This article gives a brief survey of the means used to express modality in Latvian, viz., mood, modal verbs (and functionally similar modal expressions), and modal particles. In part 1, after a brief description of the moods proper, the status of two forms traditionally classified with mood in Latvian grammar, viz. the debitive and the oblique mood, is discussed. In parts 2 and 3, particular attention is paid to the distribution and interaction of the different types of markers and expressions used in the domain of modality. This is done for the expression of modal predicates (possibility and necessity) in part 2 (where, in addition to modal verbs, the debitive and some more marginal expressions are taken into consideration, and the interaction with mood and tense as markers of factuality is discussed). Part 3 deals with the domain of deontic modality, which is covered by mood, modal verbs and particles. Here, particular attention is paid to the interesting deontive marker lai, originally a hortative particle now also used to express deontic predicates as well as to introduce deontic oblique clauses.
Preliminary remarksAmong the notions used in describing different types of modal predicates, I take "deontic" and "epistemic" to be sufficiently widespread to require no further comments 1 . Following PALMER (1986), I will also distinguish, in addition to these, "dynamic" modality. This term will be applied to those uses of 'can' and 'must' that refer to external circumstances determining the possibility or inevitability of some line of conduct. This type of modality is, as Palmer puts it, "subject-oriented" rather than "speaker-oriented". Among dynamic modals, one could further distinguish "participant-external" and "participant-internal" modality (VAN DER AUWERA & PLUNGIAN 1998), the latter referring, e.g., to uses of 'can' and 'must' with the meanings of ability and inner need respectively. Here, however, I will take into account only "participant-external" dynamic modality, which interacts in a specific way with deontic modality and is in some ways related to it (indeed, VAN DER AUWERA & PLUNGIAN 1998 treat deontic modality as a subtype of "participant-external modality"). The basic modal meanings of "possibility" and "necessity" are susceptible of three readings: epistemic, deontic and dynamic.