hellog〜英語史ブログ / 2021-06-10

■ #4427. 様々な hedge および関連表現 [hedge][prototype][semantics][pragmatics][intensifier]

　昨日の記事で「#4426. hedge」 ([2021-06-09-1]) を取り上げた．英語についていえば sort of が hedge の代表例として挙げられることが多いが，実際のところ hedge の種類は多様である．
　昨日の引用文で触れた Lakoff の論文を読んだ．p. 472 に "SOME HEDGES AND RELATED PHENOMENA" と題する表が掲げられている．英語の hedge （関連）表現の具体例として，以下に掲載しておこう．

sort of
kind of
loosely speaking
more or less
on the _____ side (tall, fat, etc.)
roughly
pretty (much)
relatively
somewhat
rather
mostly
technically
strictly speaking
essentially
in essence
basically
principally
particularly
par excellence
largely
for the most part
very
especially
exceptionally
quintessential(ly)
literally
often
more of a _____ than anything else
almost
typically/typical

as it were
in a sense
in one sense
in a real sense
in an important sense
in a way
mutatis mutandis
in a manner of speaking
details aside
so to say
a veritable
a true
a real
a regular
virtually
all but technically
practically
all but a
anything but a
a self-styled
nominally
he calls himself a ...
in name only
actually
really
(he as much as ...
-like
-ish
can be looked upon as
can be viewed as
pseudo-
crypto-
(he's) another (Caruso/Lincoln/ Babe Ruth/...)
_____ is the _____ of _____ (e,g., America is the Roman Empire of the modern world. Chomsky is the DeGaulle of Linguistics. etc.)

　一覧して分かるように，「#4236. intensifier の分類」 ([2020-12-01-1]) で挙げた広い意味での強意語 (intensifier) は，いずれも hedge の一種とみなすことができる．これまで hedge を単純に「ぼかし言葉」くらいに認識していたが，そうでもないことが分かってきた．ある命題を真たらしめる条件を緩く指定・制限する方略と理解しておくのがよさそうだ．

　・ Lakoff, G. "Hedges: A Study in Meaning Criteria and the Logic of Fuzzy Concepts." Journal of Philosophical Logic 2 (1973): 458--508.

[ 固定リンク | 印刷用ページ ]