On contrasting the semantics of the modal auxiliaries of German and English

Abstract

This study attempts to show that the model which I developed elsewhere to explain the semantic structure of the German modal system (Bouma 1973) is also generally applicable to the modals of English. The theory underlying my approach is based on the notion of (grammatical) meaning found in Joos (1964) and Jakobson (1971).The modal auxiliary system in both languages is seen as a grammatical category (relative assertion) which stands in specific opposition to the absence of a modal in a sentence (factual assertion). The general grammatical meaning conveyed by the modal auxiliary category is that the speaker sees the event as standing in a potential relation to reality. In both languages there is a type of scalarity of probability from precariousness (50/50 probability: KANN, DARF: CAN, MAY) to imminence (near certainty: MUSS, WILL; MUST, HAVE TO, WILL, WANT TO). Both modal systems can also be characterized in terms of the speaker's view of the involvement of the actor (grammatical subject). If the speaker views the actor as the initiator of the realization of the event he uses a subjective modal (e.g. German WILL: English WANT TO), and he uses an objective modal if he views the initiator as an agency outside of the actor (e.g. MUSS; MUST).