Exploring Intentional Ambiguity:A Perspective Of Adaptation Theory

Linguistic ambiguity is a phenomenon in any language,and English is no exception.Ambiguity can be divided into unintentional ambiguity and intentional ambiguity.The former refers to linguistically ambiguous expressions,causing misunderstanding and thus needing correction;while the latter,to the deliberate choice of words,sounds and sentence structure for special rhetorical effects through creating a certain atmosphere,vivid verbal expressions,humorous remarks,etc.Language researchers have observed the phenomenon of linguistic ambiguity and come to realize its classification of unintentional ambiguity and intentional ambiguity.However,there is no comprehensive study of the latter type.Therefore,it is the purpose of this paper to explore intentional ambiguity from the perspective of Verschueren’s Adaptation Theory.According to Adaptation Theory,human language possesses the following three properties:variability,negotiability,and adaptability.The research of language use can be conducted from the four perspectives of contextual correlates of adaptability,structural objects of adaptability,dynamics of adaptability and salience of adaptability.The present tentative study shows the following major points:1)The intentional exploitation of ambiguity is a highly conscious,purposeful behavior,which makes language choices from different linguistic levels with high flexibility.In order to achieve some special rhetorical purposes,language users should be creative with linguistic resources.2)Context is generated in the use of language,and its emergence is subject to the dynamics of the communication between speakers and listeners.Therefore,context is a dynamic system which is continuously developing along with the communication needs.3)The choice of language is a kind of conscious behavior.At the same time,language behavior is controlled by a variety of consciousness,which stems from various contexts as well as different social and cultural backgrounds of communicators.This means that changes in language choice vary with different degrees of consciousness in adaptation.To sum up,intentional ambiguity as a linguistic choice is the result of language users’ dynamic adaptation to contextual factors so as to attain their purposes.