English Modality: Core, Periphery and Evidentiality

by Juana I. Marín-Arrese (Editor), Marta Carretero (Editor), Jorge Arús Hita (Editor), Johan van der Auwera (Editor)

Overview

The book presents new issues and areas of work in modality and evidentiality in English(es), and in relation to other European languages (French, Galician, Lithuanian, Spanish). Given the complexity of the relations among modal and evidential expressions, their constant diachronic evolution, and the variation found in different English-speaking areas, and in different genres and discourse domains, the volume addresses the following issues: the conceptual nature of modality, the relationship between the domains of modality and evidentiality, the evolution and current status of the modal auxiliaries and other modal expressions, the relationship with neighbouring grammatical categories (tense, aspect, mood), and the variation in different discourse domains and genres, in modelling stance and discourse identities.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9783110286212
Publisher:	De Gruyter
Publication date:	12/12/2013
Series:	Topics in English Linguistics [TiEL] , #81
Pages:	458
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.06(h) x (d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

J. van der Auwera, Universityeit Antwerpen; J. I. Marín-Arrese, M. Carretero and J. Arús, Universityat Complutense de Madrid.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements v

List of contributors ix

Part I Core modality

Modals: Striving for control Ronald Langacker 3

Contemporary change in modal usage in spoken British English: mapping the impact of "genre" Jill Bowie Sean Wallis Bas Aarts 57

Where have all the modals gone? An essay on the declining frequency of core modal auxiliaries in recent standard English Geoffrey Leech 95

Part II Peripheral modality

Had better, 'd better and better: Diachronic and transatlantic variation Johan van der Auwera Dirk Noël An Van linden 119

Grammatical colloquialism and the English quasi-modals: a comparative study Peter Collins 155

Modal necessity and impersonality in English and Galician Lucía Loureiro-Porto 171

Modal uses of the English present progressive Frank Brisard Astrid De Wit 201

On the generic argument for the modality of will Debra Ziegeler 221

Part III Evidentiality and Modality

Reality and related concepts: towards a semantic-pragmatic map of English adverbs Anne-Marie Simon-Vandenbergen 253

A cross-linguistic look at the multifunctionality of the English verb seem Aurelija Usoniene Jolanta Šinkuniene 281

Annotating English adverbials for the categories of epistemic modality and evidentiality Marta Carretero Juan Rafael Zamorano-Mansilla 317

Part IV Evidentiality and Modality in Discourse

Modal verbs in news-related blogs: When the blogger counts Roberta Facchinetti 359

Modality and personal pronouns as indexical markers of stance: Intersubjective positioning and construction of public identity in media interviews Laura Hidalgo Downing Begoña Núñez Perucha 379

Stancetaking and inter/subjectivity in the Iraq Inquiry: Blair vs. Brown Juana I. Marín-Arrese 411

Subject index 447