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In:Tense, Aspect, Modality, and Evidentiality: Crosslinguistic perspectives
Edited by Dalila Ayoun, Agnès Celle and Laure Lansari
[Studies in Language Companion Series 197] 2018
► pp. 145–164

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Chapter 7
Evidentiality and epistemic modality in Old Catalan

A diachronic cognitive approach to the semantics of modal verbs

 | Universitat de València
Published online: 2 August 2018
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/slcs.197.07sen
Epistemic modality and evidentiality are two categories that have not been clearly defined in the literature. In order to clarify the boundaries between them, I draw a detailed semantic map for Catalan modal verbs deure (‘must’), haver de (‘have to’) and poder (‘can/may’) in the Old period (11th–16th centuries). On the one hand, the modals deure and haver de develop an evidential reading (inferential process). On the other hand, an epistemic possibility value arises in the case of poder, which is not based on any explicit premise. I show that all these verbs are subjectively construed in different degrees and argue that a clear distinction between the subjective values and an evidential or epistemic interpretation is paramount.
Article outline
  • 1.Evidentiality and epistemic modality: State of the art
    • 1.1Evidentiality and epistemic modality
    • 1.2 Evidentiality and modal verbs in Romance
  • 2. An inferential reading for deure, haver de and poder in Old Catalan?
    • 2.1The modal verb deure: Specific vs. generic inferences
    • 2.2 The modal verb haver de ‘have to’: Specific inference
    • 2.3 Deure and haver de: Subjectification, evidentiality and epistemic modality
    • 2.4The modal verb poder ‘can/may’: Epistemic modality
      • 2.4.1Possible counterexamples?
  • 3. Conclusion
  • Notes
  • References
References (49)
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Cited by (1)

Cited by one other publication

Sentí, Andreu & Bert Cornillie
2022. The rise of the evidential readings of the Catalan periphrasis deure + infinitive. In From Verbal Periphrases to Complex Predicates [IVITRA Research in Linguistics and Literature, 31], ► pp. 63 ff. DOI logo

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