Abstract:Hedges were first put forward by G. Lakoff and he pointed that hedges are words which can make things fuzzier or less fuzzy, and hedges are universal in our daily life, which have positive functions in verbal communication. Nowadays, economic news has played a more and more important role in people’s daily life. The main functions of economic news are to report facts and convey information. Therefore, the language of economic news should be objective, accurate, and brief. However, it doesn’t mean that hedges can’t be used in economic news discourse. On the contrary, appropriate employment of hedges can make good effects on economic news. On the basis of Prince’s classification of hedges, this thesis is to study the types and pragmatic functions of hedges in economic news that come from the website of China Daily. Four types of hedges, including adaptors, rounders, plausibility shields and attribution shields, are involved in economic news, and the employment of hedges can achieve some pragmatic functions, such as accuracy-increasing, self-protecting, absoluteness-avoiding, and acceptability-raising. The author hopes that this study can enlarge the research scope of economic news discourse; enrich the research materials of hedges and help reporters to make better use of hedges in economic news reports.

Key Words: economic news  hedges  types  pragmatic functions 

Contents

Abstract

摘要

Chapter One Introduction-1

1.1 Background of This Study-1

1.2 Significance of This Study-1

1.3 Structures of This Study-1

Chapter Two Literature Review-3

2.1 Hedges-3

2.1.1 Definitions of Hedges-3

2.1.2 Classifications of Hedges-3

2.2 Economic News-4

2.3 Previous Studies of Hedges in Economic News Discourse-4

2.3.1 From the Aspect of Comparison between English and Chinese-4

2.3.2 From the Aspect of Cross-culture-5

2.3.3 From the Aspect of Vague Numbers-5

2.3.4 From the Aspect of Vague Words in the Title of Economic News-6

Chapter Three Analysis of Hedges in Economic News Discourse-7

3.1 Two Types of Hedges in Economic News Discourse-7

3.1.1 Approximators in Economic News Discourse-7

3.1.2 Shields in Economic News Discourse-7

3.2 Pragmatic Functions of Hedges in Economics News Discourse-8

3.2.1 Accuracy-Increasing Function-8

3.2.2 Self-Protecting Function-9

3.2.3 Absoluteness-Avoiding Function-10

3.2.4 Acceptability-Raising Function-11

Chapter Four Conclusion-13

4.1 Major Findings-13

4.2 Limitations and Suggestions for Further Study-13

References-14