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4 - The Syntax–Semantic–Pragmatic Interface of Modal Verbs

from II - Verbal Modality

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 February 2021

Werner Abraham
Werner Abraham
Affiliation:
Rijksuniversiteit Groningen, The Netherlands
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Summary

This chapter revolves around the context dependent shifts between root and epistemic modality. Perfective contextual aspect triggers modal root (deontic) readings, imperfect contextual aspect elicits epistemic or evidential readings. Different scopes of negation are considered. It is shown with material from German that epistemic and evidential interpretations are different on several criteria. Person origo is responsible for an epistemic differential.

Keywords

epistemic readingevidential readingmodal verbs (under negation)person origoroot (deontic) reading
Type
Chapter
Information
Modality in Syntax, Semantics and Pragmatics , pp. 107 - 131
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2020

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