A study on intonation as a means of conveying deontic modality in English

Viet nam National University, Hanoi
college of foreign languages
postgraduate department

nguyÔn thÞ hång tuyªn

A study on Intonation as a means of
conveying deontic modality in English.
Nghiªn cøu vÒ ng÷ ®iÖu nh- mét ph-¬ng tiÖn biÓu ®¹t t×nh
th¸i tr¸ch nhiÖm trong tiÕng Anh

M.A. minor thesis

Field: English Linguistics
Code: 60.22.15

Hanoi-2009


Viet nam National University, Hanoi
college of foreign languages
postgraduate department

nguyÔn thÞ hång tuyªn

A study on Intonation as a means of
conveying deontic modality in English

Nghiªn cøu vÒ ng÷ ®iÖu nh- mét ph-¬ng tiÖn
biÓu ®¹t t×nh th¸i tr¸ch nhiÖm trong tiÕng Anh

M.A. minor thesis

Field: English Linguistics
Code: 60.22.15
Supervisor: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Vâ §¹i Quang

Hanoi-2009


Viet nam National University, Hanoi
college of foreign languages
postgraduate department

nguyÔn thÞ hång tuyªn

A study on Intonation as a means of
conveying deontic modality in English

Nghiªn cøu vÒ ng÷ ®iÖu nh- mét ph-¬ng tiÖn
biÓu ®¹t t×nh th¸i tr¸ch nhiÖm trong tiÕng Anh

M.A. minor thesis

Field: English Linguistics
Code: 60.22.15
Supervisor: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Vâ §¹i Quang

Hanoi-2009

1

Part I: Introduction
1. Rationale:

In the process of learning English, a large number of learners recognize that
intonation is one of the most important issues and as the backbone of English. It not only
causes difficulties for the speaker himself but also for the listener. Since English intonation
is considered as one of the most important matter and as the backbone of English, there
have been a lot of opinions about this topic.
In J. P.O’ Connor’s opinion, the words themselves are unchangeable in expressing meaning
but they are enriched in the process of using tunes. What enriches the words is the
speaker’s feelings at that moment and this way of using tunes is called intonation. Here the
phonetician wanted to emphasize the important role of tunes in English because the speaker
can use it to express his state, he can say it definitely or hesitantly or sometimes he can say
it with interest or without interest.
According to Barbara Randford (1988), expressing oneself and understanding other
people are two of the most necessary goals for foreign language learners in general and for
English language learners in particular. In order to achieve two main goals successfully we
must know how to master English intonation effectively. It is the best way for us to express
our attitudes, feelings, emotion while we are speaking. On the other hand, it is helpful for
us to understand other people’s feelings, emotion in their specch so that we can lead our
talks to the result full of success and intelligibility. Furthermore, intonation helps us to
focus on the most considerable things to speak or express. This make our talks more
interesting and we feel more confident when we speak in public or in a crowd. With the
wrong use of intonation, our speeches may be broken because the listeners do not
understand what are the goals of our speeches. More seriously, in some cases they are not
patient enough to pay attention to us and they may try to find the way to stop our
conversations as soon as possible.
In our everyday lives, much of our time is spent for communication with other

people and in our communication, we not only exchange facts but also express our
emotions and attitudes, or in other words we express modality.Thus, to study modality in
general and investigate how much a speaker commits to what he says in particular is very
interesting and essential. Modality gained much populaity among linguists. According to
Halliday (1985: 86), modality is “an expression of the speaker’s opinion” towards the


2

content of what he is saying, whether he considers it is possible, probable, certain, etc. For
Lyon (1997), a speaker’s qualification of his commitment to the truth of his/her proposition
becomes an important issue. Besides, the study of modality has spawned innumerable
academic papers, namely Bybee (1985), Palmer (1986) and others. In Vietnam, Hoµng Phª
(1984) and §ç H÷u Ch©u (1989) have studied on Vietnamese modal system and there have
been a number of English-written M.A theses on this issue, for example: Modality and
Modal Auxiliaries: A systematic Comparision of English and Vietnamese by §ç H÷HuyÕn (1996); Modality in English by Hoµng Thu Giang (2001); A Contrastive analysis of
modal meanings expressed via Must, Should, Have to in English and the equivalent in
Vietnamese by Ph¹m ThÞ Mai Anh (2005).
Indeed, learning to express and interpret modality is very difficult, particularly for
learners of English as a foreign language. The learners’ failure in the understanding of the
modal meanings has already prevented the from getting the goals of communication. As a
learner and

a teacher of English as a foreign language the writer has realized the

importance of researching intonation as a means of conveying modality, specificly on
deontic modality to get the success in communicating goals. It is the reason the writer
would like to choose Intonation as a means of conveying deontic modality in English as the
subject for this thesis with the hopes that the

research can serve as a very small

contribution to liguistic studies and also to teaching and learning English as a foreign
language. In addition, suggestions and pedagogical implications of this study can be
utilized to aid teachers of English and learners of Enlish at Hoa Lu University in Ninh Binh
province in the process of studying and learning English because in the school year of
2009-2010, the first English majored students will be trained to become junior secondary
teachers of English for Ninh Binh Province.
2. Aims of the study:

The study is aimed at:


providing as exhaustive as possible a description of the basic tunes in English and
English deontic modality in terms of forms, functions, features and meanings.



giving systematic description of two semantic features: obligation and permission
as subtypes of deontic modality in English and studying the four basic tunes in
English as a means of conveying those two semantic features .



finding mistakes commonly made by Vietnamese learners in using Intonation as a
means of conveying deontic modality.


3

offering some suggestions on possible solutions to these mistakes and implications
on teaching intonation as a means of conveying deontic modality.

3. Scope of the study

It would be ideal for the thesis to study on intonation as a means of conveying both deontic
modality and epistemic modality. However, since the limitation of time , knowledge and
the aims of the study the writer focuses on Intonation as a means of conveying deontic
modality, more specificly, the four basic tunes in English as a means of conveying
obligation and permission in deontic modality.
4. Method of the study

In order to achieve the goal set from the beginning, a number of books and studies
in the field of intonation and modality were collected and then studied thoroughly to set up
the theoretical framework for the intonation and as well for the deontic modality.The study
was classified mainly based on the basic tunes in English by J.D.OConnor (1991) and by
Assoc. Prof. Dr Võ Đại Quang in Lecture on Principles of Phonetics and Phonology
(2008), Nghiên cứu một số ph-ơng tiện biểu đạt nghĩa tình thái trong câu - phát ngôn
tiếng Anh và tiếng Việt- (Thông Tin Khoa Học, Số 3-2008). About Modality, the study
was mostly based on the opinion of Palmer (1986).
And a combination of different methods of analysis will be used in this study:
The first is the discriptive method. Basic tunes in English and semantic features of
deontic modality will be described in turns to find out how intonation can convey deontic
modality.
Secondly, an investigation was made into the intonation and the deontic modality
in order to find out the commonest mistakes made by Vietnamese learners when studying
intonation as a means of conveying deontic modality by recording, interviewing, discussing
with the Vietnamese learners of English .

Finally, a thorough analysis on the results of the study was made to give the
suggestions and implications on teaching English intonation as a means of conveying
deontic modality.
5. Design of the study

This study is designed in three parts:
Part 1 is the Introduction: this part includes the rationale, scope, aims,
methodology and design of the study.


4

Part 2 is the Development: This is the main part of the study and is divided into
three main Chapters.
Chapter One is dealt with the general theoretical concepts involving the subject
under consideration.
Chapter Two discusses the intonation as a means of conveying deontic modality in
English.
Chapter Three focuses on a number of mistakes existed on the process of studying
English intonation, especially conveying deontic modality.
Part 3 is the Conclusion: This part lays out the findings of the study, draws
important conclusions and suggests implications of teaching and learning English as a
foreign language and suggestions for further research are also presented.


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Part II: Development
Chapter 1: Theoretical background
1. 1. Intonation in English

1.1.1. Definitions of English intonation
English Intonation is a very important and difficult matter in the process of
learning, studying and teaching English. There are a number of lingustists have given the
definitions of intonation.
In “Oxford Advanced Learner’s Encyclopedic Dictionary”, 1992, Oxford
University Press, intonation is defined as: “the rise or fall of the pitch of the voice in
speaking, especially as this aspects the meaning of what is said: intonation patterns.”
According to the definition of Paul Tench (1996), the lingusitic use of pitch in
untterances can be called intonation. In his definition, two things are clearly classified.
Firstly, he specifies “pitch” as the essence of intonation. Secondly, the definition futher
specifies the concern between intonation and utterances.
Barbara Bradford (1988) defined Intonation is a feature of the spoken language. It
consists of the continuous changing of the pitch of a speaker’s voice to express meanings.
The author specified that people can mean different things by using the same group of
words, arranged in the same oeder, but saying them in different ways.
J.D. O’Connor (1967) mentioned to the different attitudes of expressing a word
group, it can be said definitely or hesitantly, angrily or kindly, with interest or without
interest, “and these differences are largely made by the tunes we use: the words do not
change their meaning but the tune we use adds something to the words, and what it adds is
the spesker’s feelings at that moment; this way of using tunes is called intonation.” Here
the phonetician wanted to emphasize the important role of tunes in English and a necessary
study about the shapes as well as the meanings of tunes in English.
For Peter Roach (1983), “no definition is completely satisfactory but any attempt at
a definition must recognize that the pitch of the voice plays the most important part. Only
in very unusual situations do we speak with fixed, unvarying pitch and when we speak
normally the pitch of our voice is constantly changing.”
In sum, all the above mentioned definitions have mentioned intonation is the
change of the pitch of the voice in speaking.

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1.1.2. Functions of English Intonation
1.1.2.1. Grammatical function
According to Peter Roach (1983), with the help of intonation the listener can
recognize the grammar and syntactic structure of what being said. More clearly, the listener
is better able to realize the placement of boundaries between phrases, clauses or sentences,
the difference between questions and statements and the use of grammatical subordination
may be indicated.
Look at a typical example by Peter Roach (1983):
“ Those who sold quickly mame a profit."
This can be expressed in at least two different ways:
a/ Those who sold quickly mame a profit.
b/ Those who sold / quickly made a profit.
We can see the placement of tone-unit boundary causes the difference in the above
example. Besides, consider two different paraphrases of the sentences:
a. A profit was made by those who sold quickly.
b. A profit was quickly made by those who sold.
With this function, we are easy to clarify the different types of sentences, they can
be the declaratives, the interrogatives, the exclamatives, the requests, etc. For example, if
the speaker use the falling tune (or in the lower pitch) at the end of the statement sentence,
the listener can realize that is the declarative. But if the speaker use the rising tune (or raise
voice) at the end of the utterance, the listener can understand that is the interrogative, even
that is incomplete utterance and the expecting answer for the utterance is “Yes/ No”. For
example:
She is Peter's wife.
(falling tune at the end of the utterance, and this sentence plays a role in providing
the listener with the information that: that woman is Peter’s wife.)
She is Peter's wife.

(raising tune at the end of the utterance, and this sentence can be understand as a
question: She is Peter’s wife?)
In short, with the grammatical function, sentences can be divided into different
spoken purposes. Each kind of sentence has a suitable kind of intonation. So we can


7

conclude that intonation plays an important role in expressing the grammatical meaning of
a sentence.
1.1.2.2. Attitudinal Function
This function is probably the most familar. With attitudinal function, the speaker
can express their feelings, attitudes while speaking. It helps to transfer a special meaning in
questioning and answering. It corresponds most clearly to the observation “Not what they
said but the way they said it.” (Paul Tench-1996). Here, Paul Tench wanted to emphasize
the term: “the way they said it”, that conveys the mood of the speaker or his attitude shown
to the addressee. Moreover, the speaker can give a message with different ways depending
on the his states of emotion. A message can be given politely, angrily, grumpily, warmly
and so on. Specifically:
-

The Glide-down: cofirming in categoric statement or expressing a forceful
agreement from the questionner in tag question.

-

The Dive: expressing the hesitation, uncertainty, sarcasm.

-

The Take-off: expressing the anger, annoyance.

-

The Glide-up: tranfering the interrogative meanings.

The great importance of attitudinal function of English intonation is undeniable. If a
person who has a dull voice with neither rises or falls sounds like a dull person, but one
who can express that he is bored, indignant, friendly or angry and so on by using different
pitches of his voice can have greatly good impression on the listener. Unless the learners of
English learn the appropriate way to use this function of intonation in a given situation, he
will be facing with a great risk that the listener does not understand his attitude or emotion
expressed in the sentence, for example, in his talk, he would like to express his bored or
unhappy state but with wrong intonation he seems to be expressing a very happy mood.
This misleading view of intonation must have caused unnecessary anxiety to many learners
of English.
Therefore, it is very necessary to learn this function of intonation thoroughly.
1.1.2.3. Discourse function
Looking at the larger context of speech, we can see that intonation helps the listener
to identify the given information as well as the new information. In conversation, intonation
can convey to the listener what kind response is expected. We call the above functions are
intonation’s discourse function.


8

Dealing with the discourse function of intonation, we look at how information is
implied by speaker and understood by listeners in discourse with the great help of
intonation. Two main aims are easily found out when realizing the relationship between
discourse and intonation. The first main aim is the use of intonation to focus the listener’s

attention on what is the most significant information in the speaker’s utterance. The second
main one is concerned with the regulation of conversational behaviour.
With this function, the tonic stress plays an important part in it. The tonic stress
usually falls on the most important words of the sentence. Many discourse analysts’ideas
point out that tonic stress and pitch movement are exploited by speakers to mark not only
the information which the speaker presents but also the beginning of a speaker’s turn, the
beginning of new topic, special emphasis or constrast.
Furthermore, this function of intonation is considered the most important part in the
conversational interaction of two or more speakers. Based on it, the listeners are easy to
identify what each speaker is actually doing in spaeking, such as questioning, challenging,
advising, encouraging, disappointing and so on. In a more general way, the speakers
indicate to others that they have finished speaking, that another person is expected to speak,
that a particular type of response is required, etc.
In short, be copetent with this fuction, we are easy to take the initiative in mastering
English and we always achieve great success in our speech or conversation.
1.1.2.4. Accentual function
The term “Accentual” is derived from “accent” which is used to refer to “stress”. So
accentual function here means the placement of stress, or more specifically, the tonic
stress.
With this function, the speaker can specialize the tonic stress or unstressed word in
the speaking utterancesto highlight that this word is the most important. Commonly, the
position of the tonic syllable is on the last lexical word (e.g. Noun, Adjective, Verb,
Adverb...). However, for the contrastive or emphatic purposes, any word may become the
tonic syllable. Compare:
Example:

Did Mary broke the vase yesterday morning?
Did Mary broke the vase yesterday morning?
Did Mary broke the vase yesterday morning?
Did Mary broke the vase yesterday morning?

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Generally, the focus is on “morning”. However, the focus on dofferent words result
different understandings as following interepreting:
If the focus is on “Mary”, it means “Mary or someone else broke the vase?”
If the focus is on “vase”, it means “Mary broke the vase or something else?”
If the focus is on “yesterday”, it means “Mary broke the vase yesterday or some day
else?”
In sum, placement of tonic stress is important and is closely linked to intonation.
With this function of intonation, the speaker can convey the essential information to lead to
the success of communication.
1.1.3. Basic tunes of English Intonation.
A number of the phoneticians classify tunes in various ways such as Paul Tench
(1981) has classified them in 5 tunes: falling, rising-high, rising- low, falling-rising-falling,
rising-falling.
Whereas Vasilyez says that there are eight nuclear tunes: high-falling, low-falling,
high-rising, low-rising, rising-falling, falling-rising, rising-falling-rising, and level tone.
However, many English language learners and researchers find that the best way to
classify basic tunes in English by J.D.O’ Connor (1991). He classified them into four basic
tunes: The Glide-down (The Fall), The Glide-up (the first rising tune), The Dive (The
falling-rising tune), The Take-off (the second rising tune).
In this study, the writer takes the view of J.D.O’Connor into considerartion,
specifically:
1.1.3.1. The Glide - down (The Fall)
- Form:

- Intonation Marking:

( )

- Description: The falling-tune consists of a fall in the voice from a fairly high pitch to a
very low one.
+ On a single syllable:
Example:

Ten

+ On more than one syllable:

Yes


10

Example:

Tenpence

Definitely

+ When there is more than one important word in the group:
Example:

What was the matter with that?

+ In group with more than three important words:
Example:

How can I possibly pay him two hundred pounds?

+ Unstressed syllables before the stressed syllable of the first important word:
Example:

I was very glad

+ Any stressed syllable near the beginning:
Example:

I taught him all I know

- Functions:
+ We use the Glide - down for statements whichs are complete and definite.
Example:

I ' wouldn't 'mind 'seeing it

a gain

+ We use the Glide - down for Wh - question:
Example:

'Why did you 'change your

mind?

+ We use the Glide - down for short questions used as responses:
Example:

(I went to cinema last night) Did

you?

+ We use the Glide - down to seek for agreemen in question - tag;
Example:

It's cold today,

isn't it? (Forcing the answer "yes").

+ We use the Glide - down for strong commands:
Example:

' Come and ' have

dinner with us!

+ We use the Glide - down for strong exclamations:
Example:

' Good

Heavens!


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1.1.3.2. The glide - up (The First Rising Tune)
- Form:

- Intonation marking: ( )
- Description: The Rising Tune is just like the Falling except that it ends with a rise on the
voice
+ On one syllable
Example:

Two

Eight

+ The stressed syllable of the last important word is low:
Example:

Are you married?

+ The stressed syllable of the last important word is low:
Example:

Have you posted it to him?

- Functions:
+ We use the Glide - up for statement intended to be soothing:
Example:

I shan't be long

+ We use the Glide - up if the statement is intended as a question:
Fof example:

You love him?

+ We use the Glide - up if we want WH - question to show as much interest in the other
person as the subject.
Example:

'How's your daughter?

+ With yes/no question, we use the glide - up:
Example:

'Can I see it?

+ We use the Glide - up for greeting and saying good - bye:
Example:

'Good morning

+ For exclamations which refer to something not very exciting or unexpected:


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Example:

Thank you

1.1.3.3. The take - off (The second Risng Tune)
- Form:
- Intonation marking:

( )

- Description: The Take - off also ends with the rise like the Glide - up but any words and
syllables before the rise are low:
Example:

I was only trying to help him with it

+ All the syllables before the rise are said on the same low pitch as the beginning of the
rise:
Example:

You didn't really hurt yourself

- Functions:+ We use the Take - off for a grumble:
Example:

You can't

'

'

possibly do that (you ought to know bettr)

'

'

+ For repetition questions or repeating some information:
Example:

Where did you do last night?
Where did

'

'

I

+ For tag questions after commands:
Example:

'Come over

'

go last

'

night?

here, will you?

+ For tag question with both statement and the tag - question have "not" or don't have
"not".
Example:

You liked it,

did you?

+ When you don't want the other person to agree with you, but to give his opinion:
Example:

You are 'coming to

tea with us,

+ For exclamations which are questioning
Example:

Really?

Oh?

aren't you?


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1.1.3.4. The Dive (The Falling - Rising tune)
- Form:
(V )

- Intonation marking:
- Description:

+ On one syllable:
Example:

Why?

+ On several syllables:
Example:

Seventy of them

+ Words or syllables before the fall are said in the same way as for the glide - down and
glide - up:
Example:

I may be able to come on Monday

- Functions:
+ If the statement is not complete but leading to a following word group, we use the Dive:
When'ever he 'come to Vvisit us (he tries to borrow money)

Example:

+ For statements which show seservations on the part of the speaker we use the Dive:
I could 'take you 'there Vtomorrow (but not to day)

Exaple:
or:

It 'wasn't a 'very 'nice 'thing to Vdo (you must admit)

+ For the statement whichs is a correction of what someone has said, we use the Dive:
Example:

(I like him a lot).

You used to like him

+ For statement which is a warning, we use the dive:
Example:

You 'musn't

shake it too

much

+ If the statement which has two parts, of which the first one is more important to the
meaning than the second, we use the Dive?


14

Example:

You can keep it if you really

want it

+ If you want the command to sound like a pleading request, we use the Dive:
Example:

Send it as soon as you can

1.1.4. Summary
In this part, the writer has given a systematical presentation of a number of concepts on
intonation in English from different linguists, its four main functions, and its four basic
tunes with the clear description on the view of J.D.O’ Connor paving the way for the
discussion in the next chapter.
1.2. Modality in English

1.2.1. Definitions of Modality
In English language, modality has been a clear reflection of its key role and seems
to be essentially subjective, i.e it refers to the speaker’s opinion or attitude. It can be easily
understandable because in everyday conversations and in different contexts, all utterances
show the purpose, attitude or assessement of the speaker. Viewing from a speaker’sevaluation approach, Keifer (1997) stated that modality is “the speaker’s cognitive,
emotive, or volitive attitude toward a state of affairs”.
Palmer (1986) defines modality as semantic information associated with the
speaker’s attitude or opinion about what is said.
Bybee (1985) gives a broader definition: what the speaker is doing with the whole
proposition.
To some extent, both of those liguists have the same views on modality that
concerns entire statements, not just events or entities, and its domain is the whole
expression at truth-functional level.
In Lyons (1977), modality is said to be the speaker’s opinion or attitude towards
“the proposition that the sentence expresses or the situation that the proposition describes”.
And for Frawley (1992), modality semantically reflects a speaker’s attitude or
degrees of awareness of the content of a proposition.
In sum, all the above-mentioned definitions show that those linguists have one thing
in common seeing that modality describes the speaker’s attitude or judgement toward the
proposition and not the proposition itself. The notional content of modality hightlights its

association with entire statements. Modality concerns the factual status of information, it
signals the relative actuality, validity, or believability of the content of an expression.


15

Modality affects the overall assertability and thus takes the entire proposition with its
scope.
1.2.2. Types of Modality in English
Not all linguists agree with one another about the types of modality. They have
different classifications of types of modality. However, most of them have the same idea
about two main kinds of modality:
(a) to comment on and evaluate an interpretation of reality.
(b) to intervene in and bring about changes in events.
Therefore, a number of ideas of different linguists on types of modality can be
considered as follow:
Von Wright (1951) in “studying modal logic” distinguishes four types of modality:
a) the Alethic modes
b) the Epistemic modes
c) the Deontic modes
d) the Existential modes
An important thing here is the distinction between two types of modality: the Epistemic
and the Deontic. It can be illustrated for clearer understandings in the following examples:
a1: John may be there by now.
a2: You may come in now.
b1: John must be there by now.
b2: You must come in by now.
May, in general, expresses “possibility” but in a2 may expresses “permission”. Similarly
to the use of must, in b1 must expresses possibility but in b2 refers to obligation.
Therefore, may in a1 and must in b1 express the Epistemis modes and may in a2 and

must in b2 refer to the Deontic modes. Two types of modality mentioned here are
considered the most important and popular in different languages. Thus, most of modality
researchers later have mentioned and analysed.
N. Rescher (1968) in “Topics in Philosophical logic” refers to a system of types of
modality. Apart from: the Alethic, the Epistemic, the Deontic, the Existential, he has
mentioned to other five ones: the Temporal, the Boulomaic, the Evaluative, the Causual and
the Conditional.


16

John Lyons (1977) distinguishes “Epistemic Modality” from “Deontic Modality”.
In his opinion, Epistemic modality is concered with the matters of knowledge and belief,
and Deontic modality, on the other hand, concerned with the necessity or possibility of acts
performed by morally responsible agent.
Palmer (1990) also distinguishes “Epistemic Modality” from “Deontic Modality” in
which Epistemic modality is refered to the speaker’s relation to propositions and Deontic
modality is concerned with the his active relation to events.
In short, with the opinions of different linguists on the types of modality, two types
of modality: Deontic and Epistemic, are the most popular and they are also taken into
consideration in the following parts.
1.2.2.1. Epistemic Modality
In general understanding, epistemic modality is concerned with belief, truth,
knowledge, etc, in relation to proposition by others or by the speaker himself. In the
process of researching about epistemic modality, there also exists alot of point of views on
this problem.
Keifer and Lyons (1977) share the same idea that Epistemic modality is “concerned
with matters of knowledge and belief”.
Lew (1997) points out that epistemic modality “modifies the truth of a semantic
proposition”.

For Coates (1983), epistemic modality is “concerned with the speaker’s
assumptions or assessment of possibilities and, in most cases, indicates the speaker’s
confidence (or lack of confidence) in the truth of the proposition”.
Bybee and Fleischman (1995) state that “Epistemic are clausal- scope indicators of
a speaker’s commitment to the truth of a proposition”
Palmer (1990) gives a simple and more comprehensible definition: “Epistemic
modality indicates the degree of commitment by the speaker to what he says”. In his
opinion, epistemics can be interpreted as showing the status of the speaker’s understanding
or knowledge which included both his own judgements and the evidential he has for what
he says.
Epistemic modality is a very interesting aspect, however, within the scope of this
study, it will not be explored any further.
1.2.2.2. Deontic Modality


17

The term “Deontic” comes from a Greek word relating to the imposition of
obligations. (Lyons- 1995).
Mentioning to the deontic modality, there are also a lot of definitions of different
linguists. Palmer (1990) states that deontic modality is concerned with “influencing
actions, states or events”.
Lyons, Von Wright, cited in Palmer (1986: 18) defines “Deontic modality which is
concerned with the necessity or possibility of acts performed by morally responsible
agents”.
Nuyts (2001) states that “Deontic modality is an evaluation of the moral
acceptability, desirability or necessity of a state of affairs, i.e. it crucially involves notions
such as allowance, permission and obligation”.
According to Lew (1977) also has the same idea that deontic modality “involves the
issuing of directives and is associated with notions of such as permission or obligation”.

Linguistically, these two main meanings of deontic modality are the basis to define
prohibition and exemption in which the former means being obliged not to do something
and the later means permitting not to do something. The following examples illustrate the
types of meaning of deontic modality:
Obligation: You must leave now.
Prohibition: You mustn't leave now.
Permission: You may leave now.
Exemption: You may not leave now.
Some types of deontic modality, in the wide sense, are often expressed in lexical verbs. For
example: the verbs of hoping and wishing in English, as in:
I hope you will come.
I wish you would come.
In sum, the concepts of deontic modality are different according to different
liguists’ viewpoints. The features of deontic modality can be interpreted into: Lexical,
Semantic and Pragmatic. However, all the mentioned concepts come into two basis
semantic categories of deontic modality: Obligation and Permission. Within the scope of
this study, the writer would like to study those two semantic categories by the use of the
modal verbs in the next part.
1.2.3. Deontic Modality


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As mentioning above, two main semantic categories of deontic modality:
Obligation and Permission will be taken into consideration in this part by the use of the
modal verbs for each one.
1.2.3.1. Deontic Modality: Obligation
The term “obligation” is defined in the “Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary” as: “ a
law, a promise, an influence, etc that forces one to do something; a duty”.
A scale of obligation expresses deontic distance between the reference world and the

expressed world in terms of duty. The idea of obligation is idiomatically expressed by the
use of the modal verbs: Must, Ought to, Should, Have to, Need.
The first couple of modals expressing the obligation are “Must” and “Have to”. Look at
the following examples:
You must be back by 10 o'clock. (I want you to do some cleaning) (1)
You have to sign your name here. (Otherwise, the document isn't valid) (2)
I've got to finish this essay by tomorrow. (In formal) (3)
In the above statements, both must and have (got) to + infinitive express obligation, but a
difference between them is considered by some English speakers. For them, must involves
the speaker’s authority. In other words, the speaker has authority over the adressee [see
(1)], while have (got) to involves some other authority than the speaker, e.g. official
regulations [see (2)]. Another difference between the modals of obligation must and have
(got) to is must can only be used to refer to present and future obligation. In the past tense
and in hypothetical clause, had to and would have to express obligation. Look at the
following examples:
They had to wear uniform all day.
If you left home to live independently, you would have to earn your own living.
Though in inderect speech, must which means had to is unchangable. Look at the example:
The officer reminded us (that) we must all keep together.
In the questions and negative sentences, don't need to, needn't, don't have to are used to
say that there is no obligation. Mustn't is used to tell people not to do things. Therefore,
need is replaced by must in this use. Compare:
Need you leave so soon?
= Have you got to leave so soon?
Do you have to work so hard?


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= Do you need to work so hard?

We don't hurry.
= We don't need hurry.
= We don't have to hurry.
The second pair of modals expressing the obligation which may not be fulfilled are Should
and Ought to. Both should and ought to express the same scale of obligation. Look at the
examples for clearer understanding:
People should / ought to drive more carefully.
You really ought to / should cut down on smoking.
Though ought to, should and must, have (got) to express the obligation, there exists a
clear difference between them. Compare:
Candidates must be university graduates.
Candidates must be between 21 and 35.
Candidates should have a knowledge of two foreign languages.
Candidates ought to have at least three years' experience.
Here we can see that the use of must / have to normally has the impression that the
obligation is being fulfilled, and motivation for using should / ought to instead of must
include the lack of authority on the part of the speaker to impose obligation.
Need to + Infinitive ( need here is a main verb, not an auxiliary verb) indicating
internal obligation caused by the state of the person being referred to.
In formal situation, we can use be supposed to instead of should. look at the examples:
You are supposed to / should be sleeping.
They were supposed to be here by eight, but most people turned up at a quarter
past.
With a 2nd person subject, the verb forms expressing obligation can have almost the same
effect as a command. Look at the example:
You must be careful.
In a nutshell, the semantic meanings of obligation expressed by modals Must,
Have (got) to, Should, Ought to are characterised by the kind of obligation denoted by
each modal. Must often presents concepts involving the speaker-imposed compulsion.
Have to is used to express obligation coming from some other source outside the speaker.

Should / ought to expresses non-biding obligation or unfulfilled obligation.


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1.2.3.2. Deontic Modality: Permission
The term “permission” is defined in the “Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary” as: “ the
action of allowing somebody to do something”.
The idea of permission is expressed by the use of the modal verbs: Can, Could, May,
Might. Those modals verbs are used to ask for permission, to give permission and to refuse
permission.
 Asking for permission:
All of four modal verbs: Can, Could, May, Might are used to ask for permission, but the
use of Can is probably the commonest of the four. Look at the example:
Can I borrow your pen?
Can the dog come into the house?
For Could which is more hesitant than Can and is often used when the questioner is not
sure that s/he will get permission or when the questioner does not want to sound too sure.
For example: Could I speak to you for a moment?
May, Might often suggest respect. They are used in a more formal style. Might is more
hesitant and is not very common. Look at the examples:
May I leave a little earlier this afternoon?
Might I take one?
In the fuction of asking for permission, Could and Might are not past forms of Can and
May, all of four words refer to the future.
We use Be allowed to (not May or Might) when we emphasize getting permission on a
specific occasion. Look at example:
That day was the first time I was allowed to make my own breakfast.
No one has been allowed to see the test results.
Apart from the modal verbs asking for permission, there are other ways to ask for

permission. Look at the following examples for further understanding:
Are we allowed to smoke in here?
Are we permitted to smoke here?
Is it all right if I sit here?
Would you mind if I open a window?
Do you mind my opening the window?


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 Giving permission:
All of four modal verbs: Can, Could, May, Might are used to ask for permission.
However, the use of Could and Might which suggests respect is often used in asking for
permission much more than giving permission. Compare:
Could we leave early today?
- Yes, of course, you can (not could)
Might I trouble you for a lift?
- You may indeed (not might)
When permission is meant, we usually use Can and Could, not May or Might. Look at the
examples:
These days, children can do what they like. (May is not used in this context)
We were completely free. We could do what we wanted. (Might is not used in this
context)
Occasionally we use Shall in the 2nd and 3rd person to express permission given by the
speaker. Look at example:
You shall do exactly as you wish.
She shall get her money.
Might can be used after a past event in Reported speech.
For example:
Tom said that I might borrow his car.

In the past, for general permission, Could is used to say that someone was allowed to do
something at any time. However, for one particular action in the past, Could is not used to
talk about permission. Compare:
When I lived at home, I could play computer games whenever I wanted to.
I was allowed to see her last night. ( Could is not used in this case)
She had permission to go out for half an hour. (Could is not used in this case)
Similarly for asking permission, there are other ways to give permission. The following
examples for clearer understanding:
They let the child do what he wants.
A. Would you mind if I used your dictionary?
B. - No, I don't mind at all. (Certainly you may)
- Not at all.


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 Refusing permission:
To refuse permission, May not and to forbid are commonly used.
For example: Students may not use the staff car park.
Students may not stay out after midnight without written permission.
In sum, the semantic meanings of permission expressed by modals Can, Could, May,
Might are characterised by the kind of permission denoted by each modal. In asking for
permission, Can is the most popular use among four modals, Could is aslo used but more
hesitant than Can. May and Might are suggested for use but in formal style and respect. In
giving permission, Can and May are commonly referred to, and Could and Might are
used in asking for permission rather than in giving permission. In refusing permission,
May not is commonly used.
1.2.4. The Realization of Modality.
There exists a number of forms which realize modal meaning. They may divided
into two main groups: the verbal and non-verbal exponents.



The verbal exponents:These include the verbs expressing Modal
meanings:

a) Lexical verbs: allow, beg, command, forbid, guarantee, guess, promise, suggest, warn.,
b) The verb “wonder” and “wish” which express doubt and wish.
c) The lexico-modal auxiliaries composed of “be” or “have”, and usually another element +
infinitive (have got to, be bound to, etc.)
d) The modal auxiliaries: Can, Could, Will, Would, Must, Shall, Should, May, Might,
Ought and the semi-modals: Need and Dare.


The non-verbal exponents:These include the other means of expressing
Modal meanings:

a) Modal Disjuncts: probably, possibly, surely, hopefully, thankfully, obviously, etc.
b) Modal Adjectives: possible, probable, likely, etc.
c) Modal Nouns: possibility, probability, chance, likelihood, etc.
d) Certain use of If-clause such as: “If you don’t mind”.
e) The use of remote past such as: “I thought I’d go along with you”.
f) The use of non-assertive items such as “any” in the sentence “He’ll eat any kind of
vegetables”.