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Hedge

A "hedge" is an instrument used by speakers to suggest that the information they are presenting may not be totally correct to avoid the claims and make it more respectful. Furthermore, hedge can also navigate how the interactions are.

Example

The professor perhaps has to go to his office first.

Der Professor muss vielleicht zuerst in sein Büro.

The hedge perhaps is used to introduce a sense of uncertainty or tentativeness and it sounds like an alternative possibility.

Comment

Hedge is closely related to implicatures and maxims in Grice's theory. By employing a phrase known as a hedge, which removes or minimizes the impact of the maxims and informs the receiver of this, the speaker might choose not to use a certain maxim.

Origin

The existence of hedging as early as 1966, and George Lakoff is known for having first used the phrase "hedge/hedging."

References

Yule, G. (1996). Pragmatics. Oxford University Press.

Schröder, H. & Zimmer, D. (1997). Hedging Research in Pragmatics: A Bibliographical Research Guide to Hedging. In R. Markkanen & H. Schröder (Ed.), Hedging and Discourse: Approaches to the Analysis of a Pragmatic Phenomenon in Academic Texts (pp. 249-272). Berlin, New York: De Gruyter. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110807332.249