Abstract
The aim of the article is to examine the semantic and syntactic properties of modal words inGerman. The paper analyzes the types of modal semantics which are encoded in modal words; the peculiarities of the syntactic use of modal words are shown; the relationship between the type of modal semantics and their syntactic use is revealed, and the question which words with evaluative semantics can beclassified as modal is considered. The relevance of this kind of work is determined by the following circumstances: firstly, it is necessary to describe the syntax and the semantics of modal words and their grammarfeatures; secondly, it is important to reveal the relationship between modality and evaluativity and, thirdly,to define the conditions under which modal words can encode not one but several modal meanings. Byusing the transformation method and the method of component analysis the following groups of modalwords were identified: modal words with alethic semantics; modal words with epistemic semantics; modalwords with evidential semantics. Some modal words build separate groups: The modal word angeblichhas evidential semantics, because it indicates the third person as a source of information; the modal wordwahrscheinlich can have epistemic or evidential or alethic and evidential semantics; the modal word leideris able to express an emotional attitude of the speaker. The identification of different types of modal words is possible through the research of their syntactic properties, namely: the usage in dependent object clauseswith the epistemic and factive predicate in the matrix clause; in conditional sentences as well as the abilityto have independent usage as an answer to a question without a question word.
Highlights
The aim of the article is to examine the semantic and syntactic properties of modal words in German
The paper analyzes the types of modal semantics which are encoded in modal words
the question which words with evaluative semantics can be classified as modal is considered
Summary
Система частей речи немецкого языка включает в себя такой разряд слов как модальные слова. Цель настоящей работы состоит в том, чтобы описать семантические и синтаксические особенности класса модальных слов в немецком языке. Цель определила следующие задачи: (1) проанализировать виды модальной семантики, передаваемой модальными словами; (2) показать особенности синтаксического употребления модальных слов; (3) раскрыть взаимосвязь между видом модальной семантики и особенностями их синтаксического употребления и (4) рассмотреть вопрос о том, какие слова с оценочной семантикой можно отнести к разряду модальных. Актуальность настоящей работы определяется, во-первых, необходимостью описания семантики и синтаксиса модальных слов и, соответственно, их грамматических свойств; во-вторых, потребностью в выявлении соотношения между модальностью и оценочностью; в-третьих, важностью определения условий, при которых модальные слова могут нести не одно, а два модальных значения.
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