Appunti di Linguistica inglese 2 (secondo anno), 2023/2024

INTERPERSONAL MEANINGS

– Polarity and Modality

POLARITY = a choice between “yes” and “no”

➔ but “yes” and “no” are not the only possibilities in exchanges. There are

➔ intermediate degrees, various kinds of indeterminacy that fall in-between

examples: ‘sometimes’ and ‘maybe’

◆ these intermediate degrees, between the positive and negative

◆ poles, are known collectively as MODALITY

– Modality Definition

is the grammatical system that is used by speakers and writers to make

➔ assessments from the point of view of probability, usuality, temporality, typicality,

willingness, inclination, capacity and obligation

– Proposition Definition

is the content of a sentence

➔ it does not pertain to interpersonal meanings but it is useful to know what it means

➔

– Mood Definition

the mood is that part of the clause that includes Subject and Finite(it can also

➔ include Modal Adjuncts)

– Projection Definition

in a sentence you can have a projecting clause and a projected clause

➔ in the projecting clause you must have a mental process or a verbal

◆ process(only these process can project) : mental processes project

thoughts, verbal processes project locutions

– Grammatical resources to express modality

Modal adjuncts*

● Modal operators*

● Multi-word expressions*

●

Modality types

Modal Verbs and semi-modal verbs*

while shall is quite uncommon in English as a modal of obligation, in regulatory

❖ texts it is highly favoured

in English, a single form may be used to express more than one type of

❖ modality

for example, both “must” and “may” have two distinct uses, which are often

➢ referred to as distinct senses: epistemic vs. deontic

Modal adjuncts* include:

Mood Adjuncts (included in the Mood Block between Subject and Finite

● or after the Finite)

[“actually” = expresses the truth or facts of a situation; synonym of «really»]

[“utterly” = most nouns after “utterly” are negative]

[“entirely” = most nouns after “entirely” are neutral or

positive]

Modality through multi-word expressions*

both modalization and modulation can be expressed not just through Modal

➔ Adjuncts and Modal Verbs but also through multi-word expressions

modalization: «It is usual for» «It is likely that»

◆ modulation: «It is necessary» «It is required that» «X is supposed to»

◆ «X is willing to»

Value of modality

modality value concerns the extent to which a writer or speaker commits

➔ him/herself to the validity of what s/he is writing/saying

this can be high, median or low

◆

* if shall is used in a legal document its value is high

if may is used for degrees of probability its value is median

★

– Orientation of Modality

SOURCE OF MODALITY

the speaker/ writer/ narrator or someone whose views are being

➔ reported

to identify the source of modality is important in all text types: literature,

◆ opinion articles, science discourse, etc

1. How do writers/ speakers position or “orient” themselves in relation to a

proposition?

2. How do writers/ speakers show that they accept responsibility for what they say/

write?

3. How do writers/ speakers indicate the strength of their own or others’ opinions?

4. How do writers/speakers show that they align to or disalign from others’ opinions?

the analysis of the source of modality and its orientation provides linguistic clues

➔ for understanding writers/speakers’ social roles, their attitudes towards

their cultural context and the power relations they entertain with their

audience in the communicative/ situational context

POINT OF VIEW: explicit, implicit, no point of view (apparently)

➔ a sentence starts with a capital letter and ends with a punctuation mark

◆ a clause must have a finite = a finite is that part of the Verbal Group

■ that is marked by tense, modality or polarity

the tag question of a clause is made up of FINITE + SUBJECT

■

examples:

◆ I think it is the same knife = writer’s/speaker’s point of view is

■ explicitly expressed (“I think”)

It could be the same knife = writer’s/speaker’s point of view is

■ implicitly expressed by “could” (low

value modalization)

It is the same knife = no modality, no point of view; this

■ statement looks like a fact, not a matter

of opinion

Explicit vs Implicit:

◆ example 1 (I think it is the same knife) and example 2 (It could be

■ the same knife) from a grammatical point of view they have a different

logical structure

in example 1 “I think” provides an explicit instantiation of

○ writer’s/speaker’s orientation/opinion

in example 1 “I think” projects a

○ proposition→orientation is provided by the projecting

clause “I think” here orientation is encoded in a

→

clause that is separated from the proposition

in example 2 we have a simple clause: this is the proposition

○ and it also instantiates the writer’s orientation with the

modal «could»

Explicit Orientation: subjective vs objective

◆ examples:

■ I think it is the same knife

○ It is possible/interesting that it is the same knife, but I am

○ not totally convinced

examples contain explicit orientation but there is a

→both

difference between the two = the difference is not in the clause that

expresses the proposition, but in the clause that expresses the

orientation

in example 1 the pronoun “I” shows that the orientation is the

○ subjective position of the writer

in example 2 the pronoun “It” shows that the orientation is

○ objectified and that the writer takes distance

so EXAMPLE 1 is an Explicit Subjective Orientation and

→

EXAMPLE 2 is an Explicit Objective Orientation

Implicit orientation: subjective vs objective

◆ examples:

■ It can be the same knife = the writer expresses his

○ opinion in relation to the

proposition with the modal

verb “can”(can is a finite verb

so grammatically is close to the

subject providing a subjective

example of orientation)

It is probably the same knife = the writer expresses his

○ opinion with the modal

adjunct “probably”(unlike the

modal verb, this is not

grammatically connected to the

subject so it provides a more

objective case than example 1)

Modality types and orientation

Summing up:

- Explicit forms = more than one clause; but BE CAREFUL, there has to be a

projection (or a multiword equivalent expression) with the projecting clause

expressing speaker’s orientation and the projected the proposition

- Explicit subjective = Orientation is expressed in the projecting clause with

Senser/Sayer + projecting Process

- Explicit objective = Orientation is expressed by an “It Clause” as projecting

clause

- Implicit forms = modal verbal operator or Modal Adjunct are in the Mood Block of

one clause/proposition

- Implicit subjective = modality expressed by a modal verbal operator

- Implicit objective = modality expressed by a Modal Adjunct or expressions

of modality

– Engagement

Dictionary meaning:

1. (engage someone in) = involve someone in a conversation or discussion

a. They attempted to engage Anthony in conversation

b. We must engage them in discussions that involve their experiences, their

questions and their standards

c. I'd be happy to engage her in a discussion about the value of advertising

2. [no object] (engage in or be engaged in) = participate or become involved in

a. Each of the named individuals is a scientist who engages in research

involving animals

b. He has been actively engaged in an open exchange on what Indonesia is and

should be

Engagement Definition:

the Engagement System, like Orientation of Modality, is concerned with “resources

➔ for positioning the speaker’s or the author’s voice with respect to the

various propositions or pro