Table 2 Syntactic patterns and their effect on hedging strength
Syntactic Pattern | Effect on strength |
|---|---|
<EPISTEMIC VERB>to(inf) VB | +1 |
<EPISTEMIC VERB>that(comp) VB | +2 |
Otherwise | -1 |
<EPISTEMIC NOUN> followed by that(comp) | +2 |
Otherwise | -1 |
not <UNHEDGING VERB> | +1 |
no|not <UNHEDGING NOUN> | +2 |
no|not immediately followed by <UNHEDGING ADVERB> | +1 |
no|not immediately followed by <UNHEDGING ADJECTIVE> | +1 |
whether|if in a clausal complement context | 3(SA) 1.58(IG) |