Modality

Modality

1. Refers to a semantic category which expresses the attitude of the speaker towards the state of affairs in a sentence

   • Morphological mood of the verb (indicative, subjunctive).
   • Modal verbs: can, may, must, should, have to.
   • Adverbials: perhaps, maybe, possibly, necessarily.

2. Dynamic modality

   • It expresses willingness and ability.
     • EX:She can play the piano very well. I can’t help you with your homework. Sorry, I won’t drive in the dark.

3. Deontic possibility

   • It expresses obligation or permission.
     • EX: I must phone him. I have to phone him.

4. Certainty or evidence a speaker has for the sentence.

   • EX: There’s no answer, he must have already left.
     • Epistemic

5. References

   •    �Cruse, D.A. (2004). Meaning in Language: An Introduction to Semantics and Pragmatics. 2nd end. Oxford: Oxford University Press. �Khalil, I. (1999). Cognitive Semantics. Cambridge: CUP. �Saeed, J. L. (2013). Semantics. 2nd ed. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing