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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 and to reflect attitudes that can be considered propositional.

Hedge	Funktion
Well	Used to help soften the uncertainty or disagreement, making the statement sound more polite and less confrontational.
Anyway	Used to navigate the topic or to indicate that the speaker wants to return to the main point after a digression.
Honestly	Used to stress that what is being said is a truthful view and it also serves as a hedge to indicate subjectivity.
Actually	Used to soften corrections or clarifications, making them sound more polite and less abrupt.
So	Used as a transition that helps guide the conversation smoothly from one point to the next, reducing the likelihood of confusion or awkwardness.

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. Hedge indicates inattention to a conversational maxim. By employing a phrase known as a hedge, it removes or minimizes the impact of the maxims and informs the receiver of this.

Origin

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

References

Grundy, P. (2013). Doing pragmatics. Routledge.
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