Logic & Language
Modality in Language
By , University of Michigan (October 2008)
Section: Logic & Language
Subjects: Philosophy, Logic and Language, Philosophy of Language.
Key Topic: language.
Abstract
This article discusses some of the ways in which natural language can express modal information – information which is, to a first approximation, about what could be or must be the case, as opposed to being about what actually is the case. It motivates, explains, and raises problems for Angelika Kratzer's influential theory of modal auxiliaries, and introduces a new approach to one important debate about the relationships between modality, evidentiality, context change, and imperative force.
DOI: 10.1111/j.1747-9991.2008.00177.x
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