1. A Pan-Atlantic 'Multiple Modal Belt'?
- Author
-
Daniel Schreier, Simone E. Pfenninger, Davide Zullo, and University of Zurich
- Subjects
050101 languages & linguistics ,Linguistics and Language ,semantic tier probability ,Principle of compositionality ,Semantics ,Language and Linguistics ,11551 Zurich Center for Linguistics ,030507 speech-language pathology & audiology ,03 medical and health sciences ,English language change ,0501 psychology and cognitive sciences ,Preference (economics) ,1203 Language and Linguistics ,Continuum (measurement) ,Communication ,05 social sciences ,10097 English Department ,Modal verb ,Variety (linguistics) ,Linguistics ,3310 Linguistics and Language ,Modal ,Geography ,Variation (linguistics) ,Multiple modality ,dialect typology ,0305 other medical science ,3315 Communication ,820 English & Old English literatures ,Atlantic Englishes - Abstract
Multiple modality is spread across the wider Atlantic region, both within individual varieties and across variety types. Based on corpus-based evidence, it is argued that first and second tiers of multiple modals carry high diagnostic value and that regionally separated Anglophone areas differ in their preference for first-and second-tier components in modal constructions. Semantics is a typological diagnostic, as there exists a continuum, the “Multiple Modal Belt,” that consists of three main clusters of varieties primarily differentiated by their respective compositional preferences: North American varieties favor epistemic ‘weak probability’ elements (e.g., might) as first-tier modals; Caribbean varieties favor ‘high probability’ or ‘certainty’ (e.g., must). Multiple causation and contact-induced change are offered as explanations for supra-and subregional variation in the Atlantic region, and there is strong evidence that the preference for second-tier components originally represented Scottish origin and subsequent diffusion with locally differing contact scenarios. Locally distinct preferences for semantic compositionality—particularly based on preference for first-tier ‘high-probability’ modals—are used to model a geo-typological clustering of varieties throughout the wider Atlantic region.
- Published
- 2021