A Pragmatic Analysis of Hedges in Silent spring under the Perspective of Adaptation Theory

Abstract

Vagueness is a natural property of human language. Hedges, as a special form of vague language, are widely used in human language. On the basis of Adaptation Theory, this paper makes a pragmatic analysis of hedges in Silent spring. The study finds that the writer realizes three pragmatic functions by adapting to the physical, social and mental world. These three pragmatic functions are: increasing the accuracy of the information, reducing personal responsibility and expressing motions. This paper may be helpful to further studies on the genre of science books.