Pragmatic Functions of Hedges and Politeness Principles

Fuzziness is one of the objective characteristics of human language, which makes language flexible and reliable. It’s helpful to keep communication more euphemistic and convincing. Hedges are core of fuzzy language and the study on hedges contributes to the understanding of the essence of language. The thesis adopts the theory of face theory and politeness principles and conducts a study on the functions of hedges in communication from the perspective of politeness. The study finds that different types of hedges play the role of maintaining politeness in communication. It is also pointed out that improper use of hedges fails to maintain politeness and leads to pragmatic failure.