王俊

【Abstract】Hedges are prevalent in all kinds of languages. This paper， chosen tell it like it is as the data， mainly discusses the relationship between adaptor hedges and politeness function in TV interview.

【Key words】adaptor hedges； politeness function； TV interview

1.1 Introduction

As a part of fuzzy language， hedges exist prevalently in all kinds of languages. Hedges are also widely employed in TV interview. Therefore， one typical program Tell It Like It Is， is chosen as the data in the present study to find out how hedges help to realize politeness. In the following part， adaptor hedges will be mainly analyzed and discussed from three perspectives， that is， maintaining the hearers face， ones own face and the third partys face.

1.2 Realizing Politeness by Maintaining the Hearers Face

Maintaining the hearers face is mainly concerned with your comments on hearers or what hears do. No matter how positive or negative ones opinion is， one should constantly attend to the hearers face and not have the hearers face humiliated. Please see the following example：

（1）崔永元：（對高明）您今天坐在这里我稍微有点替您担心，因为我知道您在北京大学读书的时候，听过肖灼基先生的课，如果今天我们的话题发生争论的话，您怎么能跟老师争呢？

高明：有这么一句话：吾爱吾师，吾更爱真理。

（《实话实说》之“谁来保护消费者？”）

In example （1）， Gao Ming is a distinguished guest as well as a famous lawyer in Beijing Jing Tian Law Firm. Cui， as the host， undoubtedly， should show his respect to the distinguished guests of his program. However， in this dialogue， Cui is worried that Gao Ming might quarrel with Gaos former teacher because of their different opinions. Such a kind of worries is Cuis suspicion of Gaos ability as to whether Gao could properly deal with teacher-student relationship when there is conflict between them. If he does not use hedges and says directly： 您今天坐在这里我替您担心， his statement will seem too rude and therefore he tends to make his viewpoints hardly accepted by his counterpart. So， he adopts two adaptor hedges 稍微， 有点 to decrease the degree of threatening Gaos positive face as well as to realize politeness.

1.3 Realizing Politeness by Maintaining Ones Own Face

In our communication， if one gives a high comment of oneself， it will be against the traditionally appreciated virtue of being modest in China； but if one rates oneself too low， one is likely to lose ones own face. The use of hedges can help the communicator to solve the face problem to some extent. Please see the example：

（2） 崔永元：跟首都没有关系，观众也是天南海北，哪儿的都有。

刘淑芬：我觉得我今天有点激动，掉眼泪了。按照他们的观点，我这个母亲做得不够，有点惭愧。再一个，他们还是有点不理解我的心情，我有点委屈，所以掉眼泪了。

（《实话实说》之“我的儿子太潇洒”）

In example （2）， Liu Shufen expresses her feeling in a proper way by employing 有点 （a little bit）. On the one hand， Mrs. Liu accepts other peoples opinion to a certain degree and admits she， as a mother， does not induct his son in a more appropriate way， and thus realizes politeness by adapting to modesty maxim. On the other hand， Mrs. Liu， as a mother， also has certain authority in the face of her son. Thus， the mother accepts others opinion properly by using adaptor hedges 有點 which help to achieve politeness function by means of adhering to modesty maxim and maintaining her own face in verbal interaction.

1.4 Realizing Politeness by Maintaining the Third Partys Face

Politeness can also been embodied by considering the third partys face， that is， people mentioned in the dialogue but may or may not be present. For example：

（3） 观众一：何老师，您的这些做法在我们常人看来很令人敬佩，要是我们一般的人做起来，会觉得很困难。您这么多年这样艰苦的、无私的奉献，您的学生、同事是受到了感化，还是说受到了压力？

何家庆：周围的人肯定是要议论，肯定要有感觉，从一定程度上说，这个事情有点儿刺激人。那么从主观上说，我不希望我周围的人都像我这样采取这样一种方式。

（《实话实说》之“教授何家庆”）

In this example， Professor He does not answer directly whether his students or colleagues are moved to change themselves or feel under pressure， but instead touches on slightly that this matter （his acts） is a little bit stimulating in a sense. Here， the two adaptor hedges 从一定程度上说， 有点儿 help to lessen his personal merits and achievements and thus his influence on other people is reduced， which reflects the professors modest and exemplary conduct as well as nobility of character and shows his consideration of other people and cautiousness while making remarks. These virtues， with the help of the verbal realization of hedges， protect the audiences face and realize politeness successfully.

1.5 Summary

To sum up， according to our analysis and discussion， adaptor hedges account for a large percentage in terms of realizing politeness and maintaining face. It bears a strong correlation between hedges and the Politeness Principle transmitted in the program.

References：

[1]Kasper，G.（1990）.Linguistic politeness：Current research issues.Journal of Pragmatics，14.

*本文得到西南交通大学青年教师百人计划项目“电视访谈节目中模糊限制语的礼貌功能研究”（代码：2682014BR011EM）的资助。