A Corpus-Based Study On Hedges In Maritime Law English

Hedging is a most researched phenomenon in linguistic world.This research is concerned with the hedges in MLE and it would center on two aspects.On one hand, hedges would be analyzed and studied in Maritime Law English in general.On the other hand,the linguistic theory of pragmatics will be applied to the study of the hedges in Maritime Law English,which is expected to have its own special characteristics.The research results show that:First,the number of type of hedges in Maritime Law English is less than that in BROWN,and the overall frequency of the hedges in Maritime Law English is still less than that in BROWN.Second,the results of Chi-square tests demonstrate that there is a significant difference of the distribution of hedges in Maritime Law English and BROWN.As a unique form of written language,hedges in MLE are of great importance, which need accuracy,politeness,acceptance and certainty,being free from ambiguity in connotation,over and above to include as many possibilities as possible.The pragmatic functions of hedges in maritime law area are summed up in the research.The pragmatic functions of hedges are accurate and credible,self-protecting and achieving politeness. The possible reasons of the appearance of the distribution and use of hedges in the legislation of Maritime Law are listed in this research.Finally,according to these differences and influencing factor,some pedagogical and research suggestions to the enhancement of the bilingual education courses of maritime law are given.This research would try to improve translator's accuracy and translation capacity of hedges in the maritime law application contexts.