Modality and hedging

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Modality and hedging

• Verbal modality
• 1.concerns with the speakers assumptions or
  assessment of possibilities
• (what the speaker/writer thinks possible or
  states as possible)
• 2. Indicates the degree of confidence (or lack of
  confidence) the speaker has in their statement.
• 3. Shows the status of the speakers
  understanding or knowledge

2

• 4. Weak epistemic modality (may) suggests a lower
  level of commitment to the truth value of a
  statement
• 5. Strong epistemic modality (must) suggests a
  higher level of commitment

3
hedging

• Expression of speculative statements as opposed
  to factual language
• Way to express absence of certainty
• Strategic desire not to be too categorical
• Hedging establishes the acceptability of the
  contribution by the scientific community.
• Acceptability largely depends on the respect of
  shared formal rules (rhetorical devices in use
  within the research community grammar of
  politeness)

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How to detect hedging surface textual features

• cognitive verbs such as think, believe, suppose,
  reckon
• plausibility shields, in particular appear, seem.
  They give further emphasis to the epistemic verbs
  (verbs relating to knowledge) constituting the
  traditional hedges, such as suggest, imply,
  speculate, indicate
• cues, such as perhaps, maybe, although
• modal adjectives such as likely, possible,
  consistent with,
• downtoners (barely, nearly, slightly)
• adverbial forms of the type quite, almost,
  usually, probably, etc.
• lexical verbs conveying the idea of modality
  indicate, suggest, propose, advise

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• approximators (or rounders in Prince 1982) of
  quantity, degree, frequency, and time, such as
  approximately, roughly, somewhat, quite, often,
  occasionally
• emotionally charged intensifiers extremely,
  particularly, unexpectedly, surprisingly
• The passive
• existential subjects (thereverbnominal group)