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Epistemic modality and perfect morphology in Spanish and French

  • Brenda Laca
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Epistemic Modalities and Evidentiality in Cross-Linguistic Perspective
This chapter is in the book Epistemic Modalities and Evidentiality in Cross-Linguistic Perspective

Abstract

In current approaches to the interaction between modality and temporality, there has been widespread consensus as to the fact that, in epistemic readings, modal verbs outscope tense and aspect (Condoravdi 2001, Hacquard 2006, Demirdache & Uribe-Etxeberria 2006, 2008 among many others). This generalization, which is semantic in nature, conflicts with the actual realization of tenseaspect morphology on epistemically interpreted modal verbs, a regular phenomenon in languages in which modal verbs are transparently and fully inflected for TMA categories. Among these, the Romance languages figure prominently, and they have provided a number of researchers with evidence against the hypothesis according to which epistemic modals outscope tense and aspect (Boogart 2007, Mari 2015, Homer 2010, Martin 2011). In this contribution, I will concentrate on the interaction between modals and perfect morphology in French and Spanish, which can be shown to vary in an intriguing way. The article is organized as follows: section 1 provides an introduction to temporal configurations in modal environments and to the characterization of epistemic readings; section 2 gives an overview of the interpretation of epistemic modals bearing past morphology; section 3 is devoted to the contrast between higher perfects and perfect infinitives in French and Spanish; section 4 concludes.

Abstract

In current approaches to the interaction between modality and temporality, there has been widespread consensus as to the fact that, in epistemic readings, modal verbs outscope tense and aspect (Condoravdi 2001, Hacquard 2006, Demirdache & Uribe-Etxeberria 2006, 2008 among many others). This generalization, which is semantic in nature, conflicts with the actual realization of tenseaspect morphology on epistemically interpreted modal verbs, a regular phenomenon in languages in which modal verbs are transparently and fully inflected for TMA categories. Among these, the Romance languages figure prominently, and they have provided a number of researchers with evidence against the hypothesis according to which epistemic modals outscope tense and aspect (Boogart 2007, Mari 2015, Homer 2010, Martin 2011). In this contribution, I will concentrate on the interaction between modals and perfect morphology in French and Spanish, which can be shown to vary in an intriguing way. The article is organized as follows: section 1 provides an introduction to temporal configurations in modal environments and to the characterization of epistemic readings; section 2 gives an overview of the interpretation of epistemic modals bearing past morphology; section 3 is devoted to the contrast between higher perfects and perfect infinitives in French and Spanish; section 4 concludes.

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter i
  2. Contents v
  3. Editorial Preface vii
  4. List of Contributors ix
  5. Part I: Germanic languages
  6. Epistemic modality, Danish modal verbs and the tripartition of utterances 3
  7. Epistemic evaluation in factual contexts in English 22
  8. SHOULD in Conditional Clauses: When Epistemicity Meets Appreciative Modality 52
  9. Part II: Romance languages
  10. Epistemic modality and evidentiality in Romance: the Reportive Conditional 69
  11. Epistemic modality and perfect morphology in Spanish and French 103
  12. Anchoring evidential, epistemic and beyond in discourse: alào, vantér and vér in Noirmoutier island (Poitevin-Saintongeais) 131
  13. A prosody account of (inter)subjective modal adverbs in Spanish 153
  14. French expressions of personal opinion: je crois / pense / trouve / estime / considère que p 179
  15. Mirative extensions in Romance: evidential or epistemic? 196
  16. The Italian epistemic future and Russian epistemic markers as linguistic manifestations of conjectural conclusion: a comparative analysis 217
  17. Epistemic modality, evidentiality, quotativity and echoic use 242
  18. Evidentiality, epistemic modality and negation in Lithuanian: revisited 259
  19. Part IV: Non Indo-European languages
  20. Two kinds of epistemic modality in Hungarian 281
  21. Epistemic modalities in spoken Tibetan 296
  22. Intersubjectification revisited: a cross-categorical perspective 319
  23. Inference crisscross: Disentangling evidence, stance and (inter)subjectivity in Yucatec Maya 346
  24. Part V: Theoretical perspectives
  25. Epistemic modality and evidentiality from an enunciative perspective 383
  26. About Contributors 403
  27. Author Index 409
  28. Subject Index 414
  29. Language Index 421
https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110572261-005

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter i
  2. Contents v
  3. Editorial Preface vii
  4. List of Contributors ix
  5. Part I: Germanic languages
  6. Epistemic modality, Danish modal verbs and the tripartition of utterances 3
  7. Epistemic evaluation in factual contexts in English 22
  8. SHOULD in Conditional Clauses: When Epistemicity Meets Appreciative Modality 52
  9. Part II: Romance languages
  10. Epistemic modality and evidentiality in Romance: the Reportive Conditional 69
  11. Epistemic modality and perfect morphology in Spanish and French 103
  12. Anchoring evidential, epistemic and beyond in discourse: alào, vantér and vér in Noirmoutier island (Poitevin-Saintongeais) 131
  13. A prosody account of (inter)subjective modal adverbs in Spanish 153
  14. French expressions of personal opinion: je crois / pense / trouve / estime / considère que p 179
  15. Mirative extensions in Romance: evidential or epistemic? 196
  16. The Italian epistemic future and Russian epistemic markers as linguistic manifestations of conjectural conclusion: a comparative analysis 217
  17. Epistemic modality, evidentiality, quotativity and echoic use 242
  18. Evidentiality, epistemic modality and negation in Lithuanian: revisited 259
  19. Part IV: Non Indo-European languages
  20. Two kinds of epistemic modality in Hungarian 281
  21. Epistemic modalities in spoken Tibetan 296
  22. Intersubjectification revisited: a cross-categorical perspective 319
  23. Inference crisscross: Disentangling evidence, stance and (inter)subjectivity in Yucatec Maya 346
  24. Part V: Theoretical perspectives
  25. Epistemic modality and evidentiality from an enunciative perspective 383
  26. About Contributors 403
  27. Author Index 409
  28. Subject Index 414
  29. Language Index 421
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