Modality

Modality

1. Modality

   • Deontic
     • Speaker's attitude towards duty, or obligation
     • modal auxiliaries
   • Boulomaic
     • Expressions of degree of desire
     • will, would, hope, wish regret
     • adverbs: regrettably
   • Epistemic
     • Perception
       • levels of the speaker's commitment are based on human perception
     • Usuality
       • The frequency with which something happens
       • "He always seems happy."
     • Speaker's confidence or lack of confidence about the truth of a statement
     • probably, maybe
     • could, might
     • Not categorical, "is" assertions!

2. Modal Shading

   • Simpson (1993)
   • Positive Shading
     • deontic, boulomaic modality, verba sentiendi, generic sentences
   • Negative Shading
     • epistemic modality, words of estrangement, perception
   • Neutral Shading
     • absence of subjective judgment or narratorial modality