The object of this dissertation is hedging in Lithuanian and English research articles in the field of humanities and biomedical sciences. The aim of the research is to identify hedging devices and functions in linguistic and medical research articles in Lithuanian and English and to explore to what extent hedging is language-specific and discipline-specific. As there is a great variety of linguistic resources which convey the pragmatic function of hedging, this research is limited to certain lexical hedges: modal verbs, lexical verbs and adverbials, which are analysed within the conceptual categories of epistemic modality, evidentiality and vagueness.

The results of the research suggest that the variety of hedging devices is determined by the discipline, whereas the type of the most frequent lexical hedges depends on the language (English vs. Lithuanian). The frequency of hedges used in the analyzed research articles depends both on the language and discipline. The results of the cross-disciplinary research show that both Lithuanian and English authors of medical texts tend to use fewer hedges than linguists. The variety of hedges employed in the analyzed articles of both disciplines is also different. In both Lithuanian and English linguistic articles a greater variety of hedges has been observed. The results of the cross-linguistic research indicate that according to the main parameters of the analysis, the English authors of the analyzed research articles employ hedges more frequently than the Lithuanian authors. The pragmatic functions performed by hedges are similar in both Lithuanian and English analyzed articles.

Raktažodžiai: Academic discourse, author stance, hedging