Hostname: page-component-84b7d79bbc-lrf7s Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-27T22:11:54.857Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Impact of Context on Modal Meaning in English and Danish

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 December 2008

Alex Klinge
Alex Klinge
Affiliation:
Copenhagen Business School, Dalgas Have 15, DK-2000 Frederiksberg, Denmark. Email: klinge/eng@cbs.dk
Get access

Abstract

In this article it is argued on the basis of English and Danish data that modal meanings traditionally discussed as semantic properties of the modal auxiliaries are derived from intra- and extra-sentential context. On the basis of preferred readings the article illustrates and discusses some of the central variables which determine the assignment of modal meaning to a sentence in a context of utterance.

Type
Research Article
Information
Nordic Journal of Linguistics , Volume 19 , Issue 1 , June 1996 , pp. 35 - 54
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1996

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Allan, R., Holmes, P., & Lundskaer-Nielsen, T. 1995. Danish: a Comprehensive Grammar. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Bowers, R. & Brumfit, C. (eds) 1991. Applied Linguistics and English Language Teaching. London and Basingstoke: Macmillan.Google Scholar
Brown, K. 1991. Describing Modality in English. In Bowers, R. & Brumfit, C. (eds).Google Scholar
Coates, J. 1983. The Semantics of the Modal Auxiliaries. London and Canberra: Croom Helm.Google Scholar
Comrie, B. 1976. Aspect. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Davidsen-Nielsen, N. 1986. ‘Modal Verbs in English and Danish’. In Kastovsky, D. & Szwedek, A. (eds), pp. 1183–1194.Google Scholar
Davidsen-Nielsen, N. 1990. Tense and Mood in English: a Comparison with Danish. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.Google Scholar
Durst-Andersen, P. 1992. Mental Grammar: Russian Aspect and Related Issues. Columbus, OH: Slavica Publishers.Google Scholar
Ehrman, M. E. 1966. The Meanings of the Modals in Present-day English. The Hague: Mouton.Google Scholar
Joos, M. 1964. The English Verb: Form and Meanings. Madison and Milwaukee: University of Wisconsin Press.Google Scholar
Kastovsky, D. & Szwedek, A. (eds) 1986. Linguistics Across Historical and Geographical Boundaries: in Honour of Jacek Fisiak. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Klinge, A. 1993. ‘The English Modal Auxiliaries: from Lexical Semantics to Utterance Interpretation’. Journal of Linguistics 29, 315–357.Google Scholar
Klinge, A. 1995. ‘On the Linguistic Interpretation of Contractual Modalities’. Journal of Pragmatics 23, 649–675.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Palmer, F. 1990. Modality and the English Modals. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Perkins, M. R. 1983. Modal Expressions in English. London: Frances Pinter.Google Scholar
Quirk, R., Greenbaum, S., Leech, G. & Svartvik, J., 1985. ‘A Comprehensive Grammar of English’. London: Longman.Google Scholar
Woisetschlaeger, E. F. 1985. A Semantic Theory of the English Auxiliary System. New York and London: Garland.Google Scholar
Von Wright, G. H. 1951. An Essay in Modal Logic. Amsterdam: North Holland.Google Scholar