Although researchers within the field of modality tend to agree upon the existence of modal subcategories, there is disagreement on their number and their main differences. Some researchers prefer a bipartite division, making a main distinction between epistemic modality and deontic or agent-oriented modality (Coates 1982, Heine 1995 and Silva-Corvalán 1995), whereas other scholars defend a tripartite division, consisting of epistemic modality and two other independent categories: deontic modality and dynamic modality (Palmer 1979, Fernández de Castro 1999 and Thegel 2017)
This study aims to shed light on this highly debated question, focusing on the deontic and dynamic categories and how they are represented in Spanish modal verbs. Empirical evidence from corpus-based examples will be presented in favor of the tripartite division, looking particularly at the interaction of modality and tense. As was shown in Thegel (2017), the notions of volitivity and factuality are crucial when differentiating between deontic and dynamic necessity expressed in the modal verbs deber ‘must’ and tener que ‘have to’. In this study it will be demonstrated how these notions may condition the manifestations of Spanish modal verbs in different tenses, for example the past tense pretérito perfecto simple, the present perfect or the future tense. In other words, it is considered that the semantics related to the deontic and dynamic categories, respectively, will favor or limit their occurrence in specific tenses.
Research questions that will be addressed in this study are:
- How can the notions of volitivity and factuality be related to tense?
- With what frequency do modal verbs such as deber ‘must’, tener que ‘have to’, haber que ‘have to’ (impersonal verb) and poder ‘can’ appear in different tenses?
- How can these frequencies be related to the semantics of deontic and dynamic modality, respectively? Are these two categories differently distributed in different tenses?
The approach of the paper has been inspired by both cognitive frameworks such as presented by Narrog (2005a; 2005b) and functional approaches, as can be found in Coates (1982) and Verhulst (2012). The study is corpus-based, applying an analysis in which both quantitative and qualitative methods are utilized, in order to discover general frequencies as well as specific tendencies related to the appearance of modal verbs in different tenses.
As has been put forward by Cornillie (2007) and Thegel (2017), there are few studies that focus on the semantic and pragmatic aspects of the Spanish core modal verbs, especially studies with a solid empirical basis, two exceptions being Olbertz (1998) and Thegel (2017). Much remains to be studied in this particular research area, and the present paper intends to fill some of these gaps. The interaction of tense and modality is believed to contribute substantially to the understanding of both the deontic and dynamic categories in general and the semantics and pragmatics of Spanish modal verbs in particular.
2018.
International Conference of Evidentiality and Modality, 2018, Madrid, Spain