Abstract

Sports news reports, with its unique charm, plays an irreplaceable role in human communication and information transmission. The use of ambiguity in sports news reports is a common linguistic form. Actually with the appropriate application of ambiguity in news, the reports will be vivid and exact rather than being worse. This thesis is built on the theoretical reflections of adaptation theory and studies the using characteristics, reasons and effects of ambiguity in sports news reports from phonetic, lexical and syntactic aspects, in order to help the readers understand the charm of English language better. 

Keywords: Sports news reports; Ambiguity; Adaptation theory

Contents

Abstract

摘要

1. Introduction-1

2. Literature Review-1

2.1 Development of the study on English sports news-1

2.2 Development of the study on ambiguity in language-2

3. Theoretical Foundation of Ambiguity-2

3.1 The Adaptation Theory-3

3.2 The definition and general characteristics of ambiguity-3

3.3 Differences among vagueness, generality and ambiguity-6

4. Ambiguity in Sports News Reports-6

4.1 Utilization of ambiguity in phonetic system-6

4.2 Utilization of ambiguity in lexical system-7

4.3 Utilization of ambiguity in syntactic system-7

5. Causes and Pragmatics effects of Applying Ambiguity in Sports News Reports-8

5.1 Causes of applying ambigutiy in sports news reports-8

5.2 Maintaining objectivity of sports news-9

5.3 Satisfying the new demands of readers-9

5.4 Mitigating the negative sides in sports-9

6. Conclusion-10

Works Cited-12