The rise of contrastive modality in English
A neoparametric account
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 4923474 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Elizabeth Cowper (0000-0002-1335-4321, University of Toronto, corresponding author), Daniel Currie Hall (0000-0002-5831-6679) |
| Year | 2017 |
| Volume | 17 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 68-97 |
| Publication date | 2017-06-29 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Linguistic Variation (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2211-6834 • E-ISSN: 2211-6842 |
| Publisher | John Benjamins Publishing Company (PUBLISHER • NL) |
| DOI | 10.1075/lv.17.1.04cow |
| OpenAlex | W2624792854 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 54 |
This paper proposes an account of the morphosyntactic and semantic changes involved in the historical development of the English modals as a distinct category. Adopting a neoparametric approach, in which a language's inventory of grammatical features may change over time, we show that a cluster of related surface changes can be accounted for by positing that the featuremodalitywas added to English tense/mood system. While the most immediate manifestation of this change was the grammaticalization of the modals themselves, this in turn altered the system of contrasts in the language: in clauses without modal verbs, the absence of the modal became contrastive, narrowing the range of possible interpretations
Epistemic modality · Grammatical category · Grammaticalization · Linguistics · Modal · Modal verb · Noun · Verb · Chemistry · Computer Science · Linguistic Variation and Morphology · Philosophy · Phonetics and Phonology Research · Psychology · Syntax, Semantics, Linguistic Variation · Artificial Intelligence
Grammaticalization as Economy
Tense And Aspect From Semantics to Morphosyntax
Emerging English Modals
Time and the Verb
The Contrastive Hierarchy in Phonology
Parametric Syntax
Modals and ConditionalsNew and Revised Perspectives
Adverbs and Functional Heads
The Role of Inflection in Scandinavian Syntax
Syntactic Change
Change in Contemporary English
The Syntax of Agreement and Concord
The role of contrast in limiting vowel-to-vowel coarticulation in different languages
Temporal semantics in a superficially tenseless language
Syntax
On the non-finite forms of the verb can in Scottish
Phonology and Morphology
The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language
Phonology and Morphology
The Universal Structure of Categories
Lectures on Government and Binding
Phonological contrast and its phonetic enhancement
Segment structure and coronal underspecification
Will and shall as markers of modality and/or futurity in Middle English
Reflexes of grammar in patterns of language change
The modals of obligation/necessity in Canadian perspective
The composition of INFL
Agreement parameters and the development of English modal auxiliaries
Tense and Aspect
Verbs and Diachronic Syntax
The interaction of person and number in Mi'gmaq
Deriving the functional hierarchy
The Grammatical Ingredients of Counterfactuality
Two Heads Aren't Always Better Than One
Possession and necessity
The Geometry of Interpretable Features
Diachronic Syntax and Generative Grammar
| Citations per year | 0.25 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2022 - 2022 (1) |
| Highly cited | No |