Modals and Periphrastics in English: An Investigation into the Semantic Correspondence between Certain English Modal Verbs and Their Periphrastic Equivalents

· Linguistische Arbeiten Book 339 · Walter de Gruyter
Ebook
233
Pages
Ratings and reviews aren’t verified  Learn More

About this ebook

English has a number of periphrastic verbal forms that are semantically close to particular modal verbs and perform suppletive functions in relation to them (eg, have (got) to - must and be able to - can). After an exploration of the syntactic, semantic and phonological properties of potential periphrastic forms, this study investigates the nature of the relationship between the modals must, should, will and can and various semantically close periphrastics, using a spoken corpus of British English as the primary source of data. The focus is on the pragmatic interpretation of the items being compared, with some attention to their functions in discourse. These items are notoriously idiosyncratic both syntactically and semantically, but the general contrast claimed by some scholars between the maximally unmarked status of modals and the relatively marked status of periphrastics is amply confirmed, and this, together with the basic association of modality with alternative possible worlds, is shown to be reflected in a number of different ways, including the claimed 'objectivity' of periphrastics and the tendency of some to be associated with actuality. Level of formality is also found to be a significant, though not uniform, factor here.

Rate this ebook

Tell us what you think.

Reading information

Smartphones and tablets
Install the Google Play Books app for Android and iPad/iPhone. It syncs automatically with your account and allows you to read online or offline wherever you are.
Laptops and computers
You can listen to audiobooks purchased on Google Play using your computer's web browser.
eReaders and other devices
To read on e-ink devices like Kobo eReaders, you'll need to download a file and transfer it to your device. Follow the detailed Help Center instructions to transfer the files to supported eReaders.