A Socio-pragmatic Study of Hedging in Iraqi Arabic

Abstract

Among the different types of linguistic means are the expressions of fuzziness and uncertainty which are used by speakers widely. These types of expressions are called hedges. Many scholars have studied this phenomenon from both semantic and pragmatic perspectives. Hyland (1998:1) defines hedges as Devices used to convey tentativeness to reflect uncertainty. Lakoff, Brown and Levinson (1987) develop different perspectives on the basis of speech act theory and consider hedges as strategies for minimizing the threat to face.Hedges are considered a very important part in languages and they play an effective role in communication. Hedges are universal, that is, they are found in all languages and according to this type of expressions Many Iraqi people use them in their daily speech and we are unaware of the use of this phenomenon in Iraqi language. e.g / what are the functions, the strategies or the types that are used the most.To The best of the researcher's knowledge, hedges have not been dealt with in Iraqi Arabic. Hence, this study addresses the following questions:How do Iraqi people use hedges? And What type of hedges do Iraqi people use the most?This study aims atthe identification of the pragmatic types of hedging, shedding light on the functions of such a pragmatic phenomenon.  Therefore, it is hypothesized thatIt is hypothesized that: hedging is used in Iraqi Arabic serving identifiable pragmatic functions. As far as the use of hedging is concerned,  the present  study is limited to the use of hedges in Iraqi Arabic. To serve the aims of the study, a data including  a number of  educated and uneducated Iraqis is chosen is selected for this purpose.