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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, whic
17、h can directly express the speakers guess work or doubtful attitude to an utterance, e.g. I think, I suppose, I am afraid, I wonder, as far as I can tell, hard to say, seem, probably, etc. For example,(8) Probably you are wrong.(9) I suppose they will get married.(10)I believe he is honest. (11) And
18、 I think we can probably just finish the work before evening. While another type of shields is called attribution shields, which refer to words or phrases which express the attitude of guess or doubt that is expressed not by the speaker but by a third person, although the speaker has the same though
19、t. They include such phrases as Its said that, as is well known, the possibility would be, someone says that., according to somebody, etc. They implicate various levels of lack of certainty. The speaker is indicating that s/he is less than fully committed to the truth of the proposition conveyed. Fo
20、r example, (12) According to my mother，our plan to visit the Great Wall has been canceled. (13) Its said that only a six-month-baby survived that car accident.The following figure shows the classification clearly: AdaptorsApproximators Rounders HedgesPlausibility ShieldsSheilds Attribution Shields I
21、II. The Application of Hedges in Business EnglishHedges are broadly used by the groups of individuals such as physicians, lawyers, linguists, advertisers, or those whose field is somewhat murky and who have a large stake in saving their professional face. For example, there exist exact and vague lan
22、guages, and the various pragmatic functions of hedges are fully embodied in business English. This paper lists four main pragmatic functions of hedging devices in business English as follows.a) PolitenessOne of the features of business language is purposeful, that is the business English is to say s
23、omething indirect and polite in trade, especially on some sensitive topics. When businessmen talk about some focal points of contradictions, hedges could usually be used to hide some real intentions and to look one way and row another in business negotiations. In most of the time, saying vague langu
24、age politeness is quite beneficial to both sides in business. For example,(14) We shall revert to the question of sole agency when the business between us has developed to our mutual satisfaction.In this example, the hedges, revert to and to our mutual satisfaction obviously imply positive vague mea
25、ning. The speaker seems to convey positive meaning semantically, but the pragmatic meaning of this sentence indicates a rejection of demands raised by the other side in this business. After a further analysis, we could find the implication that if you would like to do this business with us later, yo
26、u should turn this trade to a satisfactory level to us, which actually saves the face of the other side as well as maintains the relationship between both sides in business.b) AccuracyThis seems to be contrary to the feature of hedges, “to make things fuzzier or less fuzzy” (Lakoff). However, some l
27、inguistic communication, such as in business, doesnt only require precision or accuracy, but also requires vagueness. Because there are situations in which one finds it unnecessary to be very precise or accurate, he/she may make use of hedges. Sometimes, one may find that it is impossible for him/he
28、r to be accurate, or he/her has some difficulty in expressing himself/herself in an exact way, he/she may use hedges to carry on the communication smoothly. Therefore, accuracy is also one of the requirement for business language. For example,(15) These china products do not seem to be of first-clas
29、s quality.Here the word seem is a plausibility shield which indicates different degrees of uncertainty on the part of the speaker. In this sentence, we can see that the hedge helps the speaker to state a fact but the speaker actually does not confirm it is completely true. This sort of phenomenon of
30、 using hedges does happen frequently in business world. Generally speaking, accuracy is a key feature of transmitting true information in business communication.c) FlexibilityAnother reason to use hedging strategy in business English is that businessmen must grasp the degree of flexibility and avoid
31、 absoluteness. Flexibility refers to the fact that hedging devices provide more ways for businessmen to explain their claims if necessary. And the flexibility enables them to leave some space for their following negotiation. In this respect, hedging is an especially effective way. By hedges, the deg
32、ree of determinacy is reduced and the whole utterance becomes more flexible. J. Channell (2000: 188) argues that “vagueness may be used as a safeguard against being later shown to be wrong”. For example,(16) I am afraid that the proposal you put forward just now isnt up too much.In example (16), the
33、 vague expression isnt up too much indicates that the speaker may reject the proposal indirectly, but it is also flexible that it is not impossible for him/her to accept it finally, which implies that further discussions and bargains may be needed.d) Vividness and HumourIn some cases, hedging device
34、s could also be humorous and interesting in business, such as in some advertisements and business articles. Hedges sometimes highlights the advertisements and make them stand out. Take the famous advertisement for example,(17) Ask for More.Here, more belongs to the rounders of approximators in hedgi
35、ng devices. At the same time, there is also a pun in this advertisement. More, referring to both the comparative degree adjective and the brand of cigarette, makes this advertisement intriguing and humorous. Therefore, it helps the advertisers reach the goal of sales promotion of the cigarette.Refer
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