A Basic Semantic Template for Lexical and Grammaticalized Uses of the German Modals

Abstract. The scmanlic relations and oppositions between the German modals and their various uses are treated here as instantiations of a common semantic template, which is described as a complex and condensed relational structure between a modal source, path, and goal. The different readings of a modal verb (less grammaticalizcd narrow-scope uses vs. more grammaticalized wide-scope uses) and the different types of modality (deontic, volitional and dispositional modality) uniformly arise out of specific feature realizations in the relational positions of the basic semantic template.