A Study of Intentional Ambiguity from the Perspective of Pragmatics

Intentional ambiguity refers to the linguistic phenomenon that the addresser consciously uses some indirect or ambiguous words to express illocutionary forces to the addressee in the specific context. By analyzing the intentional ambiguity from the perspective of pragmatic definition, pragmatic connotation, pragmatic theory and pragmatic value, it shows that the dynamic study of intentional ambiguity based on pragmatics is conducive to explain the phenomenon of intentional ambiguity in communication. As long as it is used skillfully in the specific context, intentional ambiguity can be an effective communicative strategy to help the communicators achieve their communication intention.