. The following combinations do not occur in the spoken corpus, though there appear to be no logical reasons why they should not be possible:

96、　　Hundreds of billions　　Thousands of billions　　Millions of billions 　　2.3.2 Meaning Analysis 　　Concerning the meaning of these

97、 plural numbers, since they contain no exact number, we cannot analyze them as designating intervals of exact numbers. They are more vague than “round number” approximations (except where these are used to exaggerate). T

98、o see this, consider the following conversation:　　(1) M: It’ll cost a lot.　　A: Well, how much?　　M: Well, thousands of pounds. Is it really worth it?

99、;　　The point is that if thousands simply meant ‘a(chǎn) lot’, then saying it would add noting to do what M had first said, and would not provide a co-operative answer to the question. Since it was clear to both part

100、icipants that the conversation was sensible, thousands must have a meaning more precise than merely ‘a(chǎn) lot’. The following numbers are possible analyses of each of the number names, which can be used in the plural.</p

101、>　　Hundreds more than 200, less than 1,000　　Thousands more than 2,000, less than 20,000　　Millions more than 2 million, less than a billion<

102、/p>　　Billions more than 2 billion 　　This part has shown us something rather different from what we originally knew about numbers. It can be said perhaps that we knew the ‘mean

103、ing’ of the number expressions intellectually but not experientially. Hence, the study of vague expressions of numbers is a process of accumulation.　　Having seen how exact numbers may be used to conv

104、ey a vague quantity, let’s move on to the next part concerned with another set of vague expressions of quantity.　　III. Vague Expressions of Numbers and Approximates　　Approximates

105、 are words appearing as modifiers to a number. The effect of ‘a(chǎn)dding about/ (a) round/approximately to a sentence containing a number is to make it vague as to the exact quantity involved. Having noticed this, this paper

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