scholarly journals The Scope of Modal Adverbs in Ancient Chinese

2017 ◽  
Vol null (58) ◽  
pp. 1-27
Author(s):  
YOONSOONIL
Keyword(s):  
Modal Adverbs

scholarly journals The position of modal adverbs in German

WORD ◽  
1980 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 73-90
Author(s):  
Edward G. Fichtner
Keyword(s):  
Modal Adverbs

the (obvious) semantics for modal and temporal adverbs requires relativization neither of the object in the state-type nor of the property. A state-type such as that of a being bent, which might be written , is in a clear sense ‘complete’ by itself; a temporal adverb expresses a temporal mode of obtaining for it, while a modal adverb expresses a way of obtaining for its tokens (in the absence of tense, the modal adverbs can be taken to express ways of obtaining for the types and there is still no problem of accidental intrinsics).4 Ill If the foregoing criticism of Lewis’s argument is correct, then we still lack a reason to require that resolutions of difficulties about identity through time employ the less problematic ontology of thing-stages. So what else might be offered? Lewis’s argument was an attempt to provide new grounds for the ontology of thing-stages. The more traditional grounds have simply been that satisfactory resolution of certain puzzles demands such an ontology. Johnston discusses two of a sort familiar from the literature on identity through time, the Dion/Theon case and the case of the pot, the plasticine and the bust. But in my view, these are not cases to which the advocate of thing-stages should appeal, since they provide little support for his or her way of looking at things. Dion is an as yet unmutilated man and Theon is the parcel of matter consisting of the matter of Dion less the matter of his left foot. Initially, then, Dion/Theon. Next, Dion loses his left foot. So now we have a dilemma. If it is still true that Dion # Theon, distinct things are occupying the same region of space (a ‘worrying co-occupancy’). Alternatively, if Dion = Theon after the mutilation, then distinct things have become identical, which, according to Johnston, is an impossibility. But against the background of an ontology of thing-stages, the difficulty vanishes: there are distinct sums of stages (‘maximal R-inter-related aggregates of stages’, in the terminology of [Lewis 1983, p. 62]), and what happens after the mutilation is that these sums have their constituents in common. Johnston objects to this

2013 ◽  
pp. 226-227
Keyword(s):  
The State ◽  
Property A ◽  
Clear Sense ◽  
State Type ◽  
Temporal Mode ◽  
Temporal Adverbs ◽  
Modal Adverbs

scholarly journals Use of Modals as Stance Markers: A Corpus-Based Study on Pakistani English Newspaper Editorials

2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 108-125
Author(s):  
Muhammad Ahmad ◽  
Muhammad Asim Mahmood ◽  
Ammara Farukh
Keyword(s):  
Characteristic Feature ◽  
The State ◽  
Daily News ◽  
State Of Affairs ◽  
Newspaper Editorials ◽  
Modal Adverbs

This study analyses the use of modals as stance markers in newspaper editorials. Corpora of the study comprised of 500 editorials published in Pakistani English newspapers, that is, The Daily Dawn and The Daily News (250 editorials from each newspaper) which were analysed with the help of AntConc 3.4.4.0. Results show Pakistani editorial writers use all types of modals (i.e., prediction, possibility, necessity, modal adverbs, reporting verbs, knowledge verbs and generic phrases). The editorial writers use these modals to mark personal stance while commenting, reporting or informing about the state of affairs. Among these modals the use of prediction markers is the most frequent which indicates that prediction is a characteristic feature as well as function in the said newspaper editorials. Results also reveal that there is a difference in the use of modal adverbs in the editorials of both newspapers. In addition, the results reveal that the editorial writers of The Daily Dawn make less use of prediction markers as compared to the editorial writers of The Daily News. The study creates awareness of the stance of editorial writers’ and how it might affect readers’ opinions.

On the syntactic status of sentential adverbs and modal particles

2010 ◽  
Vol 63 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Silvio Cruschina
Keyword(s):  
Traditional Role ◽  
Verb Phrase ◽  
Modal Particles ◽  
Word Classes ◽  
Syntactic Status ◽  
Syntactic Properties ◽  
Modal Adverbs

AbstractThis paper sets out a number of reasons for establishing a distinction between sentential (modal) adverbs and modal particles. Adverbs and particles are generally difficult to define as two distinct and independent word classes in terms of unitary criteria and distinctive properties. The traditional role of an adverb is that of modifying a verb or a verb phrase. In reality, adverbs also modify adjectives, sentences, and other adverbs. Particles also serve a sort of ‘modification’ function. Modal particles, for example, take the whole sentence as their object and fit its content to the context of speech. This ‘vague’ similarity, though, should not be interpreted as a motivation for assimilating the two categories, especially when other syntactic properties, such as the sentential position, the distribution, and the sensitivity to sentence types, together with their correlated semantic interpretations, are taken into consideration.

scholarly journals Means of Expression of Epistemic Modality in Russian Political Discourse

2019 ◽  
pp. 19-31
Author(s):  
Živilė Nemickienė
Keyword(s):  
Political Discourse ◽  
Russian Language ◽  
Epistemic Modality ◽  
Shared Knowledge ◽  
Political Leaders ◽  
Epistemic Modal ◽  
Modal Particles ◽  
Modal Auxiliaries ◽  
The Russian Language ◽  
Modal Adverbs

This paper discusses the means of epistemic modality used in Russian political discourse. Russian political leaders most often use epistemic modal adverbs and mental state predicates in their speeches for hedging purposes. Modal particles and modal expressions are employed more often than predicatively used adjectives, modal auxiliaries are never used due to the peculiarities of the Russian language. Most commonly used words expressing epistemic modality in Russian belong to the group of modal adverbs. Due to the structure of Russian, groups of particles and modal expressions conveying epistemic modality are analysed. The study reveals that Russian politicians use words with epistemic meanings mainly to convince the listener that the information is reliable, and rarely to mitigate the content of the proposition or to reduce the author’s responsibility for what is being claimed. The cognitive processes help to recognize the ideas encoded in epistemic utterances. Those processes are based on the shared knowledge and understanding of the context.

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