Analysis of Pragmatic Ambivalence from the Perspective of Relevance Theory

Pragmatic ambivalence refers to a linguistic phenomenon in which the communicator uses vague or ambiguous words convey illocutionary force other party in specific context. It is an indispensable communicative strategy for successful communication daily activities. Relevance theory can explain pragmatic ambivalence from three aspects: intentional relevance, contextual relevance and reasoning. Therefore, theory has strong explanatory power applicability for as a communicative strategy. Using study ambivalence is conducive people’s further understanding of a linguistic phenomenon, has very positive significance research and development pragmatics.