An important part of verbal communication is the transfer of the speaker's attitude to information from the standpoint of the probability and reliability of events. In language, the transmission of these relations occurs with the help of a phenomenon such as modality. Modal words are one of the means of a language to convey modality. The article will discuss ways of expressing modality, classifying modal words and their syntactic role.
What is modality?
The word modus is translated from Latin as a way, an image. Modality is a characteristic that conveys various types of attitude of utterance to reality, as well as the subjective qualification of the information communicated.
The following modality values are distinguished in relation to the utterance:
- necessity, desirability;
- probability is improbability;
- opportunity - impossibility;
- reliability - unreliability;
- expression of will;
- reality - irreality;
- appraisal.
Simply put, with the help of modality, a person can give his statement a special shade expressing distrust, doubt, desire, demand, confidence, etc.
Ways to Express
Linguistic modality transfer methods are as follows:
- Prosodic (intonation): intonation, stress.
- Morphological: moods of the verb (in Russian, mainly the subjunctive mood).
- Syntactic: elements of a sentence that do not have a grammatical relationship with the sentence members (introductory words and constructions, punctuation).
- Lexico-semantic means: introduction-modal words, adverbs, modal verbs.
What are modal words
Modal words in the Russian language convey the connection of the utterance with reality. They are not syntactically related to other parts of the sentence, but are emphasized by intonation in the sentence. By morphological properties, these words are unchangeable. Usually appear in the sentence as introductory words and introductory constructions.
For instance:
- Is that right, the wind whistles in the attic?
- I carefully looked at her: in fact, she did not cry.
The words “true” and “actually” are modal words. They express the attitude to the essence of the statement in terms of possibility and reality.
Modal words in Russian can be difficult to distinguish from adverbs and particles. For instance:
- I really did not want to be late. (Here "really" is a particle).
- The stranger took off his hat - indeed, it was Matthew. (In this case, “really” is a modal word and is punctuated apart).
Classification
Modal words in Russian differ in types. There are two reasons for their classification.
- By lexical meaning.
- On the part of speech from which they come.
These categories need to be considered in more detail.
Classification by value
The lexical meaning distinguish the following groups of words.
Words for expressing confidence, affirmation, conviction:
- sure;
- by itself;
- undoubtedly;
- unequivocally;
- unconditionally;
- of course;
- undeniably;
- without a doubt, etc.
Examples of sentences with modal words of this group in Russian:
- Of course, I will come to this meeting.
- Without a doubt, Anna will do what she planned.
Words expressing assumption, uncertainty, doubt:
- perhaps;
- probably;
- not excluded;
- permissible;
- probably;
- may be;
- should be;
- I suppose, etc.
Examples of offers:
- Perhaps you yourself are not so sure of your innocence.
- It must have rained at night: puddles on the roads, fog in the air.
Classification by origin
This basis of classification is due to the part of speech from which a modal word or expression was formed. The following types are distinguished.
- Variable (truth, fact, in a word, truth). For example: In a word, I did not cope with this task.
- Verbal (it seems, as they say, of course, you know, you see, you think): Of course, she could not come for some important reason.
- Educated from short adjectives (definitely, undoubtedly, indisputably, decisively, truly, truly): Decisively tired of this music.
- Educated from collocations (maybe it should be, really): Maybe this was our last meeting.
What words do not belong to modal
Some categories of words are not modal, although they occupy a similar place in the syntax. It:
- words conveying an emotional assessment of facts (to surprise, unfortunately, fortunately);
- words that have a clarifying or explanatory meaning (by the way, in general, in particular, in contrast);
- words related to the way the statement is made, the order of thoughts (first, so, finally, on the contrary, however).
It is worth noting that modal words are not a fully understood phenomenon of language. Linguists disagree on the classification of modal words and on which words are considered modal and which are not. For example, modal words that convey an emotional attitude are distinguished by some scholars as modal.
Modal verbs
The lexical tools used to express modality include modal verbs. They convey the attitude of opportunity, necessity, duty, desire. For example: to want, to desire, to be obliged, to be obligated, to need, to be able to, etc. For example: He needed help more than he realized.
In Russian, modal verbs are not fully understood and play a lesser role in the transmission of modality than modal words.
Conclusions on the article:
- Modality is a category of speech that conveys the speaker’s attitude to utterance.
- Means of expressing modality are divided into prosodic, lexical, morphological and syntactic.
- Modal words are classified by origin and lexical meaning.
- The topic of modality in Russian is still not fully explored.