Open AccessMultiple modals construction
Author(s) -
Fabrice Nauze
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
zas papers in linguistics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 1435-9588
DOI - 10.21248/zaspil.44.2006.315
Subject(s) - modal verb , deontic logic , modal , modality (human–computer interaction) , circumstantial evidence , linguistics , semantics (computer science) , epistemology , computer science , epistemic modality , performativity , philosophy , artificial intelligence , programming language , history , verb , chemistry , archaeology , polymer chemistry
Modal items of different semantic types can only be combined in a specific order. Epistemic items, for instance, cannot be embedded under deontic ones. I'll argue that this fact cannot be explained by the current semantic theories of modality. A solution to this problem will be developed in an update semantics framework. On the semantic side, a distinction will be drawn between circumstantial information about the world and information about duties, whereas I'll use Nuyts' notion of m-performativity to account for certain use of the modal items.