Sub sections:
Modal Verbs and Modal Meanings
Modal verbs and modal meanings: must, should, have to, got to
School of Behavioural, Cognitive and Social Sciences
Friday 23rd May
12 noon–1pm
Seminar Room 2 (Rm 31), Psychology Building SO6
Modal verbs – like English must and have to – are important across a range of disciplines and discourses, including social psychology and moral philosophy, as well as linguistics. They are integral to our everyday ways of thinking and speaking about obligations, rights, priorities, plans, and responsibilities. They are important too for language teachers and language learners, on account of the huge differences between languages in the modal domain. This paper proposes original semantic analyses for four English modals, in sentences like I must call my mother, I have to call my mother, I should call my mother and I’ve got to call my mother. The primary goal is to pin down the different nuances of meaning between these expressions by using simple paraphrases in ordinary language. This will enable us to also account for different usage patterns and different grammatical properties. The paper will also touch on the recent history of the English modal system, and the way in which social and cultural changes may drive processes of language change.