Interpreting 19:1 (2017), 21–46. doi 10.1075/intp.19.1.02mag issn 1384–6647 / e-issn 1569–982X © John Benjamins Publishing Company Hedges in conference interpreting Te role of gender Cédric Magnifco and Bart Defrancq Ghent University Tis paper, part of a project on gender diferences in simultaneous interpret- ing, analyzes possible gender-related trends in the use of hedges by professional interpreters and examines two hypotheses: (1) simultaneous interpretations, be- cause of processing constraints, contain fewer hedges than the original speeches; (2) consistent with gender diferences in spontaneous speech, women interpret- ers use more hedges than men. Te research draws on Ghent University’s EPICG corpus of speeches at the European Parliament and their interpretations. Here, French speeches recorded in 2008 were compared with their English and Dutch interpretations in respect of hedging frequency. Statistical comparison was based on the chi-squared test. With regard to the frst hypothesis, comparison of nor- malized frequencies (occurrences per 1000 words) shows that the interpreters in both language combinations used signifcantly more hedges than the speakers. Te second hypothesis was tested by comparing data according to interpret- ers’ gender, factoring in the frequency of hedges in the source texts: women interpreters hedged more than men in both target languages, signifcantly so in Dutch. Regarding strategies that might account for the interpreters’ use of hedges (omission, translation, addition), the women interpreters made more ad- ditions than the men. Possible reasons for these patterns are discussed. Keywords: simultaneous conference interpreting, gender, hedges, corpus-based studies 1. Introduction As part of a broader research project on gender diferences in simultaneous inter- preting, this paper focuses on possible gender-related trends in the use of hedges by professional interpreters.