Hedging as one of Negative Politeness Strategies in German Languaculture

Abstract

The article deals with the problem of negative politeness and corresponding politeness strategies in German languaculture on the basis of modern fiction and also elaborates on the analysis of linguistic means of implementation of a negative politeness strategy known as hedging.Purpose of research: study of communicative situations in which a threat to the negative face of one of the speakers is present, and a review of politeness strategies that are used in such cases. The negative face means the desire of an interlocutor not to be bothered by others during communication (as an example, a request, an order or advice can damage the negative face of the addressee). Special attention is given to hedging as one of the most commonly used negative politeness strategy.Methods: the practical part of the research is based on a linguacultural analysis of the material.Results: using the analyzed materials we discover language (including grammatical, lexical and phonetical ones) tools and mechanisms that are used to perform such strategies in a speech act and also reasons to use hedges in communication and their functions in it.Conclusion: based on the theoretical, practical materials and the results that have been found in the course of the research we can state the importance of mastering (among all the linguacultural features being one of the key components of acquiring any foreign language on a par with grammar, vocabulary, phonetics etc.) the complex and frequently used for a lot of different communicative purposes phenomena known as hedging – one of the negative politeness strategies, that has quite a unique ways of usage depending on languaculture in question, and thus requiring a more deep and thorough studying in each particular case. The relevance of research of that particular element in the system of negative politeness strategies is due to the fact that while acquiring languages of western Europe (German, English and others – that means languages of cultures of an individualistic type) – an incorrect knowledge of hedging mechanisms can be the cause of problems and failures in communication, because in such cultures that element of communicative politeness has quite an important role (more important that in cultures of collectivist type – i.e. the Russian one and others).