Modal geometry

This paper takes a closer look at the ‘geometric’ structure of the semantic map of modality (Van der Auwera & Plungian 1998). By analyzing the different modalities into more basic modal features, we can get a better view on how the map is organized along different dimensions around a neutral middle modality, how the deontic modality fits on the map and what role connectivity plays in defining polyfunctionality. Drawing on data from Dutch, we argue that a basic distinction on the map corresponds to the grammatical raising/control distinction.