From simple predicators to clausal functors : The english modals through time and the primitives of modality

  • The ultimate goal of this paper is to find a representation of modality compatible with some basic conditions on the syntax-semantic interface. Such conditions are anchored, for instance, in Chomsky's (1995) principle of full interpretation (FI). Abstract interpretation of modality is, however - be it "only" in semantic terms - already a hard nut to crack, way too vast to be dealt with in any comprehensive way here. What is pursued instead is a case-study-centered analysis. The case in point are the English modals (EM) viewed in their development through time - a locus classicus for a number of linguistic theories and frameworks. The idea will be to start out from two lines of research - continuous grammaticalization vs. cataclysmic change - and to explain some of their incongruities. The first non-trivial point here consists in deriving more fundamental questions from this research. The second, possibly even less trivial one consists in answering them. Specifically, I will argue that regardless of the actual numerical rate of change, there is an underlying and more structured way to account for the notions of change and continuity within the modal system, respectively.

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Metadaten
Author:Remus Gergel
URN:urn:nbn:de:hebis:30:3-308132
URL:http://www.zas.gwz-berlin.de/fileadmin/material/ZASPiL_Volltexte/zp24/zaspil24-gergel.pdf
ISSN:1435-9588
ISSN:0947-7055
Parent Title (English):Sentence type and specificity / Ed. by Klaus von Heusinger ; Kerstin Schwabe, Zentrum für Allgemeine Sprachwissenschaft, Sprachtypologie und Universalienforschung, Berlin, 2000; ZAS papers in linguistics Vol. 24
Publisher:Zentrum für Allgemeine Sprachwissenschaft, Sprachtypologie und Universalienforschung
Place of publication:Berlin
Document Type:Part of a Book
Language:English
Date of Publication (online):2013/11/14
Year of first Publication:2001
Publishing Institution:Universitätsbibliothek Johann Christian Senckenberg
Release Date:2013/11/14
GND Keyword:Englisch; Modalverb; Satzteil
Volume:24
Page Number:19
First Page:125
Last Page:143
HeBIS-PPN:381233715
Sammlungen:Linguistik
Linguistik-Klassifikation:Linguistik-Klassifikation: Syntax
Linguistik-Klassifikation: Semantik / Semantics
Linguistik-Klassifikation: Grammatikforschung / Grammar research
Zeitschriften / Jahresberichte:ZAS papers in linguistics : ZASPiL / ZASPiL 24 = Sentence Type and Specificity
:urn:nbn:de:hebis:30:3-306659
Licence (German):License LogoDeutsches Urheberrecht