Hedges in Japanese conversation are discussed in relation to
three social variables: age, sex, and formality. In the present
study, hedges are defined as expressions of uncertainty,
possibility, or tentativeness, all of which convey a sense of
vagueness. I quantified the use of 26 Japanese hedges (e.g.,
toka ‘or something’, kana ‘I
wonder’, nanka ‘like’, and
tabun ‘probably’). Three hypotheses were
posited to investigate the effect of the social variables: hedges
are used (1) more often by younger speakers than by older speakers;
(2) more often by women than by men; (3) more often in casual
speech than in formal speech. Data of 20 single-sex dyads were
collected from two age groups and from both sexes. The data
supported hypotheses (1) and (2), but not (3). Most notably,
younger female speakers use hedges often. Social factors of
the speaker as well as context play an important role in the
use of hedges in Japanese conversation.