A Synchronic Perspective on the Grammaticalisation of will in Hypothetical Predicates

Current works on grammaticalisation have discussed the tendency for older, lexically-based meanings to continue to adhere to the grammaticalising item in a situation described as 'retention' (Bybee & Pagliuca, 1987), and for these meanings to impose semantic constraints affecting the grammatical distribution of the item in some present-day environments. The present study will examine the restrictions on the use of the modal will (represented in its backshifted form would) in the hypothetical predicates of the verb wish, and, using a small sample of native-speaker informants, statistically-based suggestions will be proposed regarding the distributional limits on the grammaticalisation of the modal as a future auxiliary.