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.
Highlights
The concept of hedging was firstly put forward by the American linguist George Lakoff (1972:485) Who defined it as "a word or group of words whose Job is to make things fuzzier or less fuzzy"
The study of hedges has drawn much attention from researchers and hedges have showed great Communication value in many fields the study of this concept in Iraqi Arabic is of a great significance
To find out what the functions of hedges are in Iraqi Arabic and this has been concluded throughout the study that is, Iraqi people use different types of hedges depending on the context and what is required in situations
Summary
The concept of hedging was firstly put forward by the American linguist George Lakoff (1972:485) Who defined it as "a word or group of words whose Job is to make things fuzzier or less fuzzy". Hyland (1998:23) suggests that hedge is "any linguistic means used to indicate either a lack of a complete commitment to the truth of a proposition or a desire not to express that commitment categorically ". George yule (2014: 131) mentioned hedges and defined it as "a word or phrase used to indicate that you are not really sure that what you are saying is sufficiently correct or complete". Definitions of Hedging In most of the recent work relating to hedging, many scholars have analyzed hedging with an eye on the communication situation, and specially to show its effect in face to face communication .Addressing hedging in news writing, ,zuck and zuck(1085 cited in verttala , 2001:172) defined hedging as " The process whereby The author "reduce the strength of what he is writing
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