Modality

Modality
Title Modality PDF eBook
Author Paul Portner
Publisher Oxford University Press
Pages 301
Release 2009
Genre Computers
ISBN 0199292426

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This comprehensive review and critical synthesis of research on modality focuses on formal theories within linguistics and related aspects of philosophical logic. It will be welcomed by students of linguistics at graduate level and above, as well as by researchers in philosophy, computational science, and related fields.

Modality and Meaning

Modality and Meaning
Title Modality and Meaning PDF eBook
Author W.G. Lycan
Publisher Springer Science & Business Media
Pages 368
Release 1994-08-31
Genre Philosophy
ISBN 9780792330073

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Part I of this book presents a theory of modal metaphysics in the possible-worlds tradition. `Worlds' themselves are understood as structured sets of properties; this `Ersatzist' view is defended against its most vigorous competitors, Meinongianism and David Lewis' theory of existent concrete worlds. Related issues of essentialism and linguistic reference are explored. Part II takes up the question of lexical meaning in the context of possible-world semantics. There are skeptical analyses of analyticity and the notion of a logical constant; and an `infinite polysemy' thesis is defended. The book will be of particular interest to metaphysicians, possible-world semanticists, philosophers of language, and linguists concerned with lexical semantics.

What Tends to Be

What Tends to Be
Title What Tends to Be PDF eBook
Author Rani Lill Anjum
Publisher Routledge
Pages 241
Release 2018-05-28
Genre Philosophy
ISBN 1351009788

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People tend to enjoy listening to music or watching television, sleeping at night and celebrating birthdays. Plants tend to grow and thrive in sunlight and mild temperatures. We also know that tendencies are not perfectly regular and that there are patterns in the natural world, which are reliable to a degree, but not absolute. What should we make of a world where things tend to be one way but could be another? Is there a position between necessity and possibility? If there is, what are the implications for science, knowledge and ethics? This book explores these questions and is the first full-length treatment of the philosophy of tendencies. Anjum and Mumford argue that although the philosophical language of tendencies has been around since Aristotle, there has not been any serious commitment to the irreducible modality that they involve. They also argue that the acceptance of an irreducible and sui generis tendential modality ought to be the fundamental commitment of any genuine realism about dispositions or powers. It is the dispositional modality that makes dispositions authentically disposition-like. Armed with this theory the authors apply it to a variety of key philosophical topics such as chance, causation, epistemology and free will.

English Modality

English Modality
Title English Modality PDF eBook
Author Juana I. Marín-Arrese
Publisher Walter de Gruyter
Pages 459
Release 2013-12-12
Genre Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN 3110286327

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The book presents new issues and areas of work in modality and evidentiality in English(es), and in relation to other European languages (French, Galician, Lithuanian, Spanish). Given the complexity of the relations among modal and evidential expressions, their constant diachronic evolution, and the variation found in different English-speaking areas, and in different genres and discourse domains, the volume addresses the following issues: the conceptual nature of modality, the relationship between the domains of modality and evidentiality, the evolution and current status of the modal auxiliaries and other modal expressions, the relationship with neighbouring grammatical categories (tense, aspect, mood), and the variation in different discourse domains and genres, in modelling stance and discourse identities.

Mood and Modality

Mood and Modality
Title Mood and Modality PDF eBook
Author Frank Robert Palmer
Publisher Cambridge University Press
Pages 262
Release 2001-04-16
Genre Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN 9780521804790

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Palmer investigates the category of modality, drawing on a wealth of examples from a wide variety of languages.

The Expression of Modality

The Expression of Modality
Title The Expression of Modality PDF eBook
Author William Frawley
Publisher Walter de Gruyter
Pages 281
Release 2008-08-22
Genre Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN 311019757X

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This book covers the essentials of modality and offers both foundational ideas and cutting edge advances. The book consists of what are essentially tutorials on modality and modal notions, covering definitions of modality, morphosyntactic form, conceptual and logical semantics, historical development, and acquisition. There are also specific chapters on modality in Zapotec and American Sign Language, which show the range of forms that modal notions can take. To assist its tutorial function, the book closes with a comprehensive conceptual outline of all the chapters. Key features: new series textbook covers the essentials of modality

Mood, Aspect, Modality Revisited

Mood, Aspect, Modality Revisited
Title Mood, Aspect, Modality Revisited PDF eBook
Author Joanna Blaszczak
Publisher University of Chicago Press
Pages 457
Release 2016
Genre Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN 022636352X

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What is a linguistic category and what kinds of categories do the labels subjunctive, imperative, future, aspect, and modality refer to? The current literature assumes a straightforward mapping between grammatical category and semantic function, and descriptions of well-studied languages cultivate a sense of predictability in patterns. However, as the editors and contributors of "Mood, Aspect, Modality Revisited" show, this predictability and stability vanish once lesser known patterns and languages are studied. While it is feasible to retain certain distinctions among tense, aspect, and mood (TAM) in analysis of specific issues in specific languages, ongoing formal and experimental research seems to indicate that these traditional grammatical distinctions may ultimately be illusionary. "Mood, Aspect, Modality Revisited" seeks more general or fundamental grammatical structures that can encompass the breadth of related concepts traditionally placed in the TAM categories."