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Covert Modality in Non-finite Contexts

2008-08-22 Language Arts & Disciplines
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Release : 2008-08-22
Genre : Language Arts & Disciplines
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Book Rating : 340/5 ( reviews)

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Book Synopsis Covert Modality in Non-finite Contexts by : Rajesh Bhatt

Download or read book Covert Modality in Non-finite Contexts written by Rajesh Bhatt. This book was released on 2008-08-22. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book investigates the distribution and interpretation of Covert Modality. Covert Modality is modality which we interpret but which is not associated with any lexical item in the structure that we are interpreting. This dissertation investigates a class of environments that involves covert modality. Examples of covert modality include wh-infinitival complements, infinitival relative clauses, purpose clauses, the 'have to' construction, and the 'is to' construction (cf. 1): 1a. Tim knows [how to solve the problem]. ("Tim knows how one/he could/should solve the problem.") 1b. Jane found [a book to draw cartoons in] for Sara. ("Jane found a book for Sara one could/should draw cartoons in.") 1c. [The man to fix the sink] is here. ("The man whose purpose is to fix the sink is here.") 1d. Sue went to Torino [to buy a violin]. ("Sue went to Torino so that she could buy a violin.") 1e. Bill has to reach Philadelphia before noon. ("Bill must reach Philadelphia before noon.") 1f. Will is to leave tomorrow. ("Will is scheduled/supposed to leave tomorrow.") The interpretation of (1a-f) involves modality; however, there is no lexical item that seems to be the source of the modality. What (1a-f) have in common is that they involve infinitivals. This book addresses the following questions about covert modality: what is the source of this modality, what are its semantic properties, why are some but not all infinitival relatives modal, and why are all infinitival questions modal? The infinitival [+wh] Complementizer is identified as the source of the covert modality. The apparent variability of the force of this modality is related to the particular semantics of this Complementizer. Infinitival relatives that receive a non-modal interpretation are analyzed as being reduced relatives and thus not involving the infinitival [+wh] Complementizer.

Covert Patterns of Modality

2012-11-15 Language Arts & Disciplines
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Release : 2012-11-15
Genre : Language Arts & Disciplines
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Book Rating : 915/5 ( reviews)

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Book Synopsis Covert Patterns of Modality by : Werner Abraham

Download or read book Covert Patterns of Modality written by Werner Abraham. This book was released on 2012-11-15. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This typological overview compares the degree to which different languages have means to give expression to modality (possibility, necessity) without lexical and direct inflectional means. The criterial patterns derive from a variety of languages such as German, English, Chinese, French, Scandinavian, Italian, Romanian, Russian, Polish, and Gothic as well as Old High German. They encompass mainly the auxiliaries HAVE and BE, together with either an infinitival embedding of a full verb linked by the infinitival preposition TO, or other aspectual means. It is demonstrated that what appears as typical covert modal expressions in the Germanic languages, and the Indo-European ones in a wider sense, cannot be seen as a recurrent pattern in non-Indo-European languages. Yet, there are recurrent and plausible forms that allow for generalizations.

Modality, Subjectivity, and Semantic Change

2012-07-19 Language Arts & Disciplines
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Release : 2012-07-19
Genre : Language Arts & Disciplines
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Book Rating : 126/5 ( reviews)

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Book Synopsis Modality, Subjectivity, and Semantic Change by : Heiko Narrog

Download or read book Modality, Subjectivity, and Semantic Change written by Heiko Narrog. This book was released on 2012-07-19. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book is a cross-linguistic exploration of semantic and functional change in modal markers. Its approach is broadly functional typological but makes frequent reference to work in formal semantics by scholars such as Angelika Kratzer and Paul Portner. The author starts by considering what modality is and how it relates to and differs from subjectivity. He argues that modality cannot be defined in terms of subjectivity: both concepts are independent of each other, the first exhibiting different degrees of subjectivity, and the second being operative in a much wider range of grammatical and lexical categories. Subjectivity, he suggests, should not be defined solely in terms of performativity, evidentiality, or construal, but rather from the interplay of multiple semantic and pragmatic factors. He then presents a two-dimensional model for the descriptive representation of modality, based on the notion that among the many aspects of modal meaning, volitivity and speech-act-orientation versus event-orientation are two of its most salient parameters. He shows that it is especially the dimension of speech-act orientation versus event-orientation, parallel to category climbing in syntax, that is operative in diachronic change. Numerous examples of diachronic change within modality and between modality and other categories are then examined with respect to their directionality. With a focus on Japanese and to a lesser extent Chinese the book is a countercheck to hypotheses built on the Indo-European languages. It also contains numerous illustrations from other languages.

Certainty-uncertainty – and the Attitudinal Space in Between

2014-11-15 Language Arts & Disciplines
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Release : 2014-11-15
Genre : Language Arts & Disciplines
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Book Rating : 149/5 ( reviews)

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Book Synopsis Certainty-uncertainty – and the Attitudinal Space in Between by : Sibilla Cantarini

Download or read book Certainty-uncertainty – and the Attitudinal Space in Between written by Sibilla Cantarini. This book was released on 2014-11-15. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The selected papers of this volume cover five main topics, namely ‘Certainty: The conceptual differential’; ‘(Un)Certainty as attitudinality’; ‘Dialogical exchange and speech acts’; ‘Onomasiology’; and ‘Applications in exegesis and religious discourse’. By examining the general theme of the communication of certainty and uncertainty from different scientific fields, theoretical approaches and perspectives, this compendium of state-of-the-art research papers provides both an interdisciplinary comparison of the latest investigations, methods and findings, and new advances and theoretical insights with a common focus on human communication.

Coreference, Modality, and Focus

2007-11-21 Language Arts & Disciplines
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Release : 2007-11-21
Genre : Language Arts & Disciplines
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Book Rating : 25X/5 ( reviews)

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Book Synopsis Coreference, Modality, and Focus by : Luis Eguren

Download or read book Coreference, Modality, and Focus written by Luis Eguren. This book was released on 2007-11-21. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume is a collection of selected papers originally presented at the XVIth Colloquium on Generative Grammar that was held at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid. All the papers deal with current issues within the generative framework, mostly paying attention to phenomena pertaining to the syntax-semantics interface. The major concerns are coreference relations, modals and modality, and focus/ellipsis. More specifically, the contributions present research findings from different languages, often adopting a comparative perspective, and include studies on sub-extraction from subjects and objects; on obviation and Control structures; on specificity and Weak Crossover effects; and on reconstruction without movement, as well as papers that address the scopal interactions between tense/aspect and modals; the syntactic and semantic properties of different types of left-periphery operators; and the role focus plays in elliptical constructions.

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