Lexical Means of Expressing Modality in Modern English Language

Brilliant Magomedovna Abubakarova

, Petimat Khalidovna Almurzaeva

and Timerlan Ibrahimovich Usmanov

Saint-Petersburg State University of Economics, Saint-Petersburg, Russian Federation

Kadyrov Chechen State University, Grozny, Russian Federation

Keywords: Modality, Adverb, Language, Semantics, Modal Meanings.

Abstract: The authors emphasize that language development is determined by the development of the society. The

article deals with lexical means of expressing modality in English, which have specific functional features.

The aim of the work is to investigate the semantics of modal adverbs, revealing their main semantic and

syntactic features. The object of the study is adverbs, defined as indicators of subjective modality. Language

is a means of communication that performs its main function. It is emphasized that language and thinking are

inextricably linked, and the results of thinking form a close relationship with semantics. One of the most

important categories of language is modality as a compulsory sign of an utterance. Linguistic modality is

relevant in modern linguistics. This phenomenon has its own specifics. The research question is relevant due

to the need to clarify the semantic possibilities of modal words in modern English. The main purpose of the

work is to study the semantics of modal adverbs, their features in various utterances. The theoretical basis of

the study is the works of V. V. Vinogradov, A. B. Bondarko, O. I. Moskalskaya. Modal words and phrases

quite often become the subject of interest for modern linguists. The specificity and functional features of these

words and phrases lead them to contradictory opinions about their nature. The authors conclude that the

specificity of the modal meaning of words is due to the objectivity of statements in relation to reality.

1 INTRODUCTION

It is important to note that modality is used in a

variety of sciences, from logic and linguistics to

philosophy. Many scientists, such as F. R. Palmer, E.

V. Gordon, N. M. Rayevskaya and others have

studied the problem of modality. Each of them

proposed their own theories and gave arguments to

support their views. When studying the material, we

inevitably face the question of the category of

modality content itself, for only the correct definition

of what the category of modality is – that is the

consideration of the problem as a whole – will allow

us to outline the successful way of research on such a

particular issue as the study of the English language

means of expressing modality. Modality, due to such

a great interest among linguists, has become the

subject of the present study. We limited ourselves to

the study of lexico-grammatical means of expressing

modality in modern English. The choice of the

research object is due to its insufficient study, on the

one hand, and the relevance of this problem, on the

other (Admoni, 1965, Alisova, 1971).

Modality is a complex category of language,

which is found in many languages. Unfortunately,

there is no exact definition of this category. Modality,

of course, is very important in any language, because

the modal words determine the meaning of the

statement. However, it is necessary to consider

modality from different angles. It is an important

integral part in every sentence that forms it.

Modality is defined as a semantic category. In

English, there are many parts of speech which express

modality (e.g., modal particles, modal verbs, etc.).

The term modality is defined differently in many

languages, and many terms are taken from modal

logics (Almurzaeva, 2019). Because of this, in

English it is very difficult to determine the exact

meaning of an utterance that accurately defines the

meaning of modality, since the meaning of utterances

is very variable.

Modality is also described as "the speaker's

attitude toward a statement or statement toward

reality or realization, which can be expressed in

various linguistic forms. (Coates, 1983).

160

Abubakarova, B., Almurzaeva, P. and Usmanov, T.

Lexical Means of Expressing Modality in Modern English Language.

DOI: 10.5220/0011608900003577

In Proceedings of the 1st International Conference on Actual Issues of Linguistics, Linguodidactics and Intercultural Communication (TLLIC 2022), pages 160-169

ISBN: 978-989-758-655-2

 2023 by SCITEPRESS – Science and Technology Publications, Lda. Under CC license (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)

Many linguists search for a terminology of

modality. The notion of "modality" originates from

the influence of formal logic in philosophy as

modality of judgment. Finnish scientist Ahti Jantti at

the seminar in Finland, devoted to the problems of

modality, its development in linguistics, rightly

points out the necessity to distinguish logical and

linguistic modality (Almurzaeva, 2022):

"Die Modalität in der Philosophie und die

Modalität in der Sprachwissenschaft dürfen aber

nicht identifiziert werden, obwohl sie einiges

gemeinsam haben" (Jänti, 1989).

Those formulations which are adequate from the

logical point of view do not exhaust the content of

linguistic modality. Those meanings which linguists

consider as modal (prompting, affirmation, question,

negation, etc.) are considered by logicians as non-

modal for the reason that they "overlap", i.e. occur

within one utterance (Aristotle, 1981). And this,

according to the laws of logics, violates the basic

principle of the logical operation of concepts division.

However, we cannot agree with such a basis for

limiting modal meanings. Language is a natural

formation, it "does not require that formal-logical

sequence of principles of division which is necessary

for classification of abstract concepts", therefore the

statement is the sphere of existence of various

language categories where their "neighborhood" is

quite appropriate and does not mean paradigmatic

crossing (Humboldt, 1984). Modality in modern

English has to do with the world, not only with the

world that exists, but also with what it could

potentially be. It can revolve around people's beliefs

about this world or their potential actions in this

regard (Bondarko, 1987).

Modal concepts refer to the concepts of the

possible, the necessary, the probable, the possible,

and the like.

The idea of modality is an old one, dating back to

classical Greek philosophy. Aristotle attaches

particular importance to the concepts of possibility

and necessity. The emergence of such notions seems

to be due to the fact that people often think and

behave as if things could be different than they

actually are. In recent decades, philosophers and

logicians have tried to analyze modal concepts by

interpreting them as statements about possible

worlds. Possible worlds can be divided into different

types (called modalities) according to the conceptual

structure in which an event or sentence is considered

real or true (Aristotle, 1981).

Some linguists hold the view that there are three

main means of modality (Vinogradov, 1975):

1) Modality related to rational laws and deduction.

2) Modality relating to social or constitutional

laws.

3) Modality, which is concerned with the relations

between empirical circumstances and the states of

affairs that derive from them, that is, natural laws

(Belyaeva, 1987) (Bally, 1955).

In linguistics, the category of modality is regarded

as conceptual modality, that is, it is transmitted in

language by means of concepts. These concepts are

not manifested in the language itself, but in its lexical

and grammatical structure, noting the connection with

all the utterance (Belyaeva, 1987)

Thus, modality refers to the actual status of

information; it signals the relative relevance,

credibility, or plausibility of the content of an

expression (Petrova, 2011).

The purpose of this article is to review the

scientific and methodological literature on the

problem of modality and the study of semantics of

modal adverbs, identifying their main semantic and

syntactic features. The units under study are adverbs

which are indicators of subjective modality (Gordon,

1968).

Research methods: There are many means of

expressing modality in English. Some of these means

have been studied and some are still being studied.

There are logical, grammatical and semantic

approaches to modality, but in general this

phenomenon also seems to point to the field of

pragmatics, since modality operates above the level

of a pure sentence (Philosophy of grammar, 1958).

2 LITERATURE REVIEW

Modality was studied by such researchers as S. Bally,

F. R. Palmer, G. V. Kolshansky, N. M. Raevskaya, T.

B. Alisova, G. A. Zolotova, A. V. Bondarko, etc.

They considered the complex category of modality.

Usually modality refers to the modal meaning in the

structure of a sentence. As mentioned above, the field

of modality has occupied the minds of many scholars,

and many theories have appeared over time. In his

book, F. Palmer points out two differences in the way

languages treat the category of modality. The

differences are between modal systems and moods.

But he also argues that the typology of modality may

be different because of the complexity of linguistic

differences in different languages (Ivanova, 1981).

Richard Coates (1983) divides modality into

epistemic (external) and radical (internal). E.I.

Belyaeva, characterizing epistemic modality in her

work "Epistemic modality in English and Russian",

also emphasizes the role of the speaking subject:

Lexical Means of Expressing Modality in Modern English Language

161

"Epistemic modality is a linguistic expression of the

degree of cognition by the speaking subject of the

links and relations between the object and the sign.

Epistemic modality is always subjective, as it is

associated with the speaker's inference". (Belyaeva,

1987) [14].

"In general, let us emphasize that modality is a

subjective-objective or subjective-relative category,

which fixes in the system of language the results of

the speaker's evaluation of relations and links of

reality in terms of their nature, cognition or

desirability and thereby objectifies ways of

expressing this evaluation by any speaker in each

specific speech act. Subjectivity of reality evaluation

itself in the speech act is limited by objectively

existing relations (that, however, does not mean that

each speaker adequately evaluates them in terms of

truth), subjectivity of evaluation expression is limited

by a set of typified means of expression". (Belyaeva,

1987). As a result, there was a division of modality

into objective and subjective (Yartseva, 2002).

The similar approach to division of modality into

objective and subjective was first established in logic,

and then in linguistics.

However, despite the fact that the logical

approach to the division of modality into objective

and subjective impoverishes it, narrows its scope,

does not cover all modal meanings (the limiting role

of the logical approach to the category of modality

has already been mentioned above), the concepts of

objective and subjective modality have been

established in linguistics and found their development

here.

In objective modality scientists began to

distinguish aletic modality and deontic modality.

Aletic modality expresses a possibility and necessity

of relation between a subject and a sign, and deontic

modality determines a relation between a subject and

a sign, conditioned by social laws, moral and ethical

norms (Almursaeva, 2019).

F.R. Palmer prefers the word "deontic" to

"radical" modality (Palmer, 1990). On the other hand,

Richard Coates (Coates, 1983) prefers "radical" to

"deontic" because it is not limited to the expression of

obligation and permission. Radical modality includes

"deontic".

and "dynamic" modality. Through these two basic

types of modality, speakers are enabled to perform

two important communicative functions:

a) commenting and evaluating interpretations of

reality;

b) intervening and making changes in events.

F. R. Palmer agrees that the distinction between

"epistemic" and "radical" modality is more correct

and clearer (Palmer, 1990). According to Richard

Coates, "epistemic" modality is subjective because it

involves human judgment and expresses the speaker's

attitude to the sentence (Coates, 1983). A.N. Lyons

says that "epistemic" modal forms lack the past tense

form and are not influenced by negation and aspect.

"Radical" modality, on the other hand, assumes

human control, so "radical" modals are harder to

characterize, although they can be identified using

features such as appearance with an animate object,

stress, and intonation (Coates, 1983). Other authors

argue that there is a clear distinction between the

terms "deontic" and "radical" modality, although this

distinction may not be clear in some studies, and these

terms may be used synonymously. The use of the

term "radical" emphasizes the aspect of modality.

F.R. Palmer distinguishes between two types of

modality: the modality of utterances and the modality

of events. They, in turn, also have their own subtypes.

Event modality refers to events that are not

actualized. It includes (Miloserdova, 1991):

I. Deontic modality - the speaker expresses

conditioning factors external to the person in

question:

a) permissive modality - permission is given on

the basis of some rules, laws, or the speaker;

b) obligatory modality - an obligation is imposed

on the addressee on the basis of some authority;

c) forbidding modality - the forms are formulated

with the words: forbidden, has no right, cannot,

is not allowed.

II. Dynamic modality - the speaker expresses

conditioning factors that are internal to the person

concerned (Byrd, 2008):

(a) ability - expresses the ability to do something;

b) volitional modality - expresses the willingness

to do something (Palmer, 1990).

Each modal verb in sentences expresses an

epistemic or deontic modality. In addition, there are

some differences, for example, deontic "must" and

"may" can be negative, whereas epistemic "must" and

"may" cannot be, and if "must" and "may" follow

"have" in the conclusion, they express epistemic

modality (Cambridge Advanced Learner’s

Dictionary, Carroll, 1865).

Modality is related to the speaker's evaluation or

attitude (certainty) about the state or affairs. Hence,

modality deals with different worlds. In a sentence

like "He must be right," we are dealing with the world

of knowledge and reason. This type of modality is

known as epistemic modality

E.g. I think Nicole is less sick than anyone thinks

– she only cherishes her illness as an instrument of

power. (F. S. Fitzgerald, p. 259)

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E.g.: Я думаю, что Николь менее больна, чем

кто-либо думает - она дорожит своей болезнью

только как инструментом власти (Duden, 2016).

Realizing epistemic modality by means of verbs

mаy, mіght, can, could, should, wіll, must, ought to,

these modal forms express various meanings from

possibility to certainty, grammatically: through

inflections, lexically: through adverbs or special

intonational patterns.

In the realization of deontic modality, indicating

possibility or necessity, these forms are not

traditionally perceived by personal and social

standards (Duran) .

Another subcategory of deontic modality is

"directive" modality. Directive modality is used to

denote the means that the speaker uses to control

another's behavior. Modal auxiliaries are particularly

important in this regard; they are used to order,

rebuke, insist, suggest, permit, etc (Forrest, 2014).

E.g.: Assuming that you decide to take the plunge,

you should if possible determine at the same time

whether you are going to practise on the common law

or on the Chancery side. (BNC)

E.g.: Предполагая, что вы решите сделать

решительный шаг, вам следует, если возможно,

одновременно определить, собираетесь ли вы

заниматься практикой по

общему праву или

работать в канцелярии.

E.g. You should hear her talking about Gesner.

You should see her doing her impersonation of him;

one of the funniest things I've ever seen (BNC).

E.g.: Вы должны услышать, как она говорит

о Геснере. Вы должны увидеть, как она

подражает ему; это одна из самых забавных

вещей, которые я когда-либо видел.

Е. С. Petrova (2011) considers the ways of

expressing directive meanings in English and Russian

in comparative terms. Both languages use a single-

partite verb structure for direct inducement to action,

and in Russian the directive verb can change in

number, where the plural form can serve not only to

address several addressees, but also as a form of

polite address. Both languages use the two-part

structure of the directive sentence, which allows us to

emphasize the contrast between the actions of the

speaker and those to which the addressee is prompted

(You take those two on the tray. And I’ll just put this

milk away. – Ты поставь их на поднос и унеси. А я

молоко уберу.). In two-part English directives it is

possible to combine a subject expressed by an

indefinite pronoun with an imperative verb

(Somebody, get one more chair, please.), while in

Russian impersonal infinitive sentences with a dative

are used for this purpose (Никому не двигаться!).

In speech, the deontic realization can be carried

out with the help of grammatical moods, namely, the

imperative mood:

E.g. Go away and forget it (BNC)

modal verbs: Well I shall have a look. (BNC)

other verbs: …so I hope to hear from her this

week. (BNC)

E.g.: Уходи и забудь.

modal verbs: Хорошо, я посмотрю.

other verbs: …так что я надеюсь получить

известие от нее на этой неделе.

Deontic modality is opposed to aletic and

epistemic modalities. The relations of deontic modal

concepts are studied by deontic logicians. Deontic

modal forms are distinguished by a special relation to

normative, also evaluative concepts (consciousness,

virtue, significance, etc.).

According to F.R. Palmer, deontic modality has

the role of the forthcoming, while epistemic

modality includes the informer’s approach to the

truth of the past, the present or the forthcoming.

According to Richard Coates, epistemic modality is

the relationship of the communicating circumstance

as well as the factors of reality.

The three meanings (epistemic, deontic, dynamic)

can be referred to differently in a variety of literatures.

For example, dynamic modality in addition is called

voluntary/inherent. It is described as attributing to the

subject, i.e., the element can do the action articulated

by the main verb.

Thus, there are four main types of epistemic

modal markers in English (Table 1) (Jespersen, 1933,

Macmillan, 2003):

Table 1: Modals.

modal auxiliaries may, might, can,

could, must and othe

lexical modal verbs seem, appea

modal adjectives/

adverbs

likely, probably, etc

3 RESEARCH RESULTS

There are many means of expressing modality in

English. Some of these means have been studied and

some are still being studied (Macmillan, 2003).

There are lexical means of expressing modality:

modal meanings can be expressed by nouns,

adjectives, verbs, adverbs, and particles. It is well

known that nouns by themselves cannot act at the

level of the whole sentence in which they participate.

But they can denote the abstract concepts underlying

Lexical Means of Expressing Modality in Modern English Language

163

the modality and its various elements. In

constructions with verbs with more or less auxiliary

functions, such nouns can even replace modal verbs.

As part of a prepositional phrase, they may replace

modal adverbs. An important feature of such "modal

nouns" is the ability to take infinitive constructions or

even embedded sentences as objects. These nouns

then usually play two roles: 1) they refer to the

sentence as a whole (anaphorically, like pronouns),

and 2) they project modality (the type denoted by

their meaning) into the sentence at the same time. If

the sentence is given only in the form of an infinitive

construction, its subject is also controlled by the noun

(Quirk, 1972).

Modal nouns express probability, necessity,

chance, likelihood, degree, necessity, opportunity,

ability, demand, inquiry, etc.

E.g. There is a chance that he will dare to leave.

To break with Hitler, defect (BNC).

E.g.: Есть шанс, что он осмелится уйти.

Чтобы порвать с Гитлером, дезертировать

(Table 2).

Table 2: Modal adjectives include:

They produce modal contexts of varying degrees,

depending on how the speaker or writer understands

the situation.

E.g.: It would be as soon as possible, but they

couldn't say exactly how long (BNC).

Возможно, это будет очень скоро, но они не

могли сказать точно, как долго.

If the Government were likely to meet the full cost,

the proposal would be unnecessary (BNC).

Если бы правительство могло покрыть все

расходы, то это предложение было бы

ненужным (НКРЯ).

However it is not necessary to own all the

available shapes, some have very specific uses which

may only needed on rare occasions (BNC).

Однако не обязательно владеть всеми

доступными формами, некоторые имеют очень

конкретные применения, которые могут

потребоваться только в редких

случаях.

‘It is impossible not to notice that our world is

tormented by failure, hate, guilt and fear’. (W.

Saroyan, quote) – «Невозможно не заметить, что

наш мир мучают неудачи, ненависть, вина и

страх». (В. Сароян, цитата)

Modal lexical verbs include such ones as ‘advise’,

‘intend’, ‘suggest’, ‘recommend’, ‘demand’,

‘propose’, ‘wish’. Modal lexical verb to have to can

take inflexional endings and infinitive subordinate

clause beginning with to as an object. Yet auxiliary

verb “to do” is used in interrogative sentences.

E.g.: I have to take off my shoes whenever I can

(BNC).

Мне приходится снимать обувь всякий раз,

когда я могу.

The use of modal particles is not widely spread in

Modern English, especially in Britain English.

Though they are more frequently used in the speech

of the Americans. The following example with too

and so is opposed to what was said (Parallel case,

http://www.ruscorpora.ru/search-para-en.html):

The E.g.: re is too a growing appreciation of the

need for an international approach to hydrological

problems... (BNC).

Также растет понимание необходимости

международного подхода к гидрологическим

проблемам

...

So a nursing home, hospital and school,

residential or otherwise, is never certificated, and any

advice that we give is exactly that (BNC).

Таким образом, дом престарелых, больница и

школа, жилые или другие, никогда не проходят

сертификацию, и любые советы, которые мы

даем, являются именно такими.

As a rule, to express the meaning of apology such

lexical means as markers are used. These markers can

be used in the speech interchangeably and to change

positions. Probably, these are adverbs that attract

most attention in the English Grammar (BNC).

«Модальные слова – относительно закрытый

класс в немецком языке» (Helbig, 1993).

«Модальные слова отвечают на вопросы

предложения» (Helbig, 1994).

Модальные слова являются частью наречий во

многих книгах

, но модальные слова, в отличие от

наречий, не могут использоваться в нереальных

желательных предложениях. Также невозможно

able способный

advisable Желаемый

anxious Т

евожный

bound Связанный

concerned Заинтересованный

crucial Важный

desirable Желаемый

essential С

щественный

ittin

Подходящий

imperative Императивный

important Важный

likely Вероятно

necessar

Необходимый

ossible Возможный

osed П

едполагаемый

ure Уверенный

vital Жизненный

willing Желающий

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спросить о модальных словах: «Как он идет?

Возможно» (Helbig, 1993).

«Modal words are relatively closed class of

speech parts» (Helbig, 1993).

«Modal words respond to sentence questions»

(Helbig, 1994).

Modal words are regarded as parts of adverbs in

many books, but modal words cannot be used in

unreal desirable sentences. Also it is impossible to ask

such questions as: “How does he go? Possible”, –

concerning modal words (Helbig, 1993).

Adverbs formulate concrete verb details and

express speaker’s position towards the event (Helbig,

1994).

«He does not come in time to official meetings» –

(adverb). «He, probably, will not come to the staff

meeting» – (modal word). The speaker uses modal

word to express his opinion, that he suspects the man

will not come. In German, if you want to negate

modal words, the negative word comes after the

modal word in contrast to adverbs.

«He will not come in time. He, possibly, will not

come» (Helbig, 1993) (Quirk, 1972).

Because of their great diversity class of adverbs

are the least defined among the traditional parts of

speech. Indeed, it is tempting to simply say that

adverb is an element that does not correspond to the

definitions of other parts of speech. The term

«adverb» is slightly problematic. Traditional

grammars use it to denote any structure, changing

adjective, any structure changing adverb, and any

structure changing verb. Some modern grammars

avoid using thе term «adverb», using nothing but

semantic terms, such as adverbial modifier, or

structural terms such as addition. As a part of speech

the category term «adverb» is applied to different set

of elements of English, including verb modifiers,

adverbs, adjectives, subordinate sentences. The label

«adverb» expands the scope of prepositional phrases,

word combinations with nouns and subordinate

sentences, each of which may have the same

modifying functions as adverbs. It is more difficult to

define adverbs than nouns, verbs and adjectives,

because there are so many subclasses and positional

variations. Endings of adverbs have double meanings.

First, numerous adverbs are formed from

corresponding dynamic adjectives by the way of

adding the ending -ly. But this is the case with

adverbs of manner (quickly-quickly), which express

how something is done. The second type of endings

are inflexions, relating to comparative and superlative

degrees of adverbs (quickly, more quickly, the most

quickly).

Adverbial expressions, formed from nouns by the

way of (-ly, friendly, as a rule), (-like) (ladylike), (-

style, -fashion), must be formed peripherally, for

example, in a friendly manner/as a whole. There is no

difference among them, moreover, the can be

substituted for each other:

E.g.:.“In general, they attended a mass of

thanksgiving in the villa’s chapel” (Bertrice Small

“Love Wild and Fair” p.591). – Как правило, они

присутствовали на мессе благодарения в часовне

виллы.

“Generally speaking, Howard seemed dressed as

usual – the threadbare but exactly buttoned jacket,

the infinitely worn, but carefully polished shoes”.

(James Gould Cozzens “By Love Possessed” p. 520).

– Вообще говоря, Ховард

выглядел одетым как

обычно – поношенный, но точно застегнутый

пиджак, бесконечно поношенные, но тщательно

начищенные туфли.

As mentioned in Perkins (1983, p. 89 Wiley

Online Library), modal adverbs in English are mostly

epistemic. Modal adverbs are those lexical devices

that emphasize and disambiguate something. No

wonder that such a rich sphere/part of speech as the

adverb has been so well studied, and many scholars

have proposed their classifications of English

adverbs: conjunctions and linkers of sentences

(however, nevertheless), disjunctive words

(probably, thankfully, frankly), subjunctive words

(willingly, intentionally, etc.) and adverbial modifiers

of purpose, time, manner, place, etc. Toril Swan

shows that the entire category of evaluation adverbs

(disjuncts) has undergone a similar development.

Adverbs of evaluation are defined by Toril Swan as

adverbs that express the speaker's evaluation of the

content of a sentence. In addition to modal adverbs,

the class of evaluation adverbs according to Toril

Swan contains evaluative adverbs (fortunately,

unfortunately), adverbs of speech action (frankly,

briefly) and disjunctive subjects (wisely,

intelligently). All these classes of adverbs, according

to Toril Swan, have greatly expanded and diversified

in the 20th century (1988, Ch. 5, Modality in

Germanic Languages) (НКРЯ).

Modal words probably, maybe, perhaps are

closely related to the expression of modality.

E.g.: The war was long way away. Maybe there

wasn’t any war. (E. Hemingway, p. 205)

Only those who will risk going too far can

possibly find out how far one can go (Th. Eliot,

quote).

If she could have done one thing to make

absolutely sure that every single person in this school

Lexical Means of Expressing Modality in Modern English Language

165

will read your interview, it was banning it. (J.K.

Rowing)

We don’t actually fear death, we fear that no one

will notice our absence…

Война была далеко. Возможно, не было

никакой войны. (Э. Хемингуэй, с. 205)

Только те, которые рискнут зайти слишком

далеко, могут понять, как далеко можно зайти

(Т. Элиот, цитата).

Если бы она могла сделать что-то одно,

чтобы быть абсолютно уверенным, что каждый

человек в этой школе прочитает ваше интервью,

она запретила бы его (Дж. К. Роуинг).

На самом деле мы не боимся смерти, мы

боимся, что никто не заметит нашего

отсутствия... (Т. Элиот, цитата).

Ray Jakendoff (1972) classifies adverbs as

follows: adverbs with verb phrases, object-oriented

adverbs, and speaker-oriented adverbs. I. Bellert

(1977) identifies five disjunctive groups in Ray

Jacendoff's speaker-oriented adverbs: evaluative

adverbs (e.g., fortunately, unexpectedly), modal

adverbs (e.g., logically, mathematically), conjunctive

adverbs (e.g., consequently, finally), and pragmatic

adverbs (e.g., sincerely, exactly). Sally McConnell-

Gine suggests that passive-sensitive adverbs have the

meanings of verb phrases (attitude and manner). With

the possible exception of Sally McConnell-Gin, each

of the above classification systems groups adverbs

according to their role in that sentence, either by how

they are "oriented" or by how they relate semantically

or pragmatically to other arguments.

Another interesting area of study of adverbs is the

problem of their placement in a sentence. This

problem interested Otto Jespersen, and he mentioned

it in his work. According to him, adverbs can usually

occupy five positions (Table 3).

Table 3: Adverbs can usually occupy five positions.

in front – before the

subject and verb

впереди – перед

подлежащим и глаголом

between the subject

and verb

между подлежащим и

глаголом

after subject and

auxiliary verb, before

verb

после подлежащего и

вспомогательного глагола,

перед глаголом

between verb and

object or prepositional

object

между глаголом и

объектом или

предложным объектом

at the end of the

sentence

в конце предложения

To see how the means of expressing modality are

used in English statements, we should turn to works

of fiction, which abound in modal vocabulary, which

contributes to the expression of the subjective attitude

of the speaker to the content of the statement and to

the interlocutor, and therefore makes the characters'

speech lively and unconstrained.

Their use in works of fiction and in modern

colloquial speech is great. Let us assume that,

creating a work of fiction, writers recreate their

picture of the world, using both grammatical and

lexical means of modality (Helbig, 1994).

The adverb perhaps is usually at the beginning of

a sentence and is not separated by a comma.

E.g. Perhaps only people who are capable of real

togetherness have that look of being alone in the

universe. (D. Lawrence, p. 149)

In this context, one can trace a shade of

probability.

I do not know what makes a writer, but it probably

isn’t happiness (W. Saroyan, quotes).

“He looked sharply away and said: ‘Here!’

(James Gould Cozzens “By Love Possessed” p.

529).

Astuallu points to some actual fact as a fact of

reality, often appearing as something new,

unconscious, and sometimes unexpected:

“Actually, you have to remember that you have

ten pounds of steel on your legs which will affect

balancing” (James Gould Cozzens “By Love

Possessed” p. 558).

The modal verb should is used in sentences to

express advice, obligation, probability. This can be

seen in the above examples.

Curiosity is not a sin…But we should exercise

caution with our curiosity…yes, indeed (J.K.

Rowling, p. 598).

“Why, I merely saw your maid had difficulty with

the heather – I told her about it and started the water

(F.S. Fitzgerald, p. 282)

“She couldn’t help speaking anxiously: her voice

was grave and low” (where anxiety ascribes some

state of mind to the patient).(James Gould Cozzens

“By Love Possesed” p. 183).

For example: Возможно, только люди,

способные к настоящему единению, выглядят

одинокими во Вселенной. (Д. Лоуренс, стр. 149)

Не знаю, что делает писателя, но, вероятно, не

счастье. (В. Сароян, цитаты)

«Он резко отвернулся и

сказал: «Вот!».

(Джеймс Гулд Коззенс «Одержимая

любовью», стр. 529).

«На самом деле, вы должны помнить, что у вас

на ногах десять фунтов стали, что влияет на

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166

балансировку». (Джеймс ГулдКоззенс

«Одержимая любовью», стр. 558)

Любопытство – это не грех ... Но с

любопытством следует проявлять осторожность

да, действительно. (Дж. К. Роулинг, стр. 598).

«Да ведь я просто видел, что у вашей

горничной возникли проблемы с вереском, я

сказал ей об этом и пустил воду. (Ф.С.

Фитцджеральд, стр. 282)

«Она не

могла не говорить с тревогой: ее

голос был серьезным и низким» (где она … с

тревогой -приписывает пациенту какое-то

душевное состояние). (Джеймс ГулдКозенс

«Одержимые любовью», с. 183).

Adverbs like cautiously, anxiously, slowly are

called adverbs of state of mind:

Mastering her emotions, he slowly and carefully

told his mother what had happened. (Bertrice Small

“Love Wild and Fair”, p. 217).

Poor Jo would gladly have gone under the table,

as one thing after another was tasted and left. (where

‘gladly’ expresses some state of mind of the agent

‘Jo’) (“Louisa May Alcott “Little Women”, p. 94).

Adverbs of manner answer the question "how?"

and talk about the way in which something happens.

Examples of adverbs of manner:

Mr. Brooke obediently began the story, with the

handsome brown eyes steadfastly fixed upon the

sunshine”. (“Louisa May Alcott “Little Women”, p.

104).

Helen must be categorically, but indirectly

assured that he never thought of such a thing”. (James

Gould Cozzens “By Love Possesed”, p. 34)

They got extraordinarily clever at translating these

in the twinkling of an eye to pounds and ounces”

(Bertrice Small “Love Wild and Fair” p. 447)

He stood on and on, silent and immobile, gazing

steadfastly, and then, if you took no notice of him, he

moved slowly to the next table” (W. Somerset

Maugham “The Bum”, p. 115).

Frankly, he lost his control …after a while he tore

his head away from him.

(Bertrice Small “Love Wild and Fair” p. 472).

Personally, I do not know the day when Cyra

died”, she said.

(Bertrice Small “Love Wild and Fair” p. 556).

I am afraid that what definitely weighted in the

matter of scandal was the sort of person she was.

(James Gould Cozzens “By Love Possessed” p. 59).

The claim, by being so general, definitely denied

itself. (James Gould Cozzens “By Love Possessed” p.

61).

Обуздывая ее эмоции, он медленно и

осторожно рассказал матери о том, что

произошло. (Бертрис Смолл «Любовь дикая и

прекрасная», стр. 217).

Она не могла не говорить с тревогой: ее голос

был серьезным и низким. (где с тревогой

приписывает пациенту какое-то душевное

состояние) (Джеймс Гулд Коззенс

«Одержимые любовью», с. 183).

Бедный Джо с радостью пошел бы под стол

потому что одно блюдо за другим гости

пробовали и уходили (где «с удовольствием»

выражает некоторое состояние агента «Джо»)

(«Луиза Мэй Олкотт «Маленькие женщины», стр.

94).

Мистер Брук послушно начал рассказ, его

красивые карие глаза пристально смотрели на

солнечный свет». («Луиза Мэй Олкотт

«Маленькие женщины», стр. 104).

Елену надо категорически, но косвенно

заверить, что он никогда о таком не думал».

(Джеймс Гулд Коззенс «Одержимые любовью»,

стр. 34).

Они необычайно умно переводили их в

мгновение ока в фунты и унции». (Бертрис Смолл

«Дикая и прекрасная любовь», стр. 447)

Он стоял и стоял, молчаливый и

неподвижный, пристально глядя, а затем, если вы

не обращали на

него внимания, медленно

переходил к следующему столу». (У.

Сомерсет Моэм «Бродяга», стр. 115).

Откровенно говоря, он потерял контроль…

через некоторое время он оторвал от него свою

голову. (Бертрис Смолл «Любовь дикая и

прекрасная», с. 472).

Лично я не знаю, когда умерла Сайра», –

сказала она. (Бертрис Смолл «Любовь дикая и

прекрасная», с. 556).

Боюсь, что

решающим фактором в скандале

был ее тип характера. (Джеймс ГулдКозенс

«Одержимые любовью», стр. 59)

Это заявление, будучи столь общим,

определенно само себя отрицало. (Джеймс Гулд

Коззенс «Одержимые любовью», стр. 61).

According to I. Bellert (1977), modal adverbs,

probably, obviously, certainly, etc., are not used in the

negative form, and they also do not occur within

negation. In addition, modal adverbs do not occur in

questions. For example (

Table 4-5).

Table 4: Modal adjectives include:

Probably The archaeologists will find

the ruins of the lost city.

Possibly

Evidently

Lexical Means of Expressing Modality in Modern English Language

167

Table 5: Modal adjectives include:

Imrobabl

The archaeologists will find the

ruins of the lost city

ossibl

Not evidentl

E.g. The archaeologists will not find the ruins of

the lost city.

* The archaeologists will not find the ruins of the

lost city.

* Will the archaeologists find the ruins of the lost

city?

Археологи найдут руины затерянного города.

* археологи найдут руины затерянного города.

Например: Руины затерянного города

археологи не найдут.

* Археологи не найдут руин затерянного

города.

* Найдут ли археологи руины затерянного

города?

And, at last, according to Bellert theory, modal

adverbs (in contrast to modal adjectives) are not used

in conditional forms (

Table 6).

Table 6: Modal adjectives include:

If the

archaeologists

Probably find the ruins

of the lost city,

the museums

will be filled

with many

precious

artifacts.

Possibly

Evidently

* Если археологи найдут руины затерянного

города, музеи будут заполнены множеством

ценных артефактов.

But they may appear in apodosis (

Table 7):

Table 7: Modal adjectives include:

If the archaeologists

find the ruins of the

lost city, the

museums will

probably be filled with

many precious

artifacts.

possibly

evidentl

Если археологи найдут руины затерянного

города, музеи будут заполнены множеством

ценных артефактов.

И. Bellert suggests that modal adverbs determine

the truth of an utterance expressed in a sentence.

Similarly, Andrew Lang argues that adverbs do not

belong to the propositional meaning, but they express

the speaker's attitude to it (Bally, 1955).

E.g. It's the only thing I can do till I get well, and

you've got your hands full enough without having to

watch him.

E.g.: Это же единственное, что я могу делать,

пока не поправлюсь, а у тебя достаточно хлопот и

без него (НКРЯ).

These intensifiers can replace one another.

It is very difficult to learn how to use the lexical

means in speech correctly, because they have many

individual connotations, which makes it difficult to

choose them in each individual case. But

nevertheless, their use in everyday colloquial speech,

and especially in dialogue is increasing. They give the

language a flowing, graceful quality.

4 CONCLUSIONS

The category of modality is still one of the most

complex and debatable problems of modern

linguistics. This is due to the complexity of the

concept of modality itself and the difference in

methodological foundations for its study, which gives

rise to many different interpretations of this category.

In English there are many means of expressing

modality. Some of these means have been studied,

and some of them are still being studied. Because of

its great heterogeneity, the class of adverbs is the least

defined of the traditional parts of speech.

Thus, modal adverbs in English are mostly

epistemic in nature and perform a certain

communicative function when used in speech.

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