Chapter 3

Similarity, suitability, and non-epistemic modalities (volitionality, ability, and obligation)

This article shows that verbs expressing similarity between two entities are not only found in constructions expressing the kind of epistemic modality expressed in English by means of the verb seem, but may also be involved in polysemy patterns including the expression of other types of modalities (volitionality, ability, or obligation). Three examples of African languages illustrating this type of polysemy pattern are first presented. Then, the article examines the historical developments that led from a Proto-Germanic root *līk- ‘(as a noun) form, (as a verb) be of the same form’ to Tok Pisin laik ‘want’. It is followed by a discussion of the possible etymological link between a Bantu verb reconstructed as *ngà ‘be like’ and a Bantu modality marker reconstructable as *nga. The conclusion proposes a scenario according to which verbs originally expressing similarity between two concrete entities may acquire uses in which they express non-epistemic modalities.