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1、Application of Hedges in Business English模糊限制语在商务英语中的应用AbstractFuzziness is one of the essential features of natural languages. As a core member of vagueness, hedging language also widely exist in our daily life. Since the 1970s, some scholars have begun to explore hedges in many aspects. With the f
2、urther study, hedges have gradually developed in some certain fields in practical use. We find that hedges are used frequently in business to swiftly convey certain commercial messages. Hedging devices are also widely used in international business English because of its irreplaceable effect.This pa
3、per talks about an introduction and a description of some basic knowledge of hedges. It also analyzes the possible pragmatic functions of hedges in business language. Hedges have some certain values in practical use.Key words: hedges, hedging, business English, pragmatic functionsI. IntroductionVagu
4、eness is one of the essential features of natural languages and phenomena of fuzzy language exist everywhere in our daily life. When people cant make sure of what they are saying, they often employ vague language to express their opinions on some occasions, and in this way they can make the communic
5、ation continue smoothly. Hedge, as a core member of vagueness, is the most typical representative and the most universal phenomenon. In reality, hedges are usually considered as a pragmatic strategy. Hedges are preferred technology for people to make their utterance more flexible and effective and h
6、elp to avoid taking responsibility for their absolute or arbitrary words. For example, interview, actually a communicative process, needs to be realized through appropriate language.This paper analyses the pragmatic realization and functions of hedges in English interviews.II. Literature ReviewThe t
7、erm “hedge” was first introduced by Lakoff in 1972 in his famous article Hedges: A Study in Meaning Criteria and the Logic of Fuzzy Concepts (1972:195) to mean “words whose job is to make things fuzzier (or less fuzzy)”. Since then, the use of hedge has been studied as an important pragmatic phenome
8、non from various perspectives. Hedges may intentionally or unintentionally be employed in both spoken and written language since they are crucially important in communication. It seems that when people are involved in conversations, they not only convey information, but they want to verify that how
9、inform informative, true, relevant t and perspicuous information is. And hedges help speakers and writers communicate more precisely the degree of accuracy and truth in assessments.Many scholars manage to divide hedges from various perspectives. Prince and his colleagues Frader and Bosk start the re
10、search on hedges from Lakoffs definition of hedges as a device that makes things fuzzy and classify hedges into two categories from the perspectives of semantics and pragmatics: approximators and shiedls. Approximators are mainly such expressions as kind of, sort of, about, etc. which act on making
11、meaning fuzzier or imprecise. Shields contain those words or sentence patterns like might, perhaps, I think, etc., which have some connection with speakers assessment of the truth of the proposition and indicate that the speakers are not fully committed to the validity of the proposition they are co
12、nveying.a) Approximators Approximators can be subdivided into two types. One is usually applied when a proposition is almost precise but not fully certain by the speaker, such as kind of, sort of, some, very, quite, almost, entirely, etc., which are named adaptors. For example,(1) Im kind of glad th
13、at I didnt win.(2) We stayed there for almost a week. (3) His feet were sort of blue. The other type of approximators is name rounders by Prince. Rounders refer to those that can bring a changeable range of understanding to an utterance. And they are used to give a range, alter the related scope of
14、an utterance or limit the meaning to a certain scope. Rounders contain such words or phrases as roughly, about, around, approximately, nearly, perhaps, more than, essentially, over something between X and Y, etc. For example,(4) There are about 40 people in this hall.(5) Its always around four o clo
15、ck when I go to the dentist.(6) The building is about something between fifty and sixty meters high. (7) The lady who is in charge of the company is approximately 50 years old.b) ShieldsShields do not reflect the truth condition of the propositional content but reflect the degree of the speakers com
16、mitment to the truth value of the whole proposition conveyed. Shields are also subdivided into two types: plausibility shields and attribution shields.Plausibility shields refer to subject-predicate structure or adverbs which indicate different degrees of uncertainty on the part of the speaker, which can directly express the speakers guess work or doubtful attitude to an utterance, e.g. I think, I
