Illocution, Mood and Modality in a Functional Grammar of Spanish

Subjective and objective modality: interpersonal and ideational functions in the English modal auxiliary system

“…Semantic distinctions like the ones discussed above have led authors like Halliday (1970), Lyons (1977), Foley and Van Valin (1984), and Hengeveld (1987Hengeveld ( , 1988Hengeveld ( , 1989 to posit a distinction between two types of modality, often called subjective and objective, following the terminology introduced by Lyons (1977). Although the various proposals are driven by different theoretical concerns, the actual definition of the distinction usually boils down to whether or not the modal in question involves the speaker in the utterance.…”

“…Epistemic modals, on the other hand, are regarded as peripheral operators, because their function is external to the core layer: they express the speaker's estimation of the likelihood that the state of affairs denoted by the core will become a reality. Hengeveld's (1987Hengeveld's ( , 1988Hengeveld's ( , 1989) framework, finally, brings together elements from the three approaches discussed above. Like Foley and Van Valin (1984), Hengeveld proposes a layered model of clause structure, consisting of successive layers, each with their own set of operators; he accounts for different types of modality as operators over different layers.…”

“…This criterion has been introduced to lend support to the distinction between modal adverbs and modal adjectives (Jackendoff, 1972: 84-87;Belle& 1977: 344-346;Nuyts, 1992Nuyts, , 1993Nuyts, , 2000: modal adjectives regularly occur in questions, as shown in (13) whereas modal adverbs usually do not,6 as shown in (14) Lyons (1977) and Hengeveld (1988) have related this criterion more generally to the distinction between objective and subjective modality: they argue that objective modality can be questioned, whereas subjective modality cannot. In section 3.2, I will argue that this is not the case: both types of modality can occur in interrogative clauses, but the effect of the interrogation on the modal expression is different, depending on whether the modal is subjective or objective.…”

“…A second criterion is the behavior of modals in conditional contexts. Lyons (1977) and Hengeveld (1988) argue that objective modality can occur in the protasis of a conditional construction, whereas subjective modality cannot. Palmer (1990: 182) offers a less absolute version of this criterion: subjective modals can occur in conditional protases, but in that case they echo what has already been said, as shown in examples like (15).…”

“…The issue of speaker-relatedness in modality has traditionally been discussed in terms of the distinction between subjective and objective modality: the terminology was introduced in Lyons (1977), but the distinction as such dates back to Halliday (1970) and was taken up again in Foley and Van Valin (1984) and Hengeveld (1987Hengeveld ( , 1988Hengeveld ( , 1989. In the first section, therefore, I will survey the different proposals for the definition and delineation of subjective and objective function in the modal system.…”