【Abstract】：Fuzziness is one of the basic features of human language， it occurs in every language and it is a phenomenon worthy of studying. This paper mainly discussed the pragmatic semantic function of hedges and hoped that this study can help us have a better understand of the fuzzy language.

【Key words】： Fuzzy languages; Pragmatic functions; Semantic function

1. Introduction

“The concept of fuzzy language is put forward by the America mathematician Lofti A Zedel in his famous works Fuzzy Sets in 1965. And later，this theory is widely used in the field of natural science research.”（Zhang Shujun amp; Zhang Deyu， 2003）

Prince divides the hedges into two major categories which are approximators and shields.

2. The Pragmatic Functions of Hedges

2.1 Politeness Function

As we know， politeness is a linguistic universal phenomenon which exists in all languages. So it is naturally to say that hedges related to the linguistic politeness.

Firstly， it contributes to the “Face Theory” which was put forward by Brown and Levinson.

Ex.1 Your voice is a little bit loud.

In this example， if the listener’s face was threatened， hedges can help him/her to save the threatened face.

Secondly， it can help speaker to achieve the politeness theory which includes four norms.

Ex.2 You come to my home， but there are not good wine and dishes for you， please forgive me.

Thirdly， “hedges can let the speaker observe the cooperative principle”（Yu Qiangfu， 2009） which was put forward by Grice， and facilitate people’s communication.

Ex.3 A： Where are you going on the holiday？

B： I want go to the southern cities.

In this example， the speaker violates the quantity maxim but observes the quality maxim.

2.2 Humorous Function

“The skillfully use of hedges will make the words of the speaker become humorous， which not only show the speaker’s wits but also can adjust the conversation’s atmosphere.”（Zhang Yufeng， 2004）

Ex.4 A： Sorry， I beg your pardon. I did not hear it clearly.

B：I have spoken it 88 times.

3. The Semantic Function of Hedges

Firstly， by using some hedges can realize the uncertainty of semantic relations.

Ex.5 He will come here next week.

In this example， “next week” indeed conveys some information， but it is fuzzy because it just tells us it is any day of “next week”.

Secondly， the concept of fuzzy and precise seems to be inconsistent. But， sometimes the fact is not like this， because the objective things and phenomenon itself is often blurred.”（Xu Chunshan， 2003）

Ex.6 A： Who is her？

B： One of my friends.

Thirdly， hedges can make accurate concept becomes blurred.

Ex.7 A： How tall are you？

B： I am about 160 centimeter.

In this example， B may be shorter than 160 centimeter， so she uses hedges to hide her true height and save her face.

4. Conclusion

Generally speaking， the pragmatic and semantic functions of fuzzy languages are almost similar in Chinese and English， which make the communication more accurate， polite and better to convey some feelings. But owing to different cultural backgrounds， there are some differences between English and Chinese fuzzy language when they are used in different situations.

References：

Zhang Yufeng（2004）.Application of Fuzzy Language in Translation[J].CELEA Journal（Bimonthly）.（27）

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王心潔（2005）。模糊語翻譯試析。外語與外語教學(xué)，（6），55-57