Includes bibliographical references and index.

Acknowledgments -- Introduction -- Chapter 1. Pragmatics: subject and subjectivity -- Chapter 2. Mitigation: the background -- Chapter 3. Pragmatics of mitigation: bushes, hedges, shields -- Chapter 4. Mitigation and emotive communication: steps toward a psychostylistic approach -- Chapter 5. Doctor-patient dialogue: a case-study -- Chapter 6. Grammar of mitigation in doctor-patient dialogue -- Conclusions -- Bibliography -- Appendices -- Name Index -- Subject Index.

This fourth volume in the Studies in Pragmatics (SIP) series is a fittingly solid, well-illustrated and theoretical account of Mitigation (as a form of Politeness). The main goal of this book is to present a new integrated pragmatic approach to communication. The approach has been called pragmatics of identity. It's major feature is that it aims at integrating pragmatic views (research on politeness, face-work, etc.) with insights from different research fields into an extended framework where psychological aspects of communication in context also can be taken into account.

Description based on print version record.