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Title: Exploring Hedges And Their Functions In Tariq Rahman’s Friend
Authors: Rashid ali, Muhammad Naeem
Journal: International Journal of Human and Society (IJHS)
Publisher: Educational Scholarly Horizons
Country: Pakistan
Year: 2024
Volume: 4
Issue: 3
Language: English
This paper tries to investigate different types of hedges and the functions of hedges used in short story, Friend (1986), written by Tariq Rahman. The present research is qualitative in nature and is based on an interpretivist paradigm. The short story, Friend (1986), by Tariq Rahman is taken as the source of data. The theories of hedges and its functions, proposed by Coates (1996), and the types of hedges proposed by Salager-Meyer (1997) are used as a theoretical framework in the present study. The researchers have selected five types of hedges from Salager-Meyer (1997) classification. This paper concludes that the hedges which occur most frequently in the short story is modal auxiliary verb which occurred with the frequency of 9(36%), then the ‘if’ clauses which occurred with the frequency 6(24%), other types such as modal lexical verbs and introductory phrases occurred with same frequency 4(16%), then compound hedges with frequency 2(8%). There are three functions of hedges out of four found out by the researchers, these functions are; expression of doubt and confidence, searching for the right word, and sensitivity to others’ feelings.
To investigate the types and functions of hedges used in Tariq Rahman's short story, "Friend" (1986).
Qualitative research based on an interpretivist paradigm, using Tariq Rahman's short story "Friend" (1986) as the data source. Theoretical frameworks from Coates (1996) on hedge functions and Salager-Meyer (1997) on hedge types were employed. The methodology involved reading the short story, coding hedging expressions, categorizing them by type and color, tabulating frequencies and percentages, and drawing conclusions.
graph TD;
A["Read Short Story 'Friend'"] --> B["Identify and Code Hedging Expressions"];
B --> C["Categorize Hedges by Type"];
C --> D["Categorize Hedges by Function"];
D --> E["Tabulate Frequencies and Percentages"];
E --> F["Analyze and Interpret Data"];
F --> G["Draw Conclusions"];
The discussion elaborates on the identified types of hedges (modal auxiliary verbs, modal lexical verbs, introductory phrases, 'if' clauses, and compound hedges) and their specific manifestations within the short story. It also details the three identified functions of hedges, providing examples from the text to illustrate how these functions are performed.
The study identified 25 instances of hedges in the short story. The most frequent type of hedge was modal auxiliary verbs (36%), followed by 'if' clauses (24%), modal lexical verbs and introductory phrases (16% each), and compound hedges (8%). Three functions of hedges were identified: expression of doubt and confidence, searching for the right word, and sensitivity to others' feelings.
The study concludes that hedges are prevalent in Tariq Rahman's "Friend" and are primarily used to express doubt and confidence, search for appropriate words, and demonstrate sensitivity to others' feelings. Modal auxiliary verbs are the most frequently employed hedging devices.
- The short story "Friend" was written by Tariq Rahman and published on November 21, 1986.
- Modal auxiliary verbs were the most frequently used hedges, occurring with a frequency of 9 (36%).
- 'If' clauses were the second most frequent type of hedge, occurring with a frequency of 6 (24%).
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