Understatements and Hedges in English

• Preface | p. ix
• 0. Introduction | p. 1
• 1. Guidelines to Understatements and Hedges | p. 9
• 1.1. The sentence and its negatability
• 1.2. Liability constraints of the sentence
• 1.3. Working definition and working perspective
• 2. Phrastic Indetermination as a Device for Forming Understatements | p. 27
• 2.1. Negation of predicates
• 2.2. Detensification of predicates by grading adverbs
• 3. Neustic Indetermination as a Device for Forming Hedges | p. 97
• 3.1. Factivity and modality
• 3.2. Questions
• 3.3. Modalized assertory assertions
• 3.4. Summary
• 4. Communicative Conditions for Understatements and Hedges | p. 155
• 4.1. Another look at negatability of sentences
• 4.2. Communication as a possible threat to face
• 4.3. Understatements and hedges as face saving strategies
• 4.4. Face threatening acts and face saving strategies exemplified by praise and criticism
• 4.5. Summary
• Footnotes | p. 171

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