Modality and the English subjunctive in noun clauses
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Lilo Moessner
Abstract
The paper starts with a survey of earlier studies on the subjunctive in English noun clauses, and it promises the analysis of the parameter modality expressed by third person singular present tense verbal syntagms in a corpus of almost 550,000 words. Two models of modality are distinguished; in the first model, the relevant descriptive parameters are fact and non-fact modality, in the second root and epistemic modality. The subjunctive realises non-fact modality in the first, root modality in the second model. The application of both models to the corpus analysis yields a frequency descrease of noun clauses expressing non-fact/root modality, but only the second model, which includes meaning specifications of the competitors of the subjunctive, allows the prediction that they will probably guarantee the survival of the subjunctive.
Abstract
The paper starts with a survey of earlier studies on the subjunctive in English noun clauses, and it promises the analysis of the parameter modality expressed by third person singular present tense verbal syntagms in a corpus of almost 550,000 words. Two models of modality are distinguished; in the first model, the relevant descriptive parameters are fact and non-fact modality, in the second root and epistemic modality. The subjunctive realises non-fact modality in the first, root modality in the second model. The application of both models to the corpus analysis yields a frequency descrease of noun clauses expressing non-fact/root modality, but only the second model, which includes meaning specifications of the competitors of the subjunctive, allows the prediction that they will probably guarantee the survival of the subjunctive.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Foreword vii
- Introduction 1
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Part I. Syntax and word order
- Parataxis and hypotaxis in the history of English 10
- Two types of left-dislocation in Old English 34
- Subject-verb agreement and the rise of do -support in the period of anglicisation of Scots 53
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Part II. Diachronic linguistic change
- A modern light on diachronic processes affecting coda /l/ in English 82
- Modality and the English subjunctive in noun clauses 103
- Some philological implications of punctuation in editions of Middle English texts 120
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Part III. Lexicography and lexis
- The unfinished double glosses in Durham Cathedral Library, MS A.iv.19 144
- Early modern manuscripts containing Old English dictionaries in England and northern Germany 166
- Loss of wiþer -words in English 191
- Investigating the dynamics of the lexicon 212
- Index 233
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Foreword vii
- Introduction 1
-
Part I. Syntax and word order
- Parataxis and hypotaxis in the history of English 10
- Two types of left-dislocation in Old English 34
- Subject-verb agreement and the rise of do -support in the period of anglicisation of Scots 53
-
Part II. Diachronic linguistic change
- A modern light on diachronic processes affecting coda /l/ in English 82
- Modality and the English subjunctive in noun clauses 103
- Some philological implications of punctuation in editions of Middle English texts 120
-
Part III. Lexicography and lexis
- The unfinished double glosses in Durham Cathedral Library, MS A.iv.19 144
- Early modern manuscripts containing Old English dictionaries in England and northern Germany 166
- Loss of wiþer -words in English 191
- Investigating the dynamics of the lexicon 212
- Index 233
