Epistemic modals encode the probability, predictability or certainty of the proposition embedded under the modal verb. Pdf epistemic modal auxiliaries lavi wolf academia. I argue that english modal auxiliaries have an array of logical types. Epistemic modality has an epistemic modal base and either no ordering or an ordering based on plausibility or stereotypicality. Can be used as a research resource as well as a text for advanced undergraduate and graduate students. For instance, we dont know whether it rained in seattle yesterday. The most general one is the binary distinction between epistemic and nonepistemic modality, the latter often termed root modality sweetser, 1990. Epistemiclogical topics discussed include the language and semantics of basic epistemic logic, multiagent epistemic logic, combined epistemicdoxastic logic, and a glimpse of dynamic epistemic logic. The new account explains intuitions about otherwise puzzling cases, upholds plausible general principles about epistemic possibility, and explains the practical import of epistemic modality judgements. Sometimes, the term mood is used to refer to both mood. An investigation of epistemic modality in literary texts 731 you are clearly right.
Epistemological topics discussed include mooreparadoxical phenomena, the surprise exam paradox, logical omniscience and epistemic clo. The epistemology of modality stanford encyclopedia of. The main empirical motivation comes from the fact that future morphemes have sys. There are two exceptions to the nonveridicality axiom, and both result in trivialization of modality. Communicating with epistemic modals in stochastic lcalculus.
Pdf interfaces, impaired merge, and the theory of the. A unified analysis of the future as epistemic modality. The epistemic usage and the root usage subjective and. In the right context, that clause could be any of the three. As a standalone utterance, shorn of context, its ambiguous between deontic he hashad the necessary permission or alethic he hashad the necessary ability. Original papers by leading researchers in the area. Power, politics, and genderrelated epistemic modality in. Lsp and professional communication 2 2, 4965 of research articles as samples of written. Epistemic modality modal verbs really learn the most useful telephoning phrases download over 100 pages of stimulating selfstudy practice with model dialogues, a detailed answer key, hints, study tips, speaking practice, and preparation for your own reallife telephone calls. An investigation of epistemic modality in literary texts. Propositional modality is concerned with the speaker. In other words, epistemic modality refers to the way speakers communicate their doubts, certainties, and guessestheir modes of knowing. Interfaces, impaired merge, and the theory of the frustrated mind. What follows below is a selection of papers on the epistemology of modality as discussed in the 20 th century.
Epistemic modality and truth conditions langcoglab. Epistemic modality has been added to your cart add to cart. Epistemic modality definition of epistemic modality. Aspects of modality by valentine hacquard submitted to the department of linguistics and philosophy on august 15, 2006 in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of phd in linguistics abstract it is a crosslinguistically robust fact that the same modal auxiliaries come in different flavors.
There is a tendency for cornelius to say angela is wrong. Nonepistemic modality further divides into deontic and dynamic. Epistemic modality edited by andy egan and brian weatherson. The first exception is the actuality entailment of an ability modal, in which case the modal is trivialized see mari forthcominga. It might be that australia will win the next ashes series. Evidentiality is a kind of epistemic modality that denotes the source of the information being given.
Pdf epistemic modals and epistemic modality andy egan. In linguistics, modality is a system of linguistic options that allows for expressing a speakers general intentions or illocutionary point as well as the speakers belief as to whether the proposition expressed is true, obligatory, desirable, or actual. Expressivism and conventionrelativism about epistemic discourse. It is suggested that judgements about epistemic possibility function to assess which propositions are worthy of further inquiry. Epistemic modality is a subtype of linguistic modality that deals with a speakers evaluationjudgment of, degree of confidence in, or belief of the knowledge upon which a proposition is based. That means that there are a lot of possibilities that are, epistemically speaking, open.
Chapter one introduces the rootepistemic distinction and earlier treatments of it in the literature of generative grammar and model theoretic semantics. Explores a variety of philosophical approaches, including contextualism, relativism, and expressivism. A standard classification separates epistemic modals from all others, subsumed under the label root modals hoffmann 1966. Epistemic modality is a modality that connotes how much certainty or evidence a speaker has for the proposition expressed by his or her utterance. Chalmers 1 ways things might be1 there are many ways things might be, for all i know. Epistemic modality markers as hedges in research articles. Power, politics, and genderrelated epistemic modality in interview discourse. Root and epistemic modal auxiliary verbs by virginia. Epistemic modality greek episteme, meaning knowledge concerns what is possible or necessary given what is known and what the available evidence is.
Evidentiality and epistemic modality at the semanticspragmatics interface. In this paper i argue for a nonreferential interpretation of some uses of indexicals embedded under epistemic modals. Epistemic modality markers in research articlesw 65 proposition expressed by the sentence he utters. Additionally, in his language bioprogram hypothesis, bickerton 1981, 1984 claims that tense, aspect and modality is similar across creoles. There are several approaches to classifying modality according to the meaning it conveys. Epistemic modality refers to the judgments about possibility, probability etc. A case study of tvvideo interviews with canadian politicians author. Epistemic modality is a linguistic modality that expresses how certain a speaker is about the proposition being uttered. Epistemic modality and truth conditions sciencedirect.
Descriptive indexicals and epistemic modality springerlink. The epistemic usage and the root usage subjective and objective when the speaker makes an utterance, the feeling which is epistemic or root, can be seen. So, for example suppose angela doesnt know whether bill is alive or dead. Deontic modality has a circumstantial modal base because one may have to abstract away from ones knowledge that the right thing will not be done and an ordering source based on a body of law or principles. Modal options can be realized by word order, modal auxiliaries and modal adjuncts.
It is important to note that because the epistemology of modality is a subarea of the philosophy of modality one can get a better grasp on the epistemology by also engaging the. Gillies university of michigan october 30, 2006 introduction epistemic modals are interesting in part because their semantics is bound up both with our information about the world and with how that information changes as we share what we know. Evidentiality and epistemic modality at the semantics. Martina faller the university of manchester september 11, 2006 it is fairly standard to assume that a speech act consists of an illocutionary level of meaning, f, and a separate level of propositional content, p, such that f. Valentine hacquard linguistics department, university of. It is external to the content, being a part of the attitude taken up by the speaker. Epistemic modality and dynamic semantics william b. It is expressed by the use of modal verbs such as might or must and adverbials such as probably or possibly.
Epistemic modality is a subtype of linguistic modality that deals with a speakers evaluationjudgment of, degree of confidence in, or belief of the knowledge upon which a. Giannakidou and mari treat similar deductive contexts with must as involving aleithic modality. View epistemic modality research papers on academia. For all i know, it might be that there is life on jupiter, and it might be that there is not. While chapter 2 has focused on a semantic account of modality, this chapter will incorporate syntactic aspects as well. Dynamics of epistemic modality malte willer abstract a dynamic semantics for epistemically modalized sentences is an attractive alternative to the orthodox view that our best theory of meaning ascribes to such sentences truthconditions relative to what is known. The epistemic usage means the speaker considers the event whether it is the fact or not, that is, the speaker is sure or not sure. I predict that i will present in his class tomorrow. The socalled descriptive uses of indexicals come in several types and it is argued that those embedded within the scope of modal operators do not require nonreferential interpretation, provided the modality is interpreted as epistemic.
That is, if jp is likelykc denotes the condition that prp. Epistemic modals and epistemic modality brian weatherson and andy egan 1 epistemic possibility and other types of possibility there is a lot that we dont know. Epistemic modality sil glossary of linguistic terms. The former deals with obligation and the latter is about probability. Childrens acquisition of epistemic modality anna papafragou and ozge ozturk university of delaware 1 introduction this paper is concerned with the acquisition of certain aspects of the meaning of epistemic modal verbs.
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