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This book offers original theoretical accounts and a wealth of descriptive information concerning modality in present-day English. At the same time, it provides fresh impetus to more general linguistic issues such as grammaticalization, colloquialization, or the interplay between sociolinguistic and syntactic constraints. The articles fall into four sections: (a) the semantics and pragmatics of core modal verbs; (b) the status of emerging modal items; (c) stylistic variation and change; (d) sociolinguistic variation and syntactic models. The book is of considerable value to students and teachers of English and Linguistics at undergraduate and graduate level worldwide.
List of contents
Preface
Roberta Facchinetti, Manfred Krug, Frank Palmer
Modality in English: theoretical, descriptive and typological issues
Frank Palmer
The semantics and pragmatics of core modal verbs
Irrealis, past time reference and modality
Paul Larreya
Modal auxiliary constructions, TAM and interrogatives
Richard Matthews
A pragmatic analysis of the epistemic would construction in English
Gregory Ward, Betty J. Birner, Jeffrey P. Kaplan
Towards a contextual micro-analysis of the non-equivalence of might and could
Stéphane Gresset
The status of emerging modal items
On two distinct uses of go as a conjoined marker of evaluative modality
Philippe Bourdin
Had better and might as well: on the margins of modality?
Keith Mitchell
What you and I want: A functional approach to verb complementation of modal want to
Heidi Verplaetse
Between epistemic modality and degree: the case of really
Carita Paradis
Stylistic variation and change
Modality on the move: the English modal auxiliaries 1961-1992
Geoffrey Leech
About the author
Roberta Facchinetti is Associate Professor at the University of Verona, Italy. Manfred Krug is Associate Professor at the University of Freiburg, Germany. Frank R. Palmer is Professor Emeritus at the University of Reading, UK.
Report
"The book offers a stimulating read, with the papers in sections two and three in particular providing a great deal of thought-provoking material."Martin J. Endley in: Studies in Language 7/2007 "This volume is a valuable and representative collection of current approaches to modality in contemporary English. It rewards the reader with fundamental theoretical knowlegde of modal concepts, but also offers profound insight into a wide range of practical applications."Ilse Wischer in: Anglia 3/2006 "The volume is worthy of inclusion in any collection of writings on the topic of modality, particularly for those whose interests are concerned with (emerging) modal verbs."Alison Cort in: English Language and Linguistics 2/2004 "The volume is very helpful to faculty and students in linguistics and language teaching, and to anyone who is eager to know why and how speakers use modality to convey their attitude to the truth of proposition. Especially, many of the findings and claims deserve the attention of English teachers."Xinzhang Yang in: Word, Volume 57, Number 1 (April, 2006)
