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GÜNTER RADDEN, Meaningful Grammar



                           The above example illustrates epistemic modality. Epistemic modality
                           (from Greek episteme ‘knowledge’) is concerned with the speaker’s esti-
                           mation of the factuality of a state of affairs. Contrary to the original mean-
                           ing of the term, epistemic modals are thus used when the speaker lacks,
                           rather than has, sufficient knowledge about something. English has at
                           its disposal a variety of expressions that allow the speaker to verbalize
                           shades of epistemic assessments, often combined with beliefs, opinions,
                           assumptions, guesses, convictions, etc. Expressions of epistemic modal-
                           ity are not restricted to modal verbs but found in all open word classes:

                                 (7)
                                 modal  verbs:  must,  ought,  should,  can,  could,  may,  might,
                                     will,would
                                 lexical verbs: it seems, appears; I think, believe, doubt, assume, etc.
                                 adverbs: necessarily, certainly, probably, possibly, perhaps, hardly,
                                     etc.
                                 adjectives: it is apparent, clear, evident, possible, likely, doubtful,
                                     etc.
                                 nouns: there is a chance, possibility, likelihood, no doubt, etc.

                           Modal verbs form a unique class of verbs: The speaker making an as-
                           sessment is not overtly mentioned—technically, the speaker is “off-
                           stage”. Conceptually, however, the speaker is present as a participant
                           of the scene. Thus, It must be true means as much as ‘I, the speaker,
                           conclude that this is necessarily true’. The fact that the speaker is sup-
                           pressed has the possibly unexpected effect that the modal assessment
                           is highly subjective, i.e. it expresses the speaker’s personal estimation
                           of a state of affairs. This mainly applies to the modal verbs may and
                           must. The majority of epistemic expressions, however, present the
                           speaker’s assessment more objectively. We can see this from their
                           grammatical behavior.
                                 Subjective epistemic assessments are only made at the present
                           moment, but objective ones can also be made in the past or the future.

                                 (8a) Dogs may be smarter than humans.
                                 (8b)  I  believe/believed/am  going  to  believe  that  dogs  are
                                     smarter than humans.



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