A Comparative Analysis Of Hedges In Chinese And Japanese

Hedges can be easily found in both Chinese and Japanese languages. There are some similarities in classification, semantics and pragmatic of hedges between the languages, but there are also some differences.This article is trying to resolve two major problems surrounding hedges of Chinese and Japanese languages. The first is to compare the similar uses and different uses of hedges in the two languages from the aspects of classification, semantics and pragmatic; The second is to analyze the causes of the similarities and differences between the hedges of the two languages.For the first question, that is to compare the similar uses and different uses of hedges in the two languages from the aspects of classification, semantics and pragmatic, results are as follows:As for similarities in classification and semantics, First of all, on the aspect of lexical category, the hedges in Chinese and Japanese are rich in variety and wide in range. All of them have four parts:adverbs, utterances, estimates words and phrases. In addition, adverbs play a major role in hedges of the two languages. From the semantics aspect, hedges help to be defuzzified and fuzzified. When talking about the differences, there are many respects. Chinese and Japanese have different classifications. For instance, Japanese has the forms of formal noun, deputy auxiliary, auxiliary verbs and conjunction, while in Chinese there are verbs, modal verbs and adjectives. Japanese has more function words and there are more content words in Chinese. The quantity of hedge words in Japanese is greater than that in Chinese. In Semantics, more hedge words are used in Japanese, and they are also more complicated.In pragmatics, hedges are under the principles of cooperative, etiquette and appropriate, and they are used for better communication. As for differences,Japanese people are more likely to use hedge words than Chinese. There are also slightly differences in the negative aspects of pragmatics:Japanese hedges are used to lessen their claims while those in Chinese are used for exaggeration. Finally, the structure of Japanese is more complicated, and it is relatively difficult for foreigners to understand.For the second question, that is to analyze the causes of the similarities and differences between the hedges of the two languages, results are as follows:Why there are so many similarities between the two languages, there are three main reasons. First, both China and Japan are recognized as "formal state", so the Chinese and Japanese people get used to use euphemism in daily life and expressions. Then, hedges are used due to "caring for others" and "protecting themselves". The last reason is that fuzzy is popular in the two countries. Behind the three reasons is that Japanese and Chinese are greatly influenced by the culture of euphemism.The differences in geography, social environment, culture, national psychology and language results for the differences of hedges between Chinese and Japanese. For geographical differences, Japan is an island country and China is on a continent, therefore the Japanese is relatively "softer" than Chinese and they are good at heart-to-heart communication. Social environment differences refer to that Japanese people are more likely to use hedge words to keep the atmosphere in harmony because of their "village social consciousness" and the "group consciousness". In cultural tradition, Japanese have a hazy aesthetic temperament and interest and they pay much attention to the feeling of the listener. Then, as for the national psychological differences, Japanese follow a "spoiled" psychology and victimization, so they are used to euphemism in communication for harmony. At last in the differences of languages, Japanese care more about the correlation between heavy note statements, while Chinese, as an isolated language, has a clear structure, which can be viewed at ease. In one word, Japanese people favor euphemism more and they are more likely to use hedge words in communication.