GENDER DIFFERENCES AND POLITNESS;

EMPLOYMENTS OF HEDGES

Student-
Suprevisor-
 Contents

Introduction

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Conclusion
The Aim of the Following research

to discuss and
analyze the very
types of hedges used
by men and women.
 The Objectives

To study and present the general characteristics, types, features

of hedges.

To examine the politeness and hedging strategies in the English

language.

To investigate different types of hedges.

To analyze hedging gender use and to classify shifts.

 The object and subject

The object of the work is the analysis of hedges used by males and
females.

The subject matter of the present paper is the comparative study

of the characteristics of hedges.
 GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE HEDGES

Hedging is a contentious but

pragmatically useful
phenomena in language.
Typically, barriers are seen as
ways to either amplify or
diminish a communicative
message. Over the course of
linguistic study history, the idea of
"hedging" has changed. In other
words, hedges started to form as
soon as humans learnt to talk, but
linguistic study on them didn't start
until the second half of the 20th
century.
 The term hedging first appeared in
1972, when it was introduced by
G. Lakoff, a well-known American
cognitive linguist. Later, his
findings served as the foundation
for several analyses on the subject.
 CLASSIFICATION OF HEDGES

Prince, Bosk and Frader classify hedges into two main groups:
approximators and shields.
Approximators in this categorization correspond to G. Lakoff's concept
of hedging as phrases and expressions that muddy the statement's context
and influence its truth conditions, whereas
shields have no impact on the statement's truth criteria.
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Hedges and the Theory of Politeness

Brown and Levinson (1987) recommend four politeness strategies:

 Bald-On Record: "A straightforward manner of stating things" is the Bald-On-
Record tactic. As an illustration of a direct imperative form, the sentence "Tell me
how the meeting goes!" makes use of the Bald-On Record technique.
 Negative Politeness: According to Brown and Levinson (1987), "Negative
Politeness strategy as a redressive action targeted to hearer's negative face: his
desire to have his freedom of activity and attention unfettered" The utterance:
“Take the snack, if you may” is clearly a Negative Politeness strategy as it offers
freedom of action to the hearers
 Positive Politeness: Positive politeness is described as "the technique which is
orientated by a speaker towards the positive face or the positive self-image of
hearers that the speaker claims for himself". A clear illustration of the Positive
Politeness technique is the compliment “The dress works perfectly on you, babe!”.
 Off-Record: Off-Record strategy, according to Brown and Levinson (1987), is a
communicative act that is carried out in such a manner that it is impossible to
identify a single, distinct communicative aim. It enables listeners to deduce the
utterances' intended meaning for themselves.
 Saying, "The vegetable soup is a touch bland," for example, suggests the speaker
wants the listeners to pass the salt.
GENDER AND POLITENESS: HEDGING STRATEGIES IN
ENGLISH

Within the disciplines of cultural and

gender studies, as well as the social
sciences, gender has frequently been
referred to as a social construct and is
readily acknowledged to be of social
rather than biological origin. In other
words, when we refer to gender, we just
mean men and women and,
consequently, the speech patterns or
social customs of both in discussion.
Holems (1990: 89) asserted that women's use of hedges
reflects interpersonal warmth and not linguistic
tentativeness, as many academics have maintained. Men are
more likely to use hedges to communicate imprecision and
tentativeness than women.

Numerous studies conducted in the 1980s have shown that

women are more likely than males to utilize speech patterns
that appear courteous. Brown (1980:126) looks at manners in
the Mayan culture, for instance.

Although both men and women utilize hedges, only

women use hedges to communicate their innermost
thoughts and uncertainties. Males also convey their
skepticism through hedges.
 The analysis of hedges used by men and
women
Based on the data collected,
the female respondents’
tendency used 6 words of
lexical hedges as fillers,
there are: hmm, you know,
by the way, all I know,
yeah, as I probably know.
While, the male
respondents’ tendency used
5 words of lexical hedges as
fillers: hmm, you know, I
mean, yeah, as I probably
know.
The likelihood of the female
respondents to utilize 4 lexical
hedges as a verb: I believe
that, I assume that, I think, it
seems. While, the male
respondents’ tendency used 3
words of lexical hedges as
verb, there are; I believe that, I
assume that, I think.
 The analysis of hedges used by men and
women

Next, the female

Furthermore, the female The last, female
respondents’ tendency
respondents’ tendency respondents’ tendency
used 3words of lexical
used 2 words of lexical used 5 words of lexical
hedges as modal
hedges as compound hedges as adverb of
auxiliary verb, there
hedges: sort of, a little frequency: sometimes.
are; can be, could be,
bit. In contrast to this, the While, the male
may. While, the male
male respondents’ respondents’ tendency
respondents’ tendency
tendency used 1 words of used 2 words of lexical
used 1 word of lexical
lexical hedge as hedges as adverb of
hedges as modal
compound hedges: a little frequency, there is-
auxiliary verb-may.
bit. sometimes.
 CONCLUSION

 Hedging is a contentious yet pragmatic language occurrence. Since barriers are commonly considered as a

technique of weakening or strengthening a communication message, the language phenomena of hedging is a

contentious but intriguing linguistic subject that adds to the study of softening, saving face, and successful

interaction in general.

 The majority of hedges used by both female and male students operate to lessen the imposition of speech in order

to avoid face-threatening acts (FTAs), including hedges derived from negative and positive politeness tactics, as

well as hedges derived from discourse markers. Female students, on the other hand, utilize more plausibility hedges

and the discourse marker 'Hmm' to express their reservations. Female students have extensive chats, but male

students have brief ones that get to the point.

 Data analysis demonstrated that the use of indetermination, subjectivization, evasion, and politeness are mostly

used to achieve the hedging function. Because of the prevalence of these pragmatic tactics in male speech in

Televised discussions, male language appears to be more adaptable than female language.

 Hedges provide interpersonal functions. They occur anytime speakers wish to decrease their commitment to the

reality of a concept being transmitted or when they attempt to attenuate the audience's potential negative

illocutionary repercussions.

 As a result, we may conclude that the language phenomena of hedging is a contentious but fascinating linguistic

subject that contributes to understanding the processes of mitigation, face saving, and successful engagement in

general.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION