The hedging function of exemplification: Evidence from Japanese

The aim of this paper is to examine the usage of three Japanese exemplifying markers (i.e. tari, toka, nado) as hedging strategies. At the theoretical level, the investigation allows to discuss the functional extension of exemplifying strategies to hedges. Since exemplification construes elements as examples of larger sets, we argue that the relationship between these two core units can be exploited by speakers to perform several communicative functions, including semantic approximation and pragmatic hedging. At the empirical level, first we provide a detailed account of the types of hedging operations performed by these markers, that is, affecting the semantics of a proposition or operating on pragmatic aspects such as the illocutionary force or the speaker's commitment. Then, using data from a web corpus of Japanese, we examine how the usage of exemplifying markers as hedges in actual occurrences gives rise to other discourse effects such as vagueness and politeness.