December 2012

Mood and modality

Although often associated with the category of
MOOD (indicative, imperative, subjunctive,
conditional) , category of MODALITY actually
stands on its own, especially in the English language,
where it is primarily marked by the system of modal
verbs.
The category of mood marks the verb phrase for
factuality of the event/state (Indicative factual,
Real Conditional and Imperative non-factual,
Subjunctive and Unreal Conditionals counterfactual
/hypothetical
 Modality may be defined as the way
in which the meaning of a
proposition is modified as to reflect
the speaker's/ subjects attitude
towards the likelihood of the
proposition content being or
becoming true.
 E.g.
Indicative: It is raining outside. (Fact, verifiable)
But: If it rains, we shall stay indoors. (non-factual)
Rain, rain, and go away, little Johnny wants to play...
May it rain in your life forever! (non-factual)
If it rained now, we would get soaked (but fortunately,
it is not) (counter-factual)
If it had rained yesterday for the match, we would
have been soaked (but fortunately it did not).
(counter-factual)
 Now, let us analyse these examples:
It must be raining outside.
It may be raining outside.
It could be raining outside.
It will be raining outside.
Or,
You must go to bed now .
You may go to your room now.
I will do as I please.
Or,
 I can speak Japanese.
I could swim when I was five.
The above examples illustrate different kinds of
modal meanings. In the first set of examples the
speaker is assessing the likelihood of the
proposition it is raining outside being true.
Such meanings can be termed possibility,
necessity and prediction and they typically
involve human judgement of what is or is not likely
to happen.
 Such modality is called extrinsic (outer modality)
because the speaker has no control over the
events/states marked by the verb phrase
a more common term is EPISTEMIC modality
(modality of knowledge).
 In the second set of examples, the speaker imposes
obligation on somebody else, or gives permission for
something to be done or makes a prediction about
something that is to happen in the future
In some way, the speaker controls the events that may
become true in the future, and that depends to a quite
high degree on the strength of the speakers authority
 Such modality is considered intrinsic (inner
modality). A more common term is DEONTIC
(modality of obligation).
 The third set of examples refers to humans possessing
certain abilities. It is not modality in the strict sense of
the word, since there is no detectable human attitude
towards the content of the clause, but we still call it
DYNAMIC modality.
THE MODAL VERBS

This set of verbs in English represent but one way of

carrying across modal meanings
Modal meanings are also conveyed by other word classes
(adverbs, nouns, adjectives) or grammatical categories
(mood, verb tenses, aspectual forms, negation,questions,
etc)
However, modality as a semantic category is represented in
a language either by a system of grammatical forms or by a
system of judgements, or by a combination of those
Since the modal verbs formally belong to the grammatical
system of the English language, we could say that they
represent grammaticalized modality.
 They are so special compared to other verbs of the
English language that we can talk of a separate
subsystem in English, i.e. the grammar of modals.
Morpho-syntactically, the modals are highly reduced.
There is no inflection to mark any grammatical
category in modals (no 3rd person plural in the
Present, no ed forms for the past, or ing/en participles.
For that reason, they are called defective verbs in
traditional grammar). They have no non-finite forms .
The question arises then, what is it that makes them so
special?
Try to answer the following questions:
1) How come that even the most uneducated native
speaker of English will not make a mistake when using
modals?
For instance, mistake must for might, or can for will?
They are always followed by the bare infinitive (present, progressive or
perfective).
They exhibit the NICE properties, which puts them in the class of
secondary auxiliaries.
N- negation; they are negated by NOT
You MUST NOT come back ever again!
I inversion: they exchaange position with the subject in question
formation
MAY I go now, sir?
C code: they can stand instead of the whole predicate
I could sing like a lark when was young. I COULD too.
E emphasis; they can be used for emphasis
Will you ever stop? I WILL stop all right!
 Their morphology and syntax being so limited, the
English modals had to develop a high semantic
potential that is extremely context sensitive; for that
reason, mistaking one modal for another could bring
about the changes in meaning that would direct the
message and communication the wrong way.
Compare:
You must go home now : You might go home now.
How come that you can say : You should see a
doctor and You ought to see a doctor?
Or
You may go now and You can go now.
I will receive him tomorrow and I shall receive
him tomorrow.
 Some modals overlap in meaning, though
they are not 100% synonymous . That is a
consequence of an ongoing process called
the semantic change. That fact makes the
modal verbs probably the most difficult part
of the English grammar to explain as well as
to master.
Take the following utterances:
He must listen to the programme.
She may leave.
She can tell the facts.
Build as many situations (contexts) as you can think of
and explain what your modals mean in those situations.
 The English modal verbs can be classified into groups:
central : MUST, CAN/COULD, SHALL/SHOULD,
WILL/WOULD, MAY/MIGHT (9 forms)
marginal : OUGHT TO, NEED, DARE, USED TO (4
forms)
Apart from these forms, there are also the so-called semi-
modals and modal idioms.
Semi-modals:
BE ABLE TO, BE ABOUT TO, BE APT TO, BE BOUND TO,
BE CERTAIN TO, BE DESTINED TO, BE DUE TO, BE GOING
TO, BE LIKELY TO, BE MEANT TO, BE OBLIGED TO, BE
SUPPOSED TO, BE SURE TO, BE WILLING TO, HAVE TO.
Modal idioms:
HAD BETTER, HAD RATHER, WOULD RATHER, WOULD
SOONER, WOULD AS SOON, MAY/MIGHT AS WELL, HAD
BEST, BE TO, HAVE GOT TO.