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Chapter VI MODALITY CHAPTER OUTLINE 6.1. Types of modality: epistemic and deontic 6.2. Mood as epistemic and deontic modality 6.3. Personal modality 6.4. Modal lexical verbs 6.5. Modality in subordinate clauses
Chapter VI MODALITY CHAPTER OUTLINE 6.1 Types of modality: epistemic and deontic 6.2 Mood as epistemic and deontic modality 6.3 Personal modality 6.4 Modal lexical verbs 6.5 Modality in subordinate clauses Modality is a linguistic category (like aspect or tense) that modifies the meaning of the event or action we talk about to include ways to “influence” the event described Modality may express what the speaker wants to (give permission, describe ability, suggest, request, offer, prohibit, express desires or necessity, etc.) Modality can also express whether the speaker believes, or is sure that what he or she is saying is true Modality is the non-propositional part of the sentence which concerns its factual status Modality helps speakers to qualify their statements with respect to possibility or necessity Compare: He went to school yesterday I believe that he went to school yesterday 5.1 TYPES OF MODALITY: EPISTEMIC AND DEONTIC Epistemic modality (tình thái nhận thức): involves any modal system that indicates the degree of commitment by the speaker to what he or she says – the extent to which the truth of a proposition is possible In other words, epistemic can be described as possibility-based She is likely to be late They must have done the work by now 5.1 TYPES OF MODALITY: EPISTEMIC AND DEONTIC Epistemic modality expresses how sure or unsure the speaker is that the action or event is true With this type of modality we express whether the speaker is sure that it’s true: That must be the correct answer quite sure: Sarah may be at her office right now somewhat sure: It might rain tomorrow very unsure: You could pass the exam sure that it is not true This can’t be the end 5.1 TYPES OF MODALITY: EPISTEMIC AND DEONTIC Deontic modality (tình thái đạo nghĩa) : Deontic contains an element of will; as such it is concerned with action rather than with belief, knowledge or truth, etc Deontic can be characterized as necessity-based or obligationbased You need to leave now You have to work harder on maths 5.1 TYPES OF MODALITY: EPISTEMIC AND DEONTIC Deontic modality expresses ways to influence the action or event we talk about With this type of modality we express ideas like: Ability: Sally can speak Swahili Permission: The children may go to the trip Necessity: You needn’t have studied so hard Obligation: Carla mustn’t be late Suggestions: She should go to England Requests: Could you open the window? Etc THE EXPRESSION OF MODALITY Modality is expressed grammatically by means of: Modal verbs You must speak up Sally can speak Spanish very well Non-modal verbs with the same function as modal verbs Donna had to leave early Sally will be able to speak Spanish soon Adverbs, nouns, adjectives that indicate modality (especially certainty, possibility, or probability) Perhaps it will rain She is probably at home now She has the ability to play the piano 6.2 MOOD AS EPISTEMIC AND DEONTIC MODALITY In English, a process may be represented by the speaker as a fact, expressed by an indicative sentence, a request or command, expressed by an imperative sentence, or a non-fact or improbability, indicated by a subjunctive sentence Part of what declaratives is to express epistemic modality whereas imperatives serve as expressions of deontic modality 6.3 PERSONAL MODALITY Personal modality (personal subcomponent) is another subcomponent of the interpersonal related to those features involving the speaker’s own contribution to the representational meaning of the sentence The speaker can participate by offering his comment on the form of what he is saying, defining in some way under what condition he is speaking Seriously, you love her? Personally, I don’t like chess Frankly (speaking), it is an unwise move Other modality markers of this type include: confidentially, generally, honestly, candidly The speaker can get involved by offering a comment on the content of what he is saying Obviously, nobody expected it to happen Wisely, she stayed at home To our surprise, they arrived home early By paraphrasing we can tell the difference between form-modality markers and content-modality markers Obviously, nobody expected it to happen – It is obvious that nobody expected it to happen Wisely, she stayed at home – That she stayed at home is wise To our surprise, they arrived home early – That they arrived home early is surprising Content - modality markers fall into two subgroups + Comment on the extent to which he believes that what he is saying is true + Comment other than on the truth value of what is said + Comment on the extent to which he believes that what he is saying is true: (i) they express primarily a subjective view on the truth of what is said: certainly, admittedly, surely, undeniably, undoubtedly, unquestionably: Certainly, they can it if they like (I am certain that…) (ii) markers of degrees of convictions as open to objective evidence: clearly, evidently, obviously, plainly Obviously, they can it if they like (It’s obvious to me that.) (iii) markers of reality or lack of reality in what is said: actually, officially, technically, theoretically Actually, they can it if they like + Comment other than on the truth value of what is said (i) they can convey the attitude of the speaker without any necessary implication that the judgment applies to the subject of the sentence or indeed to the speaker Fortunately, Mary had the house insured against fire (ii) they can convey the speaker’s attitude, with an implication that the judgment applies to the subject of the sentence Wisely, Mary had the house insured against fire 6.4 MODAL LEXICAL VERBS/ADJECTIVES In some languages such as English, there are some ‘modal” lexical verbs with complement clauses, mostly verbs with a 1st person subject, which can be used performatively to indicate the attitudes and opinions of the speaker, as in: I think she is one of the smartest person in the world (epistemic) I ask you to get the job done as soon as possible (deontic) 6.4 MODAL LEXICAL VERBS/ADJECTIVES Certain adjectives in English can also be employed in just the same way, for example: It is necessary that she should finish the report by noon tomorrow It is likely that the kids will be late for class 6.5 MODALITY IN SUBORDINATE CLAUSES There are three types of subordinate clauses: - Either as the object of the main verb or as the subject I believe that I did the right thing It is likely that she will help the kid - Adverbial subordinate clauses I said louder so that they could hear me well I have come to attend the Games - The relative clause The fire destroyed the house I built 20 years ago 6.5 MODALITY IN SUBORDINATE CLAUSES - The subordinates simply present the proposition while the main clause or the main lexical verb indicates modality I believe that she did the right thing The main clause “I believe” does no more than express the speaker’s epistemic modality – that is his belief The speaker’s belief is toward the proposition in the subordinate clause “She did the right thing” THE END .. .CHAPTER OUTLINE 6. 1 Types of modality: epistemic and deontic 6. 2 Mood as epistemic and deontic modality 6. 3 Personal modality 6. 4 Modal lexical verbs 6. 5 Modality in subordinate... kid - Adverbial subordinate clauses I said louder so that they could hear me well I have come to attend the Games - The relative clause The fire destroyed the house I built 20 years ago 6. 5... they arrived home early By paraphrasing we can tell the difference between form-modality markers and content-modality markers Obviously, nobody expected it to happen – It is obvious that nobody