Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
  1. Home
  2. Search

Refine search

Refine search

Access:
Content type:
Publication date:
Apply   From and To filters
Subject: Show more
Journals Show more
Publishers: Show more
Societies Show more
Series: Show more
Collections: Show more

Actions for selected content:

Select all | Deselect all
  • View selected items
  • Export citations
  • Download PDF (zip)
  • Save to Kindle
  • Save to Dropbox
  • Save to Google Drive

Save Search

You can save your searches here and later view and run them again in "My saved searches".

Please provide a title, maximum of 40 characters.
Cancel
×

1 results

  • Chapter 24 - Modality in Germanic

  • from Part IV - Semantics and Pragmatics
  • Edited by Michael T. Putnam, Pennsylvania State University, B. Richard Page, Pennsylvania State University
  • Book:
    The Cambridge Handbook of Germanic Linguistics
    Published online:
    31 March 2020
    Print publication:
    16 April 2020, pp 567-590

  • Summary

    Modality is a category encompassing many different aspects of language use, and the literature concerned with this topic extends from antiquity to the modern age. This chapter provides an introduction to the notion of modality, discusses how it relates to other major categories such as tense, aspect and mood, and illustrates how modalities are instantiated morphosyntactically in the Germanic languages. We are specifically addressing cross-linguistic differences and similarities; for instance, only a few of the Germanic languages employ subjunctive moods productively, whereas all use modal auxiliaries. The discussion revolves around types of modality and their typical exponents with a particular emphasis on the deontic (root, event) v. epistemic (evidential, propositional) modalities and potential commonalities between them. Other central topics addressed are the notions of authority and controllability. Finally, we investigate some recent trends in the literature on speech act modality in the Germanic languages, including the potential role of complementizers.