An analysis of modality in some speeches of the president obama = phân tích tính hình thái trong một số bài phát biểu của tổng thống obama luận văn tốt nghiệp đại học

Vinh university
Foreign languages depaterment
**********

Phan thÞ thuËn

An analysis of Modality in
some speeches of the president Obama
(Phân tích tính tình thái trong một số bài phát biểu
của tổng thống Obama )

graduation thesis
field: linguistics

Vinh – 2011

i


Vinh university
Foreign languages depaterment
**********

An analysis of Modality in
some speeches of the president Obama
(Phân tích tính tình thái trong một số bài phát biểu
của tổng thống Obama )

graduation thesis
field: linguistics

Student : Phan Thị Thuận
Supervisor: Trần Ngọc Tởng, M.A

Vinh 2011

ii


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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
For the completing of this work, I have been fortunate to receive a lot of
contributions from many people.
First of all, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my supervisor,
MA.Tran Ngoc Tuong for his helful advice and critical comments from the beginning
of choosing suitable topic to the end of finishing the study. Unless the help from his,
my study would not have been complete.
I also give my deepest thanks to the teacher Nguyen Thanh Xuan, who help
me to overcome the difficulties in choosing topic and finding out the way to write a
successful research.
Nextly , I would like to give my thanks to all teachers of English in Foreign
Language Department Of Vinh University for their support and encouragement.
What is more ,I would also like to express my deep gratitude to my parents for
encouragement and financial support during the time I do the research.
Last but not least, I am all too aware that despite all the advice and assistance, I
feel that the project is far from perfect; it is, therefore, my sole responsibility for any
inadequacies and shortcomings that the thesis may be considered to have.
Vinh, May 5 , 2011
Phan Thi Thuan

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ABSTRACT
In this thesis, we explore how modality is manifested in two speeches of
Obama : "The Inaugural Address" and "the Nobel" . The author discusses about text
and discourse, text analysis and discourse analysis. And then, the author mentions to
the notion "modality" with the definition, types of modality, modal meanings and
expressions of modality. They are basic theoretical background for analyzing the data
in chapter 2 of the second part " DEVELOPMENT". Next, we analyse the way
modality is manifested in two speeches of Obama. Finally, we point out some
problems facing the learners when they learn modality. From that, we offer some
suggestions for teaching and learning modality.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Phan thÞ thuËn..............................................................................................................................i
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graduation thesis............................................................................................................................i
field: linguistics.............................................................................................................................i
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graduation thesis...........................................................................................................................ii
field: linguistics............................................................................................................................ii

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ABBREVIATIONS
S:

Speaker

H:

Hearer

E.g :

For example

Etc :

Et cetera

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PART I : INTRODUCTION
1.Justification of the Study
Angela Carter (1940-1992) - an English jounalist woman said that "Language is
power". How can we understand this statement? It mentions to the role of language to
people's life. It is true that language has its big role in developing human being.
Language itself is a tool for communication. Thank to language, people can interact
and communicate with each other and from that the people develop. Therefore,
studying language helps us understand the nature as well as characteristics of it.
Language conveys meaning. One of the dominant meaning of language is modal
meaning. Modality is one of basic meaning type of language considered as means of

communication. Behind a word, a sentece or an utterance is the different tones of
emotion, attitude of the speaker to the proposition and the hearer. In another way, the
speaker’s emotion and attitude are decoded according to different ways under the
signals of language. And in English, the term used to convey attitude and opinions of
the speaker is called modality. So far, there are many ways of understanding the
concept “ modality” and classification of it. However, modality is a large and
complicate area and there are many disagreements of linguists about the modality.
Therefore, studying on modality plays an important role in linguistics in general and
in teaching foreign language in particular.
Besides that, there is a difference in using modality in vietnamese and in
English. In Vietnamese, modality is mostly conveyed by modal particles ( à, ừ, nhỉ,
nhé, thế, chăng, and so on) and they often appear in the end of a sentence. In contrast,
in English, modality is investigated by many ways : It is conveyed via modal verbs
such as can, could, may, might ,etc. And we are sure that many learners have not
known that besides modal verbs, English modality is realized by a quite broad system
including nouns (chance, possibility, likelihood…), adjectives ( certain, sure, likely,
possible…), adverbs ( possibly, certainly, probably…) and in conditional sentence.
This differences may cause a lot of difficulties for vietnamese learners in learning

1


English. Studying modality, we hope to help the learners understand more about the
way modality is used in English.
What is more, in English a number of modal verbs convey modal meaning.
These modal verbs are learned by students at high school and at university.They are
very important in learning English. Nevertheless, many students do not know clearly
about the differences in the use of them. From that, they use modal verbs not exactly
in communication. Doing reseach on modality will help us understand more about
meaning and the usage of the modal verbs. This is also an important reason why we

decided to do the research on modality.
Last but not least , modality comprises two broad types : Deontic and epistemic
modality. And I am sure that, many learners can not distinguish the differences
between them. And with this thesis, we hope that the learners and the readers can
distinguish the differences between them.
Modality is used in various material such as in literature, news, speeches and
so on. Up to now, many researchers have studied on modality and choose studying
material in literature, news. However, we find that modality is also used so much in
speeches. And Obama- the first black man to hold the highest position of a rich
country- America. He is considered as talent speaker through his speeches. In his
speeches, he uses a lot of means of expressing modality to persude the hearers.
Therefore, we decide to do research on modality in some speeches of Obama to find
the similarities between modality in speeches and in the other materials.
For the reasons above, we decided to choose the topic “ An analysis of
Modality in some speeches of Obama” as the theme for our thesis.
2.Aims of the Study
* The thesis has been done with the following aims:
- To explore how Obama use modality to convey modal meanings in his
speeches
- To make the learner acknowledge the importance of using modality in
communication
- To help the learners use modality correctly for communicative purpose

2


- To give some suggestions for teaching and learning English
* To obtain these aims, our research will answer these following questions :
- How is modality conveyed in speeches?
- What kinds of modal meanings are there ?

- What are suggestions for teaching and learning modality?
3.Scope of the Study
Modaliy is a large concept and it is expressed by many means : Lexicalisation,
grammaticalisation, intonation, etc. However, in this thesis, we only focus on
lexicalisation ( modal auxiliary verbs, lexical words carrying modal meanings) .
Besides, president Barack Obama has made many speeches. Nevertheless, we only
choose some famous speeches of him recently to study: The Inaugural Adress and the
Nobel .
4.Methods of the Study
-Analyticaly: The author uses this method to analyse the data in two speeches of
Obama to explore the means of conveying modality and modal meanings expressed in
two speeches.
-Synthetic : After analyzing the data, the author uses “synthetic” to find out the
proportion of each kind of word-class conveying modality in the speeches of Obama.
5.Design of the Study
Our thesis consists of 3 main parts. The first part is “INTRODUCTION ”,
through this part we can find out the “Justification of the Study” which gives the
reasons for choosing topic ; the “Aims and Objectives of the Study” saying the
purposes that the thesis gets and the tendency for the thesis. And what methods the
author uses in this thesis “Methods of the Study”. Lastly, what objects are tended and
what areas are used in this thesis, all expressed through “Scope of the Study”. The
second part is “DEVELOPMENT ”. In this part, we present three chapters. Chapter 1
with the title “ theoretical background” give an overview about text and discourse
analysis, concept of modality .The reason why we consider text and discourse in this
chapter is that they have close relationship in studying on modality and we are doing
research on modality base on text “ speech report”. Therefore we must analyze text

3

and discourse. Chapter 2 entitled by “ Modality manifested in some speeches of
Obama” analyses the way of using lexical modal verbs, modal auxiliary verbs, modal
adverbs, modal adjectives, modal nouns and particles to convey modality . Chapter 3
has title “ Implication” pointing out some problems that the learners often encounter
in studying modality and giving some useful suggestions for teaching and learning
modality. The last part is “CONCLUSION ”, the author sums up the main points in
“Recapitulation and Limitations of the Study” and makes “Suggestions for the Futher
Studies”. The part “REFERENCES” consists of all of the materials that the author
has used in the thesis. The thesis ends with the part " APPENDIX".

Part II : DEVELOPMENT
CHAPTER 1 : THEORETICAL BACKGROUND

1.1 An Introduction about the Speeches of Obama : The Inaugural Address
and The Nobel
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current president of united state. He is
the first African American to hold the office.

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On thursday, February 28, 2008, something unusual has happened. A black man
has been elected President against all Odds. He won the nomination of his party
largely through the efforts of a media that was disposed to his candidary. It was
believed that the
Repubicians would have a much easier time defeating him and so the spincycle
was set on full to make the percentages appear that candidate Obama would have an
easier time defeating Candidate Mc Cain. No effort or expense was spared
The Inauguration of Barack Obama as the 44th President of the United States
took place on Tuesday, January 20, 2009. The Inauguration, which set a record

attendance for any event held in Washington, D.C., marked the commencement of the
four year term of Barack Obama as the president and Joseph R. Biden as vice
president. Based on the combined attendance numbers, television viewership and
Internet traffic, it was among the most observed events ever by the global audience.
According to Kay ( S. Korea), the speech shows humanity and magnamity. He is
showing respect and openess toward other nations . In general, the speech is very
honest and concrete.
The Nobel Peace Prize for 2009 : The Norwegian Nobel Committee has decided
that the Nobel Peace Prize for 2009 is to be awarded to president Barack Obama for
his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation
between peoples. The committee has attached special importance to Obama's vision
and work for a world without nuclearwepons.
Both the Inaugural Address and the Nobel Peace Prize were made by Obama in
2009. They are very famous speeches, expressing responsibility to his country and
vision of him to peoples' Peace. In general, there are a lot of comments on the
Inaugural Address and The Nobel of many policians, lawyers, and others. However,
we find that in these two speeches, he uses a lot of means of expressing modality (e.g
modal auxiliary verbs, lexical words carrying modality) . Therefore, we choose these
two speeches for analyzing modal meanings.
1. 2 Theoretical Preliminaries :
1.2.1 Text and Discourse

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Through the process of development of discourse analysis, the distinction
between the two terms text and discourse is understood differently and
controversially. To some linguists, two terms can be used interchangablely.
Brown and Yule (1983 :6) use “ text as a technical term to refer to the verbal
record of a communicative act ”.

According to Crystal (1992) : A text may be spoken or written, prose or verse,
dialogue and monologue. It may be anything from a single proverb to a whole play,
from a momentary cry for help to all day discussion in committee”.
Crystal (1992:25), defines discourse as “ a continuous stretch of ( especially
spoken) language larger than a sentence, often constituting a coherent unit, such as a
sermon, argument, joke or narrative”.
While Nunan (1995) states that : “ A text, or a discourse, is a stretch of language
that may be longer than a sentence”.
This thesis adapts the theory of Cook (1989:156) who views text as a stretch of
language interpreted formally, without context; and discourse as stretches of language
perceived to be meaningful, unified and purposive (1989:158).
1.2.2 Discourse Analysis and Text Analysis
Basing on the concept of text and discourse as mentioned earlier, Text
analysis and Discourse analysis can be interpreted as follow:
Text analysis is the studying of how a text exemplifies the operation of the
language code beyond the border of sentence.
Discourse analysis is concerned with the study of relationship between language
and the context in which it is used, that is, it involves the study of language in use. It
also examines how stretches of language, considered in their full textual, social, and
psychological contexts, become meaningful and unified for their users. Moreover, it
is a study of how and for what purposes language is used in a certain context of
situation, and the linguistic means to carry out these purposes.
1.2.3 Spoken Discourse and Written Discourse
Written discourse and spoken discourse can be understood as speech and
writing. They share much in common, however, there are many differences between

6


them. Halliday (1985) poses that writing emerged in society as a result of cultural

changes which created new communicated needs. These needs could not be readily
met by spoken language.
Both spoken and written perform a similar range of broad function. That is, they
are used to get thing done, provide information and entertain. Nevertheless, in term of
their differences, while spoken language is used to communicate with others directly,
written language is used to communicate with others who are removed in time and
place or for those occasions on which a permanent or semi- permanent record is
required.
To conclude, in spite of the differences between written language and spoken
language, those distinctions are not absolute and the characteristics that we tend to
associate with written language can sometimes occur in spoken language and vice
versa.This means that some spoken texts will be more like written texts than others
and vice versa.
1.2.4 Discourse Context
David Nunan (1995: 7) suggests a concept and a classification of context as
follows:
Context refers to the situation giving rise to the discourse, and within with the
discourse is embedded. There are two different types of context.
The first of these is the linguistic context- the language that surrounds or
accompanies the piece of discourse under analysis.
The second is non- linguistic or experiential context within with the discourse
takes place. Non- linguistic contexts include : the type of communicative event; the
topic; the purpose of the event, the setting including location, time of day, season of
year and physical aspects of the situation; the participants and the relationships
between them; and the background knowledge and assumptions underlying the
communicative event.
Halliday and Hasan (1976) share much in similar to the view held by Nunan
when proposing that when responding to a passage or speech of writing, the receiver
uses not only linguistic clues, but also situational ones. Linguistically, he responds to

7


specific features which bind the passage together, the pattern of connection,
independent of structure, that we are referring to as cohesion; situationally, he takes
into account all he knows of the enviroment: what is going on, what part the language
is playing, and who are involved.
The importance of context towards discourse interpretation is apparently
undeniable, as Cook (1989: 10) asserts:
“ There are good arguments for limiting the field of study to make it
manageable, but it is also true to say that the answer to the question of what gives
discourse its unity may be impossible to give without considering the world at large:
the context.”
As political speech is obviously an actual use of language but the interpretation
of that use needs non- linguistic features of the discourse, in this study, both linguistic
and non- linguistic contexts are taken into account.
1.3 Concept of Modality
1.3.1 Some Points of View of Researchers about Modality
Modality is a multifold phenomenon, and therefore in the linguistic literature we
can find different thoughts concerning the essence of this phenomenon . Modality in
linguistics is a semantic scope, contained in many languages in the world, however
realizations of them are different in each language. Therefore, there are many
different ways of understanding and defining modality.

Many researchers are

interested in studying modality. One of the authors who are interested in defining
modality is V. Vinogradov. According to V. Vinogradov (1977), modality is formed
basing on the speaker’s opinion; however, that opinion itself is formed by the position
of the speaker at speaking time to the hearer or the reader (91, p 271- 272) .O.

Jespersen (1949) in “ A modern English Grammar on Historical Principles I – IV,
London and Copenhagen gives his opinion about the concept “ modality” : “
Modality expresses the definite attitude of the speaker toward the proposition of a
sentence. Although in many cases, the use of mood is not decided by the speaker’
attitude but the characteristics of proposition and the relationship of it with the ranges
of relative clauses (pg 138:9). According to the judgement of F. Palmer, theoretically,

8


the proposals of O. Jespersen are little important, except for his appriciation on two
types “ mood” : (1) including the element "will", (2) not including the element "will"
( in fact, O. Jespersen has already demonstrated clearly “ mood” is a classification of
grammar). F.S. Palmer (1986) also mentioned modality : Modality is semantic
information of sentence expressing speaker’s attitude or opinions to the
proposition(130, pg14). In 1990, M.V.Liapon assumed that modality is a functional
semantic scope expressing the different relationships of the utterance to reality as well
as the different subjective judgements to the thing informed
V. Wright (1951), in a research on modal logic, classifies modal logic into four
types : a/ the alethic modes; b/ the epistemic modes; c/ the deontic modes; d/ the
existential modes. However, we need pay attention to the classification between the
epistemic modes and the deontic modes. We see the examples about “ may” and “
must” in English.
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 now
“ May” shows possibility but “ may” in A2 also expresses “ Allow doing
something”. Similarly “ must” in B1 is different from “must” in B2: “ Must in B1
conveys possibility or logic inference; “must: in B2 has obligatory meaning.

Therefore, “may” in A1 and “must” in B1 show epistemic modality. “ May” in A2
and “must” in B2 express deontic modality. These two types of modality are
considered as important and popular in different languages. Therefore many authors
talk about it in detail.
Modal logic , a branch of philosophy of language, which deals with the notion
such as possibility and necessity, has greatly influenced linguists' understanding of
modality. Looking at modality from a semantic point of view, it is obvious that some
researchers (e.g. Palmer 1990) follow this modal logical classification closely. Others
concentrate on such aspects of modality as speaker/ address- ee involvement in the
situation described by modally modified proposition ( E.g. Bybee and Fleischman

9


1995, Quirk at all. 1985). That is to say, modality is considered as a semantic
phenomenon, and is seen as the addition of a special kind of meaning to the neutral
value of a proposition in an utterance.
T. Givon (1993) expresses his opinion about modality in a short way: “ Modality
expresses the attitude of the speaker to the proposition" . According to him, attitude
includes two types of judgement of the S about the information of the utterance
conveyed through the proposition: a/ Judgements on reality, possibility, belief,
certainty or evidence; b/ Judgements on wishes, hobby, intention,capacity. T. Givon
also proposes 4 subtypes of epistemic modality which are dominant in language : Presupposition; realis assertion; irrealis assertion; negative assertion (113, part 1,
171).
1.3.2 Definition of Modality
The notion " modality" goes back to classical formal logic, from which linguist
borrows the classification of propositions into assertional (propositions of reality),
problematical (propositions of possibility), and apodictical (propositions of necessity)
and besides into reliable and probable propositions. Thereby in a general way was
specified semantic notional sphere of modality. The term “modality” is used in

various senses “ most generally, it may be defined as the manner in which the
meaning of a clause is qualified so as to reflect the speaker’s judgement of the
likelihood of the proposition it expresses being true. (Quirk, 1985, p.219). Basing on
some points of view of the authors above, we can give the definition of modality: “
Modality is described as the expression of the S’s attitude or opinion toward the
content of proposition”.(Understanding English Semantics- 2004 p.176)
Furthermore, according to Cao Xuan Hao “…The content of a proposition is
divided into two parts : The first part is called lexis or dictum, the second is named
modus (modality)”. Thus, reseaching modality is to consider two parts : The dictum
means what is said and the modus deals with how is said that is the S’s cognitive,
emotive…attitude about what is said.
1.3.3 Types of Modality

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Up to now,many authors are interested in classifying modality . Palmer notes
that modality is concerned with our opinions and attitudes, (1990), and most linguists
accept the existence of at least two types of modality, with one more type needed in
order to account for the auxiliaries given as a group in Headway. Modal, then, refers
to the formal properties of a certain class of words, while modality refers to the
meanings of those words (and others).
For Fairclough (2001), he divided modality into 2 types : The first type is
relationalship modality, with different participants processing certain levels of
authority. The second one is expressive modality, which indicates the evaluation of
the speaker toward the truth or probability of a representation of reality.
(Quoted in Nguyen Thi Huyen Le – B.A. Thesis)
Long time before Fairclough, Jesperson (1924, p.320) realizes modality into
two sub- categories :
- One of them contains an element of will : Hortative, precative, advisory,

obligative, permissive, optative(realiabe), promissive, intentional, dubitative,
potential, hypothetical,concessional, apodictive, conditional.
- The other named “ no element of will” : Necessitate, assertive, presumptive
However his proposals are judged to have so much limitation esp. Containing
little of theoretical significance, except for his recognition of two types and its terms
are used to realize “ deontic” and “epistemic” modality then
Finally, most of the linguists come to agreement that modality contains two
main kinds : Epistemic modality and deontic modality
1.3.3.1 Epistemic Modality
From the Greek, episteme means knowledge. Epistemic modality is concerned
with the speaker’s judgement of the truth of the proposition embeded in the
statement. Most researchers agree that epistemic modality can be defined as modality
expressing the speaker's attitude towards the truth and the degree of authenticity of
what is said. Epistemic modality is concerned with areas of possibility and necessity
which are refered to "weak" and "strong" epistemic modality. Weak epistemic
modality is grammaticalized with the verbs “can” and “may’. Strong epistemic

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modality is grammaticalized as “must” or “shall”. If I say, for example, “John may
go home.”, I am telling you that I am uncertain about the truth of the proposition
John is going home. Other examples of epistemic modality are must in “John must
be home. Look there’s his car.” and can’t in “John can’t be home yet. His flight
doesn’t arrive until 9 o’clock.”
According Palmer, there are at least four basic ways in which S presents what he
is saying or the fact:
(i)

That he is speculating about it.

(ii)
(iii)
(iv)

That he is presenting it as a deduction
That he has been told about it
That it is a matter only of appearance, base on the evidence of senses.

Possibility (i) is the area of what is commonly called judgement. The other three
possibilities (ii), (iii), (iv) represent three types of evidentiality
And there are some equivelent ways to express the degree of S’s commitment to
the truth of the proposition.
(i)

It is possible that.../ I think that...

(ii)
(iii)
(iv)

It is tobe concluded that .../ I conclude that
It is said that .../ someone says that
It appears that...

Thus, Epistemic is concerned with truth, belief and knowledge. Epistemic
meanings of modal verbs are related to the speaker's subjective interpretation of the
real world situation, which can be roughly divided into three categories:
- Necessity : Epistemic necessity indicate the speaker's certainty about the
proposition. And it is usually presented by must

- Prediction : Epistemic prediction, realized by will, would and shall often
present a statement of " I predict that…" made by the speaker
- Possibility : may, might, can, could are used to show epistemic possibility,
which indicate different levels of the speaker's uncertainty about the proposition
* We summarize forms and meanings of epistemic modality in the table below:
Forms

Meanings

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Necessity

Prediction

Possibility

Can/ could



May/ might



Will/would



Shall




Must

Table 1.1: Forms and Meanings of Epistemic Modality Expressed by Modal
Auxiliary Verbs
According to Palmer, epistemic modality is divided into two subtypes :
Judgement

and

evidence.

Of

which,

judgement

modality

involves

acknowledgement, ability, and necessity.
1.3.3.1.1. Judgement
Judgement modality is an epistemic modality that connotes S' strength of
inference or degree of confidence.

* Forms expressing Modal meanings
- Modal auxiliary verbs : May, might, will, must
- Lexical items ( Nouns, adverbs, adjectives, main verbs)
+ Nouns : necessity, possibility, probability, likelihood, chance, etc.
+ Adjectives : necessary, vital, possible, probable,etc.
+ Adverbs : Perhaps, maybe, possibly, probably, necessarily
+ Main verbs : Doubt, guess, look as if, appear, etc.
It involves necessity or possibility and has two degrees : a “ weak” one and a “
strong” one. Correlatively, there are two typical representatives: May and must.
May signals speculative inference, must signals deductive strength of inference.
* Judgement's meanings :
Modal judgement conveys the following meanings :
- Necessity
+ Must is often used to show "necessity" in term of judgement

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Eg : He must arrive at the airport by 10 o’clock
= It is necessary that he arrives at the airport by 10 o’clock
- Possibility
+ Realization of judgement possibility is may
Eg : He may arrive at the airport by 10 o’clock
= It is possible that he arrives at the airport by 10 o’clock.
+ Modal nouns, modal adverbs, modal adjectives all convey " possibility"
Eg : Perhaps he will not arrive
There is a possibility that I go abroad next month.
+ Conditionals also convey modal meaning " possibility"
Eg : If it rains, we will stay at home.
May and must carry Speculative and Deductive like the comment of Coats :

In its most normal usage, epistemic “must” conveys the speaker confidence in the
truth of what he is saying, base on the deduction from facts known to him (1983 :41)
May and might are the modals of epistemic possibility, expressing the speaker’s
lack of confidence in the proposition expressed.
In terms of negation, positive judgements can be made about negative
propositions and negative judgements about positive ones. " May not" can be used for
the former and " can not" for the latter.
Eg : They may be there
They may not be there = It is possible that they are not there
They can not be there = It is not possible that they are being there.
From the above illustration, it is easy to realize the logical relations between
"possibility" and "necessity" since " not possible" is equivalent to " necessary not"
and vice verse.
There is a difference between deontic and epistemic modality in using "may"
and "must", in epistemic "may" and "must" have no past tense forms that are used to
refer to past time. " May have" and "must have" occur but make present time
judgements about
past events

14


Eg : I met him in that restaurant yesterday. He must have come there many
times.
The usage of " may and must" is mentioned by Palmer under the term of "
inference and confidence". He quoted the comments of Coats (1983 :41) on "must" : "
the S's confidence in the truth of what he is saying based on a deduction from facts
known", on "may" " the S's lack of confidence in proposition expressed…". These
statements show the close relationship between the degree of S's confidence and
available information.

Besides " may" and "must", Palmer also mentions "will", "might" and "would"
as another realization of epistemic. Of which, " will" falls between "may" and "must"
" Will" often seems, like "must" indicate that the judgement is based on known
facts
* Forms and meanings of Judgement- epistemic modality will be summarized in
the table below :
Forms

Meanings
Necessity

Modal auxiliary

May/ might

verbs

will

Possibility



Must
Nouns





Adverbs





Adjectives

Lexical items







Main verbs
Others
Conditionals

Table 1.2 : Forms and Meanings of Judgement- Epistemic Modality
1.3.3.1.2 Evidentials
Evidentiality refers to the source of evidence the speaker has for his statement.
Commonly, evidentiality is divided into direct and indirect evidentiality. Direct
evidentials are used when the speaker has witnessed the action (visually, aurally,or

15


potentially, with the other senses) while indirect evidentials are used when the

speaker has not witnessed the action personally but has either deduced the action or
has heard about it from the others. When the action is deduced , we are taking about
inferentials. When information about event is conveyed through the others, they are
called quotative. Aikhenvald (2004,2006) indicated that there are two broad types of
evidential marking:
1. Indirectivity marking (type I)
2. Evidential marking ( type II)
Indirectivity known as inferentiality indicates whether evidence exits for a given
source of information- thus, they contrast direct information (reported directly) and
indirect information (reported indirectly). Unlike the second type (evidential
marking), indirectivity systems does not indicate information about source of
knowledge.
* Forms and meanings of Indirectivity marking
Quirk classified indirectivity marking into sub- catergories as following:
(i)

They express primarily a subjective view on the truth of what is said:
Certainly, admittedly, surely, undeniably, undoubtedly, unquestionably

(ii)

Eg : Undeniably, he is kind man.
Markers of degrees of convictions as open to objective evidence : Clearly,

(iii)

evidently, obviously, plainly.
Eg : Obviously, we will hold a meeting to discuss this problem tomorrow.
Markers of reality or lack of reality in what is said : actually, officially,
technically, theoretically.

Eg : Theoretically, This statement is not true.
* Forms and meanings of Evidential marking
The second type of evidentials specifies the nature of the evidence supporting a

statement. These kinds of evidence can be divided into such criteria as :
- witness and non- witness
- Firsthand, secondhand, thirdhand
- Sensory ( visual and non- visual)
- Inferential

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- Reportative ( Hearsay, quotative)
- Assumed
+ A witness evidential indicates that the information source was obtained
through direct
observation by the S. Usually this is from visual observation (eyewitness), but
some languages also mark information directly heard with information directly seen.
A witness evidential is usually contrasted with a nonwitness evidential which
indicates that the information was not witnessed personally but was obtained through
a secondhand source or was inferred by the speaker
Eg : I saw him climbing through the window.( witness)
He looks very tired. He must have worked hard all day( non-witness).
+ A secondhand evidential is used to mark any information that was not
personally observed or experienced by the speaker. This may include inferences or
reported information.
Eg : They said that he was sentenced for ten years. His wife must be very sad.
+ Sensory evidentials can often be divided into different types. visual evidence
differently from nonvisual evidence that is heard, smelled, or felt.

Eg : I went to Da Lat yesterday. The climate is very wonderful here. (visual
evidence)
My close friend went to Da Lat yesterday. She said that the climate is very
wonderful there. ( non- visual evidence)
+ An inferential evidential indicates information was not personally experienced
but was inferred from indirect evidence. Some languages have different types of
inferential evidentials. Some of the inferentials found indicate:
1. Information inferred by direct physical evidence,
2. Information inferred by general knowledge,
3. Information inferred/assumed because of speaker's experience with
similar situations,
4. Past deferred realization.
Eg :

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+ Reportative evidentials indicate that the information was reported to the
speaker by another person. A few languages distinguish between hearsay evidentials
and quotative evidentials. Hearsay indicates reported information that may or may
not be accurate.
Eg : He is rumoured to be lady- killer.
+ A quotative indicates the information is accurate and not open to
interpretation (i.e., is a direct quotation).
Eg : He said that he had lived in london for 5 years.
1.3.3.2 Deontic Modality
The second primary category of modality is deontic modality. Deontic in the
Greek means duty .Deontic modality is described as performative: Deontic modals are
used to impose obligation, give permission, or make a promise or in some other way
influence or direct the behaviour of the addressee (Palmer 1988 : 96-98 and 1990 :

69-72). Deontic modality is concerned with “influencing actions, states, or events” .
In other words, it is oriented towards performing speech acts – doing things with
words, as Austin would say. When we say, “John may go home now.” to give John
permission to leave, or when we advise, “Elena should go home. She looks tired.” We
are using deontic modality.
These descriptions raise several considerations. The first is that we used the
same modal, may. We consider the difference in two meanings of the sentence “ John
may go home now" :
(i)

John may go home now = John is allowed to go home now

(ii)

John may go home now = It is possible that John goes home now

In the first case, the speaker

gives John permission to go home (deontic

modality) and in the second case the S tell his listener that he is not certain if John is
going home (epistemic modality), this may cause ambiguity. This ambiguity is found
throughout the modal system (and not only in English) and from this example we can
see that modality is a complex issue and it is one of the reasons that classroom
activities and exercises focusing on modality can be so difficult to develop.
Epistemically, there seems to be little difference between have to and must

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