Hedging in the Swiss version of economic discourse

Abstract

This article explores the linguo-pragmatic potential of hedging, which is a means of speech insurance. The purpose of the study is to identify and describe linguistically the means of hedging used by journalists in Swiss articles on economic issues, taking into account the peculiarities of the language situation in German-speaking Switzerland. An attempt is made to determine the pragmatic function of the identified hedging instruments. The materials of the study are fragments from economic articles of the major Swiss media containing various hedging markers. So far, no attempts have been made in Russian and foreign German studies to describe linguistically the means of hedging in Swiss economic discourse. The study identified lexical and grammatical hedging: Konjunktiv I as a marker of indirect speech; hypothetical constructions with Konjunktiv II; means of implementing ambiguity and approximation; impersonal constructions; concessive structures; lexical means of realization of subjective forecast; modal words. The analysis showed that most often the authors of news reports use Konjunktiv I as a marker of indirect speech, as well as hypothetical constructions with Konjunktiv II. The conducted linguo-pragmatic analysis revealed that the authors of journalistic texts use these linguistic means in order to minimize their responsibility for what is being reported, referring to an external source of information, to express doubt, non-categorical assumption about future events, to label uncertainty and shirk responsibility when in doubt about exact facts or figures. The use of hedging in journalism also contributes to the dedramatization of the situation, to the preservation of the reputation of companies and the prevention of critical reviews and the growth of panic on the part of readers. The data obtained as a result of the analysis can be used in linguistic analysis and interpretation of economic texts to identify the linguistic features of the Swiss economic discourse.