Hedges used in English Political Discourse

Abstract

This paper is entitled Hedges used in English Political Discourse. It uses the E.F.Prince, J.Frader &C.Bosk theory (1982) and adopts qualitative and quantitative methods. It investigates the former President George W. Bush’s Speech speeches. In addition, this paper makes an attempt to analyze the hedges from the pragmatic perspective and pays attention to their functions rather than forms.

Further, it highlights and studies the frequency of occurrence of hedges in English political speech. The researchers try to show how in English presidential speeches hedges have been utilized to specify a lack of complete commitment to the truth or falsity of the proposition, to convey messages more accurately, to unstiffen the influence and force of an utterance, or to communicate fuzziness purposely to diminish face-saving threats. The results show that politicians used hedges in their speeches when they communicate to the public.