1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910972461903321

Titolo

Modality and its interaction with the verbal system / / edited by Sjef Barbiers, Frits Beukema, Wim van der Wurff

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Amsterdam ; ; Philadelphia, : John Benjamins, c2002

ISBN

9786612162015

9781282162013

1282162012

9789027297587

9027297584

Edizione

[1st ed.]

Descrizione fisica

viii, 288 p. : ill

Collana

Linguistik aktuell = Linguistics today ; ; v. 47

Altri autori (Persone)

BarbiersLambertus Christiaan Jozef <1959->

BeukemaF. H (Frits H.)

WurffWim van der

Disciplina

415

Soggetti

Modality (Linguistics)

Grammar, Comparative and general - Verb

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and indexes.

Nota di contenuto

Modality and its Interaction with the Verbal System -- Editorial page -- Title page -- LCC data -- Table of contents -- List of contributors -- Preface -- Current issues in modality -- Modal verbs -- Modality and polarity -- Modals, objects and negation in late Middle English -- On the use and interpretation of root infinitives in early child Dutch -- Modals and negation in English -- System interaction in the coding of modality -- Modality and theory of mind -- Negative polarity and modality inMiddle Dutch ghe-particle constructions -- (Negative) Imperatives in Slovene -- Modality and mood inMacedonian -- Subject index -- Name index -- Linguistik Aktuell/Linguistics Today.

Sommario/riassunto

This book provides a broad overview of the issues relevant for the study of syntax of modals and their interaction with the verbal system. A large number of novel observations are offered from a variety of languages, including Dutch, (Modern and Middle) English, German, Lele, Macedonian, Middle Dutch and Slovene. The wealth of data, the critical evaluation of existing syntactic analyses of modality and the



alternative analyses proposed make the book interesting for both for descriptively and for theoretically oriented syntacticians. Major concerns addressed are: the distinction between epistemic and root modality (where the arguments pro and contra the assumption of a corresponding difference in syntactic structure are evaluated, refined, and supplemented by arguments for syntactic distinction between necessity and possibility modals and by consideration of the influence of the modal's complement on the interpretation), the interaction between modality and clausal phenomena (in particular negation, but also imperatives, aspect and Aktionsart), and the acquisition of modality (addressing cross-linguistic differences in the possibility for root infinitives to express modal interpretations and the late acquisition of epistemic interpretations as compared with non-epistemic interpretations).