Modality, scope and quantification

Modality, scope and quantification

1. Modality

   • is the term for a cluster of meanings centred on the notions of necessity and possibility: what must be or what merely might be
   • Modal verbs and tense
     • The modal verbs would, could, might and should are past tense forms
   • Deontic and epistemic modality
     • The modal auxiliaries are also among the most frequently used verbs in English: six of the top twenty English verbs are modals: will, would, can, could, may and should
     • Epistemic interpretations have to do with knowledge and understanding
   • Core modal meanings
     • Context influences the interpretation of modality
     • The notions of necessity and possibility are interlinked
     • Modality is often used for communicating about matters that, unlike arithmetic, have not been systematised

2. Scope

   • Differences can be understood as arising when different parts of sentences are affected by operations such as negation and the marking of modality
   • Relative scope is also needed for understanding quantificational meanings
   • They are known as quantifiers and the kind of meaning they convey is called quantification.

3. Quantification.

   • Quantifiers are words such as all, some and most.
   • distributive quantifier
   • proportional quantifier
   • collective quantifier