程式性言语事件发生在重复出现的交际情景中，因不同程度的程式性而彼此相似。作为一个社团或文化的基本生活形式的直接体现，其生成、维持与发展有认知基础，也受社会文化因素的推动。程式性言语事件是非零和、完美信息的重复性博弈，参与者根据对各自所处情景的认知和预期做出相互影响的理性选择，从而实现语用创造性与程式性的辩证统一。本书开辟了研究重复性语言使用的新路子：以从外至内的视角，揭示重复出现的言语事件的程式性倾向，深化对语用本质--语言在人的基本生活形式中的运作--的理解，并对跨文化对比和外语教学实践与研究具有启发意义。

Preface Chapter One Introduction 1.1 What Are Formulaic Speech Events 1.2 Man's Living within Formulaic Speech Events 1.2.1 Language: The Last Homestead of Human Beings 1.2.2 Man's Having to Live within FSEs 1.2.3 Relevant Issues in Qian (2005) Left for Further Investigation 1.2.4 Insufficient Study on FSEs 1.3 The Objectives and Methodology of the Project 1.3.1 The Research Objectives and Questions 1.3.2 The Research Methodology 1.4 The Organization of the Book Chapter Two The Inside-Out vs. the Outside-In Approaches to Repetive Language Use 2.1 Introduction 2.2 The Study of Formulaic Expressions in General 2.2.1 The Formulaic Approach: One of the Two Co-existing Language Processing Strategies 2.2.2 Some Major Agreed-upon Findings and Problems 2.3 The Study of SBUs 2.3.1 Coulmas's Study of Routine Formulae 2.3.2 Kecskes's Study of SBUs 2.4 The Pragmatic Perspective 2.4.1 The Event-oriented View of Language Use 2.4.2 Language Use as Negotiable Dynamic Choice-making Processes 2.5 Summary Chapter Three Categorizing Formulaic Speech Events 3.1 Introduction 3.2 Speech Events 3.2.1 An Operational Definition of Speech Event 3.2.2 The Embedding of Speech Events 3.2.3 Recurrence of Speech Events 3.2.4 The Problem of Naming Speech Events 3.3 FSEs 3.3.1 FSEs in a Strict Sense 3.3.2 FSEs in a Broad Sense 3.3.3 The Continuum ofFSEs 3.3.4 The Inclination of Formulaicity 3.3.5 Formulaic Speech Acts and FSEs 3.3.6 Formulaicity and Variability 3.3.7 Choice-making in FSEs 3.4 FSEs andNon-FSEs. 3.5 Summary: FSEs as the Basic Forms of Life Chapter Four The Emergence and Functions of Formulaic Speech Events 4.1 Introduction 4.2 Factors That Cause the Emergence of FSEs 4.2.1 The Human Cognitive Inclination:Inductive Thinking 4.2.2 The Socio-cultural Factors 4.3 Functions of FSEs 4.3.1 Specific Functions 4.3.2 General Functions 4.3.3 FSEs as Strategies:Man's Being in FSEs 4.4 Summary Chapter Five The Pragmatic Mechanism of FSEs:A Game-Theoretic Framework 5.1 Introduction 5.2 Game Theory and Pragmatics 5.2.1 The Essence of Game Theory 5.2.2 The Application of Game Theory in Pragmatics 5.3 FSEs as Repeated Positive-sum Games of Perfect Information 5.3.1 The Gains and Losses in FSEs 5.3.2 FSEs as Repeated Dynamic Games 5.3.3 The Rationality of Agents in FSEs 5.4 The Pragmatic Mechanism of FSEs 5.4.1 Choice Resources in FSEs 5.4.2 The Constraint of Context 5.4.3 The Constraint of Goals 5.4.4 The Guidance of Expectation 5.5 The Functioning of the Pragmatic Mechanism of FSEs:Case Studies 5.5.1 The Wedding Ceremony 5.5.2 Bargaining Events on the Cattle Market 5.6 Summary Chapter Six A Step Forwards and the Questions Begged 6.1 The Inclination of Formulaicity in Verbal Communication 6.2 Limitations of the Research and Topics for Further Studies References Appendices Appendix I The Moderator's Performances at News Conferences Appendix II A Full Sample of Christian Wedding Format Appendix III Five Christian Weddings A.The Stacy-Dave Case B.The Eva-Mike Case C.The Lauren-Aran Case D.The Wendy-Donovan Case E.The Deidre-Bred Case Appendix IV Bargaining Events on Chinese Cattle Markets Case A: Youtian Cattle Market (1) Case B: Youtian Cattle Market (7)