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<span class="vector-toc-numb">2</span> <span>Formal semantics</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Formal_semantics-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Grammatical_expression_of_modality" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Grammatical_expression_of_modality"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">3</span> <span>Grammatical expression of modality</span> </div> </a> <button aria-controls="toc-Grammatical_expression_of_modality-sublist" class="cdx-button cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only vector-toc-toggle"> <span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-expand"></span> <span>Toggle Grammatical expression of modality subsection</span> </button> <ul id="toc-Grammatical_expression_of_modality-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> <li id="toc-Verbal_morphology" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Verbal_morphology"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">3.1</span> <span>Verbal morphology</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Verbal_morphology-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Auxiliaries" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Auxiliaries"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">3.2</span> <span>Auxiliaries</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Auxiliaries-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Lexical_expression" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Lexical_expression"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">3.3</span> <span>Lexical expression</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Lexical_expression-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Other" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Other"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">3.4</span> <span>Other</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Other-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-See_also" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#See_also"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">4</span> <span>See also</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-See_also-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-References" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#References"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">5</span> <span>References</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-References-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Further_reading" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Further_reading"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">6</span> <span>Further reading</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Further_reading-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-External_links" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#External_links"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">7</span> <span>External links</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-External_links-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> </ul> </div> </div> </nav> </div> </div> <div class="mw-content-container"> <main id="content" class="mw-body"> <header class="mw-body-header vector-page-titlebar"> <nav aria-label="Contents" class="vector-toc-landmark"> <div id="vector-page-titlebar-toc" class="vector-dropdown vector-page-titlebar-toc vector-button-flush-left" > <input type="checkbox" id="vector-page-titlebar-toc-checkbox" role="button" aria-haspopup="true" data-event-name="ui.dropdown-vector-page-titlebar-toc" class="vector-dropdown-checkbox " aria-label="Toggle the table of contents" 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class="interlanguage-link interwiki-cs mw-list-item"><a href="https://cs.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modalita_(lingvistika)" title="Modalita (lingvistika) – Czech" lang="cs" hreflang="cs" data-title="Modalita (lingvistika)" data-language-autonym="Čeština" data-language-local-name="Czech" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Čeština</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-de mw-list-item"><a href="https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modalit%C3%A4t_(Sprachwissenschaft)" title="Modalität (Sprachwissenschaft) – German" lang="de" hreflang="de" data-title="Modalität (Sprachwissenschaft)" data-language-autonym="Deutsch" data-language-local-name="German" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Deutsch</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-es mw-list-item"><a href="https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modalidad" title="Modalidad – Spanish" lang="es" hreflang="es" data-title="Modalidad" data-language-autonym="Español" data-language-local-name="Spanish" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Español</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-fa mw-list-item"><a href="https://fa.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D9%88%D8%AC%D9%87%DB%8C%D8%AA" title="وجهیت – Persian" lang="fa" hreflang="fa" data-title="وجهیت" data-language-autonym="فارسی" data-language-local-name="Persian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>فارسی</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-fr badge-Q70894304 mw-list-item" title=""><a href="https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modalit%C3%A9_(linguistique)" title="Modalité (linguistique) – French" lang="fr" hreflang="fr" data-title="Modalité (linguistique)" data-language-autonym="Français" data-language-local-name="French" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Français</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ko mw-list-item"><a href="https://ko.wikipedia.org/wiki/%EC%96%91%ED%83%9C_(%EB%AC%B8%EB%B2%95)" title="양태 (문법) – Korean" lang="ko" hreflang="ko" data-title="양태 (문법)" data-language-autonym="한국어" data-language-local-name="Korean" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>한국어</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ky mw-list-item"><a href="https://ky.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9C%D0%BE%D0%B4%D0%B0%D0%BB_%D1%81%D3%A9%D0%B7%D0%B4%D3%A9%D1%80" title="Модал сөздөр – Kyrgyz" lang="ky" hreflang="ky" data-title="Модал сөздөр" data-language-autonym="Кыргызча" data-language-local-name="Kyrgyz" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Кыргызча</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-lt mw-list-item"><a href="https://lt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modalumas_(kalbotyra)" title="Modalumas (kalbotyra) – Lithuanian" lang="lt" hreflang="lt" data-title="Modalumas (kalbotyra)" data-language-autonym="Lietuvių" data-language-local-name="Lithuanian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Lietuvių</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-hu mw-list-item"><a href="https://hu.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modalit%C3%A1s_(nyelv%C3%A9szet)" title="Modalitás (nyelvészet) – Hungarian" lang="hu" hreflang="hu" data-title="Modalitás (nyelvészet)" data-language-autonym="Magyar" data-language-local-name="Hungarian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Magyar</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-nl mw-list-item"><a href="https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modaliteit_(taalkunde)" title="Modaliteit (taalkunde) – Dutch" lang="nl" hreflang="nl" data-title="Modaliteit (taalkunde)" data-language-autonym="Nederlands" data-language-local-name="Dutch" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Nederlands</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ja mw-list-item"><a href="https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%A2%E3%83%80%E3%83%AA%E3%83%86%E3%82%A3" title="モダリティ – Japanese" lang="ja" hreflang="ja" data-title="モダリティ" data-language-autonym="日本語" data-language-local-name="Japanese" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>日本語</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ro mw-list-item"><a href="https://ro.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modalitate_(lingvistic%C4%83)" title="Modalitate (lingvistică) – Romanian" lang="ro" hreflang="ro" data-title="Modalitate (lingvistică)" data-language-autonym="Română" data-language-local-name="Romanian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Română</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ru mw-list-item"><a href="https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9C%D0%BE%D0%B4%D0%B0%D0%BB%D1%8C%D0%BD%D0%BE%D1%81%D1%82%D1%8C_(%D0%BB%D0%B8%D0%BD%D0%B3%D0%B2%D0%B8%D1%81%D1%82%D0%B8%D0%BA%D0%B0)" title="Модальность (лингвистика) – Russian" lang="ru" hreflang="ru" data-title="Модальность (лингвистика)" data-language-autonym="Русский" data-language-local-name="Russian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Русский</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-sah mw-list-item"><a href="https://sah.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%A1%D1%8B%D2%BB%D1%8B%D0%B0%D0%BD_%D1%82%D1%8B%D0%BB" title="Сыһыан тыл – Yakut" lang="sah" hreflang="sah" data-title="Сыһыан тыл" data-language-autonym="Саха тыла" data-language-local-name="Yakut" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Саха тыла</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-sk mw-list-item"><a href="https://sk.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modalita_(jazykoveda)" title="Modalita (jazykoveda) – Slovak" lang="sk" hreflang="sk" data-title="Modalita (jazykoveda)" data-language-autonym="Slovenčina" data-language-local-name="Slovak" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Slovenčina</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ckb mw-list-item"><a href="https://ckb.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D9%85%DB%86%D8%AF%D8%A7%DA%B5%DB%8C%D8%AA%DB%95" title="مۆداڵیتە – Central Kurdish" lang="ckb" hreflang="ckb" data-title="مۆداڵیتە" data-language-autonym="کوردی" data-language-local-name="Central Kurdish" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>کوردی</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-sr mw-list-item"><a href="https://sr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modalnost" title="Modalnost – Serbian" lang="sr" hreflang="sr" data-title="Modalnost" data-language-autonym="Српски / srpski" data-language-local-name="Serbian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Српски / srpski</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-tt mw-list-item"><a href="https://tt.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%A5%D3%99%D0%B1%D3%99%D1%80%D0%BB%D0%B5%D0%BA_%D1%81%D2%AF%D0%B7%D0%BB%D3%99%D1%80" title="Хәбәрлек сүзләр – Tatar" lang="tt" hreflang="tt" data-title="Хәбәрлек сүзләр" data-language-autonym="Татарча / tatarça" data-language-local-name="Tatar" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Татарча / tatarça</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-uk mw-list-item"><a href="https://uk.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9C%D0%BE%D0%B4%D0%B0%D0%BB%D1%8C%D0%BD%D1%96%D1%81%D1%82%D1%8C_(%D0%BC%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%BE%D0%B7%D0%BD%D0%B0%D0%B2%D1%81%D1%82%D0%B2%D0%BE)" title="Модальність (мовознавство) – Ukrainian" lang="uk" hreflang="uk" data-title="Модальність (мовознавство)" data-language-autonym="Українська" 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class="mw-redirect" title="Linguistic modality">Linguistic modality</a>)</span></div></div> <div id="mw-content-text" class="mw-body-content"><div class="mw-content-ltr mw-parser-output" lang="en" dir="ltr"><div class="shortdescription nomobile noexcerpt noprint searchaux" style="display:none">Phenomenon whereby language is used to discuss possible situations</div> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1236090951">.mw-parser-output .hatnote{font-style:italic}.mw-parser-output div.hatnote{padding-left:1.6em;margin-bottom:0.5em}.mw-parser-output .hatnote i{font-style:normal}.mw-parser-output .hatnote+link+.hatnote{margin-top:-0.5em}@media print{body.ns-0 .mw-parser-output .hatnote{display:none!important}}</style><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable">For the closely related grammatical category, see <a href="/wiki/Grammatical_mood" title="Grammatical mood">Grammatical mood</a>.</div> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1129693374">.mw-parser-output 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style="background:#ccccff;font-size:110%"><a href="/wiki/Grammatical_category" title="Grammatical category">Grammatical features</a></th></tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content vlist" style="padding:.3em; text-align:left;"> <div class="sidebar-list mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"><div class="sidebar-list-title" style="color: var(--color-base)">Related to nouns</div><div class="sidebar-list-content mw-collapsible-content"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Animacy" title="Animacy">Animacy</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Grammatical_case" title="Grammatical case">Case</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Dative_construction" title="Dative construction">Dative construction</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Dative_shift" title="Dative shift">Dative shift</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Quirky_subject" title="Quirky subject">Quirky subject</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Nominative_case" title="Nominative case">Nominative</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Comitative_case" title="Comitative case">Comitative</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Instrumental_case" title="Instrumental case">Instrumental</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Classifier_(linguistics)" title="Classifier (linguistics)">Classifier</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Measure_word" title="Measure word">Measure word</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Construct_state" title="Construct state">Construct state</a></li> <li>Countability <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Count_noun" title="Count noun">Count noun</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Mass_noun" title="Mass noun">Mass noun</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Collective_noun" title="Collective noun">Collective noun</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Definiteness" title="Definiteness">Definiteness</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Grammatical_gender" title="Grammatical gender">Gender</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Genitive_construction" title="Genitive construction">Genitive construction</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Possession_(linguistics)" title="Possession (linguistics)">Possession</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Suffixaufnahme" title="Suffixaufnahme">Suffixaufnahme (case stacking)</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Noun_class" title="Noun class">Noun class</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Grammatical_number" title="Grammatical number">Number</a> <ul><li><div class="hlist"><ul><li>Singular</li><li><a href="/wiki/Dual_(grammatical_number)" title="Dual (grammatical number)">Dual</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Plural" title="Plural">Plural</a></li></ul></div></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Singulative_number" title="Singulative number">Singulative-Collective-Plurative</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Specificity_(linguistics)" title="Specificity (linguistics)">Specificity</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Universal_grinder" title="Universal grinder">Universal grinder</a></li></ul></div></div></td> </tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content vlist" style="padding:.3em; text-align:left;"> <div class="sidebar-list mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"><div class="sidebar-list-title" style="color: var(--color-base)">Related to verbs</div><div class="sidebar-list-content mw-collapsible-content"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Associated_motion" title="Associated motion">Associated motion</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Clusivity" title="Clusivity">Clusivity</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Grammatical_conjugation" title="Grammatical conjugation">Conjugation</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Evidentiality" title="Evidentiality">Evidentiality</a></li> <li><a class="mw-selflink selflink">Modality</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Grammatical_person" title="Grammatical person">Person</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Telicity" title="Telicity">Telicity</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Mirativity" title="Mirativity">Mirativity</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Tense%E2%80%93aspect%E2%80%93mood" title="Tense–aspect–mood">Tense–aspect–mood</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Grammatical_aspect" title="Grammatical aspect">Grammatical aspect</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Lexical_aspect" title="Lexical aspect">Lexical aspect (Aktionsart)</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Grammatical_mood" title="Grammatical mood">Mood</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Grammatical_tense" title="Grammatical tense">Tense</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Voice_(grammar)" title="Voice (grammar)">Voice</a></li></ul></div></div></td> </tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content vlist" style="padding:.3em; text-align:left;"> <div class="sidebar-list mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"><div class="sidebar-list-title" style="color: var(--color-base)">General features</div><div class="sidebar-list-content mw-collapsible-content"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Affect_(linguistics)" title="Affect (linguistics)">Affect</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Boundedness_(linguistics)" title="Boundedness (linguistics)">Boundedness</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Comparison_(grammar)" title="Comparison (grammar)">Comparison (degree)</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Egophoricity" title="Egophoricity">Egophoricity</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Pluractionality" title="Pluractionality">Pluractionality</a> (verbal number)</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Honorifics_(linguistics)" title="Honorifics (linguistics)">Honorifics (politeness)</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Affirmation_and_negation" title="Affirmation and negation">Polarity</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Reciprocal_construction" title="Reciprocal construction">Reciprocity</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Reflexive_pronoun" title="Reflexive pronoun">Reflexive pronoun</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Reflexive_verb" title="Reflexive verb">Reflexive verb</a></li></ul></li></ul></div></div></td> </tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content vlist" style="padding:.3em; text-align:left;"> <div class="sidebar-list mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"><div class="sidebar-list-title" style="color: var(--color-base)">Syntax relationships</div><div class="sidebar-list-content mw-collapsible-content"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Argument_(linguistics)" title="Argument (linguistics)">Argument</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Transitivity_(grammar)" title="Transitivity (grammar)">Transitivity</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Valency_(linguistics)" title="Valency (linguistics)">Valency</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Branching_(linguistics)" title="Branching (linguistics)">Branching</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Serial_verb_construction" title="Serial verb construction">Serial verb construction</a></li> <li>Traditional grammar <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Predicate_(grammar)" title="Predicate (grammar)">Predicate</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Subject_(grammar)" title="Subject (grammar)">Subject</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Object_(grammar)" title="Object (grammar)">Object</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Adjunct_(grammar)" title="Adjunct (grammar)">Adjunct</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Predicative_expression" title="Predicative expression">Predicative</a></li></ul></li></ul></div></div></td> </tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content vlist" style="padding:.3em; text-align:left;"> <div class="sidebar-list mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"><div class="sidebar-list-title" style="color: var(--color-base)">Semantics</div><div class="sidebar-list-content mw-collapsible-content"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Contrast_(linguistics)" title="Contrast (linguistics)">Contrast</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Mirativity" title="Mirativity">Mirativity</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Thematic_relation" title="Thematic relation">Thematic relation</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Agent_(grammar)" title="Agent (grammar)">Agent</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Patient_(grammar)" title="Patient (grammar)">Patient</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Topic_and_comment" title="Topic and comment">Topic and Comment</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Focus_(linguistics)" title="Focus (linguistics)">Focus</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Volition_(linguistics)" title="Volition (linguistics)">Volition</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Veridicality" title="Veridicality">Veridicality</a></li></ul></div></div></td> </tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content vlist" style="padding:.3em; text-align:left;"> <div class="sidebar-list mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"><div class="sidebar-list-title" style="color: var(--color-base)">Phenomena</div><div class="sidebar-list-content mw-collapsible-content"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Agreement_(linguistics)" title="Agreement (linguistics)">Agreement</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Polypersonal_agreement" title="Polypersonal agreement">Polypersonal agreement</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Declension" title="Declension">Declension</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Empty_category" title="Empty category">Empty category</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Incorporation_(linguistics)" title="Incorporation (linguistics)">Incorporation</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Inflection" title="Inflection">Inflection</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Markedness" title="Markedness">Markedness</a></li></ul></div></div></td> </tr><tr><td class="sidebar-navbar"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1129693374"><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1239400231">.mw-parser-output .navbar{display:inline;font-size:88%;font-weight:normal}.mw-parser-output .navbar-collapse{float:left;text-align:left}.mw-parser-output .navbar-boxtext{word-spacing:0}.mw-parser-output .navbar ul{display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;line-height:inherit}.mw-parser-output .navbar-brackets::before{margin-right:-0.125em;content:"[ "}.mw-parser-output .navbar-brackets::after{margin-left:-0.125em;content:" ]"}.mw-parser-output .navbar li{word-spacing:-0.125em}.mw-parser-output .navbar a>span,.mw-parser-output .navbar a>abbr{text-decoration:inherit}.mw-parser-output .navbar-mini abbr{font-variant:small-caps;border-bottom:none;text-decoration:none;cursor:inherit}.mw-parser-output .navbar-ct-full{font-size:114%;margin:0 7em}.mw-parser-output .navbar-ct-mini{font-size:114%;margin:0 4em}html.skin-theme-clientpref-night .mw-parser-output .navbar li a abbr{color:var(--color-base)!important}@media(prefers-color-scheme:dark){html.skin-theme-clientpref-os .mw-parser-output .navbar li a abbr{color:var(--color-base)!important}}@media print{.mw-parser-output .navbar{display:none!important}}</style><div class="navbar plainlinks hlist navbar-mini"><ul><li class="nv-view"><a href="/wiki/Template:Grammatical_categories" title="Template:Grammatical categories"><abbr title="View this template">v</abbr></a></li><li class="nv-talk"><a href="/wiki/Template_talk:Grammatical_categories" title="Template talk:Grammatical categories"><abbr title="Discuss this template">t</abbr></a></li><li class="nv-edit"><a href="/wiki/Special:EditPage/Template:Grammatical_categories" title="Special:EditPage/Template:Grammatical categories"><abbr title="Edit this template">e</abbr></a></li></ul></div></td></tr></tbody></table> <p>In <a href="/wiki/Linguistics" title="Linguistics">linguistics</a> and <a href="/wiki/Philosophy" title="Philosophy">philosophy</a>, <b>modality</b> refers to the ways language can express various relationships to reality or truth. For instance, a modal expression may convey that something is likely, desirable, or permissible. Quintessential modal expressions include <a href="/wiki/Modal_verb" title="Modal verb">modal auxiliaries</a> such as "could", "should", or "must"; modal adverbs such as "possibly" or "necessarily"; and <a href="/wiki/Modal_adjective" title="Modal adjective">modal adjectives</a> such as "conceivable" or "probable". However, modal components have been identified in the meanings of countless natural language expressions, including <a href="/wiki/Counterfactual_conditional" title="Counterfactual conditional">counterfactuals</a>, <a href="/wiki/Propositional_attitude" title="Propositional attitude">propositional attitudes</a>, <a href="/wiki/Evidentials" class="mw-redirect" title="Evidentials">evidentials</a>, <a href="/wiki/Habitual_aspect" title="Habitual aspect">habituals</a>, and generics. </p><p>Modality has been intensely studied from a variety of perspectives. Within linguistics, <a href="/wiki/Linguistic_typology" title="Linguistic typology">typological</a> studies have traced crosslinguistic variation in the strategies used to mark modality, with a particular focus on its interaction with <a href="/wiki/Tense%E2%80%93aspect%E2%80%93mood" title="Tense–aspect–mood">tense–aspect–mood marking</a>. Theoretical linguists have sought to analyze both the propositional content and discourse effects of modal expressions using formal tools derived from <a href="/wiki/Modal_logic" title="Modal logic">modal logic</a>. Within philosophy, linguistic modality is often seen as a window into broader metaphysical notions of necessity and possibility. </p> <meta property="mw:PageProp/toc" /> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Force_and_flavor">Force and flavor</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Modality_(semantics)&action=edit&section=1" title="Edit section: Force and flavor"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>Modal expressions come in different categories called <i>flavors</i>. Flavors differ in how the possibilities they discuss relate to reality. For instance, an expression like "might" is said to have <a href="/wiki/Epistemic_modality" title="Epistemic modality">epistemic flavor</a>, since it discusses possibilities compatible with some body of knowledge. An expression like "obligatory" is said to have <a href="/wiki/Deontic_modality" title="Deontic modality">deontic flavor</a>, since it discusses possibilities which are required given the laws or norms obeyed in reality.<sup id="cite_ref-:2_1-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-:2-1"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>1<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup class="reference nowrap"><span title="Page / location: 47">: 47 </span></sup> </p> <dl><dd>(1) Agatha <i>must</i> be the murderer. (expressing epistemic modality)</dd> <dd>(2) Agatha <i>must</i> go to jail. (expressing deontic modality)</dd></dl> <p>The sentence in (1) might be spoken by someone who has decided that all of the relevant facts in a particular murder investigation point to the conclusion that Agatha was the murderer, even though it may or may not actually be the case. The 'must' in this sentence thus expresses epistemic modality: "'for all we know', Agatha must be the murderer", where 'for all we know' is relative to some knowledge the speakers possess. In contrast, (2) might be spoken by someone who has decided that, according to some standard of conduct, Agatha has committed a vile crime, and therefore the correct course of action is to jail Agatha. </p><p>In classic formal approaches to <b>linguistic modality</b>, an utterance expressing modality is one that can always roughly be paraphrased to fit the following template: </p> <dl><dd>(3) According to [a set of rules, wishes, beliefs,...] it is [necessary, possible] that [the main proposition] is the case.</dd></dl> <p>The set of propositions which forms the basis of evaluation is called the <b>modal base</b>. The result of the evaluation is called the <b>modal force</b>.<sup id="cite_ref-:0_2-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-:0-2"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>2<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup class="reference nowrap"><span title="Page / location: 649">: 649 </span></sup> For example, the utterance in (4) expresses that, according to what the speaker has observed, it is necessary to conclude that John has a rather high income: </p> <dl><dd>(4) John must be earning a lot of money.</dd></dl> <p>The modal base here is the knowledge of the speaker, the modal force is necessity. By contrast, (5) could be paraphrased as 'Given his abilities, the strength of his teeth, etc., it is possible for John to open a beer bottle with his teeth'. Here, the modal base is defined by a subset of John's abilities, the modal force is possibility. </p> <dl><dd>(5) John can open a beer bottle with his teeth.</dd></dl> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Formal_semantics">Formal semantics</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Modality_(semantics)&action=edit&section=2" title="Edit section: Formal semantics"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>Linguistic modality has been one of the central concerns in <a href="/wiki/Formal_semantics_(linguistics)" class="mw-redirect" title="Formal semantics (linguistics)">formal semantics</a> and <a href="/wiki/Philosophical_logic" title="Philosophical logic">philosophical logic</a>. Research in these fields has led to a variety of accounts of the <a href="/wiki/Proposition" title="Proposition">propositional content</a> and <a href="/w/index.php?title=Conventional_discourse_effects&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Conventional discourse effects (page does not exist)">conventional discourse effects</a> of modal expressions. The predominant approaches in these fields are based on <a href="/wiki/Modal_logic" title="Modal logic">modal logic</a>. In these approaches, modal expressions such as <i>must</i> and <i>can</i> are analyzed as <a href="/wiki/Quantifier_(logic)" title="Quantifier (logic)">quantifiers</a> over a set of possible worlds. In classical modal logic, this set is identified as the set of worlds <a href="/wiki/Accessibility_relation" title="Accessibility relation">accessible</a> from the world of evaluation. Since the seminal work of <a href="/wiki/Angelika_Kratzer" title="Angelika Kratzer">Angelika Kratzer</a>, formal semanticists have adopted a more finely grained notion of this set as determined by two <i>conversational background functions</i> called the <i>modal base</i> and <i>ordering source</i> respectively.<sup id="cite_ref-:1_3-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-:1-3"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>3<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup class="reference nowrap"><span title="Page / location: 79–90">: 79–90 </span></sup> </p><p>For an epistemic modal like English <i>must</i> or <i>might</i>, this set is understood to contain exactly those worlds compatible with the knowledge that the speaker has in the actual world. Assume for example that the speaker of sentence (4) above knows that John just bought a new luxury car and has rented a huge apartment. The speaker also knows that John is an honest person with a humble family background and doesn't play the lottery. The set of accessible worlds is then the set of worlds in which all these propositions which the speaker knows about John are true. The notions of <b>necessity</b> and <b>possibility</b> are then defined along the following lines: A proposition <i>P</i> follows necessarily from the set of accessible worlds, if all accessible worlds are part of <i>P</i> (that is, if <i>p</i> is true in all of these worlds).<sup id="cite_ref-:1_3-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-:1-3"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>3<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup class="reference nowrap"><span title="Page / location: 80">: 80 </span></sup> Applied to the example in (4) this would mean that in all the worlds which are defined by the speaker's knowledge about John, it is the case that John earns a lot of money (assuming there is no other explanation for John's wealth). In a similar way a proposition <i>p</i> is possible according to the set of accessible worlds (i.e. the modal base), if some of these worlds are part of <i>P</i>. </p><p>Recent work has departed from this picture in a variety of ways. In <a href="/wiki/Dynamic_semantics" title="Dynamic semantics">dynamic semantics</a>, modals are analyzed as <i>tests</i> which check whether their prejacent is compatible with (or follows from) the information in the conversational common ground. Probabilistic approaches motivated by gradable modal expressions provide a semantics which appeals to speaker credence in the prejacent. Illocutionary approaches assume a sparser view of modals' propositional content and look to conventional discourse effects to explain some of the nuances of modals' use. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Grammatical_expression_of_modality">Grammatical expression of modality</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Modality_(semantics)&action=edit&section=3" title="Edit section: Grammatical expression of modality"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Verbal_morphology">Verbal morphology</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Modality_(semantics)&action=edit&section=4" title="Edit section: Verbal morphology"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1236090951"><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable">Main article: <a href="/wiki/Grammatical_mood" title="Grammatical mood">Grammatical mood</a></div> <p>In many languages modal categories are expressed by verbal morphology – that is, by alterations in the form of the verb. If these verbal markers of modality are obligatory in a language, they are called <a href="/wiki/Grammatical_mood" title="Grammatical mood"><i>mood</i></a> markers. Well-known examples of moods in some European languages are referred to as <a href="/wiki/Subjunctive_mood" title="Subjunctive mood">subjunctive</a>, <a href="/wiki/Conditional_mood" title="Conditional mood">conditional</a>, and <a href="/wiki/Indicative_mood" class="mw-redirect" title="Indicative mood">indicative</a> as illustrated below with examples from <a href="/wiki/French_language" title="French language">French</a>, all three with the verb <span title="French-language text"><i lang="fr">avoir</i></span> 'to have'. As in most <a href="/wiki/Standard_Average_European" title="Standard Average European">Standard European</a> languages, the shape of the verb conveys not only information about modality, but also about other categories such as <a href="/wiki/Grammatical_person" title="Grammatical person">person</a> and <a href="/wiki/Grammatical_number" title="Grammatical number">number</a> of the <a href="/wiki/Subject_(grammar)" title="Subject (grammar)">subject</a>. </p> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1209690778">.mw-parser-output .interlinear .bold{font-weight:bold}.mw-parser-output .interlinear .smallcaps{text-transform:uppercase;font-size:smaller}</style><div class="interlinear" style="margin-left:4em"><div style="position:absolute;left:1em">(6)</div><div style="float: left; margin-bottom: 0.3em;margin-right: 1em;"><p style="margin: 0px;font-style: italic;">Je</p><p style="margin: 0px;"><abbr class="gloss-abbr" title="first person, singular" style="font-variant: small-caps; font-variant-numeric: lining-nums; text-transform: lowercase;">1SG</abbr></p></div><div style="float: left; margin-bottom: 0.3em;margin-right: 1em;"><p style="margin: 0px;font-style: italic;">doute</p><p style="margin: 0px;">doubt</p></div><div style="float: left; margin-bottom: 0.3em;margin-right: 1em;"><p style="margin: 0px;font-style: italic;">que</p><p style="margin: 0px;">that</p></div><div style="float: left; margin-bottom: 0.3em;margin-right: 1em;"><p style="margin: 0px;font-style: italic;">vous</p><p style="margin: 0px;"><abbr class="gloss-abbr" title="second person, plural" style="font-variant: small-caps; font-variant-numeric: lining-nums; text-transform: lowercase;">2PL</abbr></p></div><div style="float: left; margin-bottom: 0.3em;margin-right: 1em;"><p style="margin: 0px;font-style: italic;"><b>ayez</b></p><p style="margin: 0px;">have.<abbr class="gloss-abbr" title="second person, plural" style="font-variant: small-caps; font-variant-numeric: lining-nums; text-transform: lowercase;">2PL</abbr>.<abbr class="gloss-abbr" title="subjunctive mood" style="font-variant: small-caps; font-variant-numeric: lining-nums; text-transform: lowercase;">SJV</abbr></p></div><div style="float: left; margin-bottom: 0.3em;margin-right: 1em;"><p style="margin: 0px;font-style: italic;">raison.</p><p style="margin: 0px;">right</p></div><p style="display: none;">Je doute que vous <b>ayez</b> raison.</p><p style="display: none;">1SG doubt that 2PL have.2PL.SJV right</p><p style="clear: left;">'I doubt that you're right.'</p><div style="clear: left; display: block;"></div> </div> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1209690778"><div class="interlinear" style="margin-left:4em"><div style="position:absolute;left:1em">(7)</div><div style="float: left; margin-bottom: 0.3em;margin-right: 1em;"><p style="margin: 0px;font-style: italic;">Si</p><p style="margin: 0px;">If</p></div><div style="float: left; margin-bottom: 0.3em;margin-right: 1em;"><p style="margin: 0px;font-style: italic;">c'était</p><p style="margin: 0px;">this-was</p></div><div style="float: left; margin-bottom: 0.3em;margin-right: 1em;"><p style="margin: 0px;font-style: italic;">vrai,</p><p style="margin: 0px;">true</p></div><div style="float: left; margin-bottom: 0.3em;margin-right: 1em;"><p style="margin: 0px;font-style: italic;">on</p><p style="margin: 0px;">one</p></div><div style="float: left; margin-bottom: 0.3em;margin-right: 1em;"><p style="margin: 0px;font-style: italic;">l'<b>aurait</b></p><p style="margin: 0px;">it-have.<abbr class="gloss-abbr" title="singular number" style="font-variant: small-caps; font-variant-numeric: lining-nums; text-transform: lowercase;">SG</abbr>.<abbr class="gloss-abbr" title="conditional mood" style="font-variant: small-caps; font-variant-numeric: lining-nums; text-transform: lowercase;">COND</abbr></p></div><div style="float: left; margin-bottom: 0.3em;margin-right: 1em;"><p style="margin: 0px;font-style: italic;">vu</p><p style="margin: 0px;">seen</p></div><div style="float: left; margin-bottom: 0.3em;margin-right: 1em;"><p style="margin: 0px;font-style: italic;">sur</p><p style="margin: 0px;">on</p></div><div style="float: left; margin-bottom: 0.3em;margin-right: 1em;"><p style="margin: 0px;font-style: italic;">CNN</p><p style="margin: 0px;">CNN‍</p></div><p style="display: none;">Si c'était vrai, on l'<b>aurait</b> vu sur CNN</p><p style="display: none;">If this-was true one it-have.SG.COND seen on CNN‍</p><p style="clear: left;">'If this were true, one would have seen it on CNN.'</p><div style="clear: left; display: block;"></div> </div> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1209690778"><div class="interlinear" style="margin-left:4em"><div style="position:absolute;left:1em">(8)</div><div style="float: left; margin-bottom: 0.3em;margin-right: 1em;"><p style="margin: 0px;font-style: italic;">Il</p><p style="margin: 0px;"><abbr class="gloss-abbr" title="third person, singular" style="font-variant: small-caps; font-variant-numeric: lining-nums; text-transform: lowercase;">3SG</abbr></p></div><div style="float: left; margin-bottom: 0.3em;margin-right: 1em;"><p style="margin: 0px;font-style: italic;"><b>a</b></p><p style="margin: 0px;">have.<abbr class="gloss-abbr" title="third person, singular" style="font-variant: small-caps; font-variant-numeric: lining-nums; text-transform: lowercase;">3SG</abbr>.<abbr class="gloss-abbr" title="indicative mood" style="font-variant: small-caps; font-variant-numeric: lining-nums; text-transform: lowercase;">IND</abbr></p></div><div style="float: left; margin-bottom: 0.3em;margin-right: 1em;"><p style="margin: 0px;font-style: italic;">raison</p><p style="margin: 0px;">right</p></div><p style="display: none;">Il <b>a</b> raison</p><p style="display: none;">3SG have.3SG.IND right</p><p style="clear: left;">'He's right.'</p><div style="clear: left; display: block;"></div> </div> <p>An example for a non-European language with a similar encoding of modality is <a href="/wiki/Manam_language" title="Manam language">Manam</a>. Here, a verb is prefixed by a <a href="/wiki/Morpheme" title="Morpheme">morpheme</a> which encodes number and person of the subject. These prefixes come in two versions, <i>realis</i> and <i>irrealis</i>. Which one is chosen depends on whether the verb refers to an actual past or present event (realis), or merely to a possible or imagined event (irrealis).<sup id="cite_ref-4" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-4"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>4<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Auxiliaries">Auxiliaries</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Modality_(semantics)&action=edit&section=5" title="Edit section: Auxiliaries"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1236090951"><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable">Main article: <a href="/wiki/Modal_verb" title="Modal verb">Modal verb</a></div> <p>Modal <a href="/wiki/Auxiliary_verb" title="Auxiliary verb">auxiliary verbs</a>, such as the English words <i>may, can, must, ought, will, shall, need, dare, might, could, would,</i> and <i>should</i>, are often used to express modality, especially in the <a href="/wiki/Germanic_languages" title="Germanic languages">Germanic languages</a>. </p><p>Ability, desirability, permission, obligation, and probability can all be exemplified by the usage of auxiliary modal verbs in English: </p> <dl><dd><i>Ability</i>: I <b>can</b> ride a bicycle (in the present); I <b>could</b> ride a bicycle (in the past)</dd></dl> <dl><dd><i>Desirability</i>: I <b>should</b> go; I <b>ought</b> to go</dd></dl> <dl><dd><i>Permission</i>: I <b>may</b> go</dd></dl> <dl><dd><i>Obligation</i>: I <b>must</b> go</dd></dl> <dl><dd><i>Likelihood</i>: He <b>might</b> be there; He <b>may</b> be there; He <b>must</b> be there</dd></dl> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Lexical_expression">Lexical expression</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Modality_(semantics)&action=edit&section=6" title="Edit section: Lexical expression"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p><a href="/wiki/Verb" title="Verb">Verbs</a> such as "want," "need," or "belong" can be used to express modality <a href="/wiki/Lexical_(semiotics)" class="mw-redirect" title="Lexical (semiotics)">lexically</a>, as can <a href="/wiki/Adverb" title="Adverb">adverbs</a>. </p> <dl><dd>(9) It <i>belongs</i> in a museum!</dd></dl> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Other">Other</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Modality_(semantics)&action=edit&section=7" title="Edit section: Other"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>Complementizers (e.g. Russian) and conjunctions (e.g. <a href="/wiki/Central_Pomo_language" title="Central Pomo language">Central Pomo</a><sup id="cite_ref-5" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-5"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>5<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>) can be used to convey modality. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="See_also">See also</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Modality_(semantics)&action=edit&section=8" title="Edit section: See also"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Angelika_Kratzer" title="Angelika Kratzer">Angelika Kratzer</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Counterfactuals" class="mw-redirect" title="Counterfactuals">Counterfactuals</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Dynamic_semantics" title="Dynamic semantics">Dynamic semantics</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Evidentiality" title="Evidentiality">Evidentiality</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Frank_R._Palmer" title="Frank R. Palmer">Frank R. Palmer</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Free_choice_inference" title="Free choice inference">Free choice inference</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Modal_logic" title="Modal logic">Modal logic</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Modal_subordination" title="Modal subordination">Modal subordination</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Modality_(semiotics)" title="Modality (semiotics)">Modality (semiotics)</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Possible_world" title="Possible world">Possible world</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Tense%E2%80%93aspect%E2%80%93mood" title="Tense–aspect–mood">Tense–aspect–mood</a></li> <li><a href="https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Category:English_modal_adverbs" class="extiw" title="wikt:Category:English modal adverbs">English modal adverbs</a> at Wiktionary</li></ul> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="References">References</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Modality_(semantics)&action=edit&section=9" title="Edit section: References"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1239543626">.mw-parser-output .reflist{margin-bottom:0.5em;list-style-type:decimal}@media screen{.mw-parser-output .reflist{font-size:90%}}.mw-parser-output .reflist .references{font-size:100%;margin-bottom:0;list-style-type:inherit}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns-2{column-width:30em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns-3{column-width:25em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns{margin-top:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns ol{margin-top:0}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns li{page-break-inside:avoid;break-inside:avoid-column}.mw-parser-output .reflist-upper-alpha{list-style-type:upper-alpha}.mw-parser-output .reflist-upper-roman{list-style-type:upper-roman}.mw-parser-output .reflist-lower-alpha{list-style-type:lower-alpha}.mw-parser-output .reflist-lower-greek{list-style-type:lower-greek}.mw-parser-output .reflist-lower-roman{list-style-type:lower-roman}</style><div class="reflist"> <div class="mw-references-wrap"><ol class="references"> <li id="cite_note-:2-1"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-:2_1-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1238218222">.mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit;word-wrap:break-word}.mw-parser-output .citation q{quotes:"\"""\"""'""'"}.mw-parser-output .citation:target{background-color:rgba(0,127,255,0.133)}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-free.id-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/65/Lock-green.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-limited.id-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .id-lock-registration.id-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-subscription.id-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg")right 0.1em center/12px no-repeat}body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-free a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-limited a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-registration a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-subscription a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background-size:contain;padding:0 1em 0 0}.mw-parser-output .cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:none;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;color:var(--color-error,#d33)}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{color:var(--color-error,#d33)}.mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{display:none;color:#085;margin-left:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right{padding-right:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .citation .mw-selflink{font-weight:inherit}@media screen{.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}html.skin-theme-clientpref-night .mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{color:#18911f}}@media screen and (prefers-color-scheme:dark){html.skin-theme-clientpref-os .mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{color:#18911f}}</style><cite id="CITEREFPortner2009" class="citation book cs1">Portner, Paul (2009). <i>Modality</i>. Oxford: Oxford University Press. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-19-929242-4" title="Special:BookSources/978-0-19-929242-4"><bdi>978-0-19-929242-4</bdi></a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=Modality&rft.place=Oxford&rft.pub=Oxford+University+Press&rft.date=2009&rft.isbn=978-0-19-929242-4&rft.aulast=Portner&rft.aufirst=Paul&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AModality+%28semantics%29" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-:0-2"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-:0_2-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Kratzer, A. (1991). Modality. In: von Stechow, A. & Wunderlich, D. (Eds.) Semantics: An International Handbook of Contemporary Research. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-:1-3"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-:1_3-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-:1_3-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text">Kaufmann, S.; Condoravdi, C. & Harizanov, V. (2006) <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20181223121024/https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/e1c0/a81b02d71384ea679037e5cdcd83c8e4eacd.pdf">Formal approaches to modality</a>. Formal approaches to modality. In: Frawley, W. (Ed.). The Expression of Modality. Berlin, New York: Mouton de Gruyter</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-4"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-4">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">see: Elliott, Jennifer R. (2000). Realis and irrealis: Forms and concepts of the grammaticalisation of reality. In: Linguistic Typology (Vol. 4, pp. 55-90).</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-5"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-5">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Mithun, M. (1995). On the Relativity of Irreality. In: Bybee, J. & Fleischman, S. (Eds.) Modality in Grammar and Discourse John Benjamins</span> </li> </ol></div></div> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Further_reading">Further reading</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Modality_(semantics)&action=edit&section=10" title="Edit section: Further reading"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <ul><li>Asher, R. E. (ed.), <i>The Encyclopedia of language and linguistics</i> (pp. 2535–2540). Oxford: Pergamon Press.</li> <li>Blakemore, D. (1994). <i>Evidence and modality</i>. In R. E. Asher (Ed.), <i>The Encyclopedia of language and linguistics</i> (pp. 1183–1186). Oxford: Pergamon Press. <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-08-035943-4" title="Special:BookSources/0-08-035943-4">0-08-035943-4</a>.</li> <li>Bybee, Joan; Perkins, Revere, & Pagliuca, William (1994). <i>The evolution of grammar: Tense, aspect, and modality in the languages of the world</i>. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.</li> <li>Calbert, J. P. (1975). <i>Toward the semantics of modality</i>. In J. P. Calbert & H. Vater (Eds.), <i>Aspekte der Modalität</i>. Tübingen: Gunter Narr.</li> <li>Callaham, Scott N. (2010). <i><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://books.google.com/books?id=19oJcrBd57wC">Modality and the Biblical Hebrew Infinitive Absolute</a></i>. Abhandlungen für die Kunde des Morgenlandes 71. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz.</li> <li><cite id="chungTimberlake1985">Chung, Sandra; & Timberlake, Alan (1985). <i>Tense, aspect and mood</i>. In T. Shopen (Ed.), <i><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://books.google.com/books?id=iz4HQmlj6v8C">Language typology and syntactic description: Grammatical categories and the lexicon</a></i> (Vol. 3, pp. 202-258). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.</cite></li> <li>Kratzer, A. (1981). <i><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://users.ox.ac.uk/~sfop0776/KratzerNotional.pdf">The notional category of modality</a></i>. In H.-J. Eikmeyer & H. Rieser (Eds.), <i>Words, worlds, and contexts: New approaches in word semantics</i>. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter.</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Frank_R._Palmer" title="Frank R. Palmer">Palmer, F. R.</a> (1979). <i>Modality and the English modals</i>. London: Longman.</li> <li>Palmer, F. R. (1994). <i><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://books.google.com/books?id=xKUvDFTARR8C">Mood and modality</a></i>. Cambridge Univ. Press. Second edition 2001.</li> <li>Saeed, John I. (2003). <i>Sentence semantics 1: Situations: Modality and evidentiality</i>. In J. I Saeed, <i>Semantics</i> (2nd. ed) (Sec. 5.3, pp. 135–143). Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing. <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-631-22692-3" title="Special:BookSources/0-631-22692-3">0-631-22692-3</a>, <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-631-22693-1" title="Special:BookSources/0-631-22693-1">0-631-22693-1</a>.</li> <li>Sweetser, E. E. (1982). <i>Root and epistemic modality: Causality in two worlds</i>. <i>Berkeley Linguistic Papers</i>, <i>8</i>, 484–507.</li></ul> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="External_links">External links</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Modality_(semantics)&action=edit&section=11" title="Edit section: External links"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <ul><li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20051220125553/http://www.hku.hk/linguist/program/semantics6.html">Modality and Evidentiality</a></li> <li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://glossary.sil.org/term/mood-and-modality">What is mood and modality?</a> SIL International, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://glossary.sil.org">Glossary of linguistic terms</a>.</li></ul> <div class="navbox-styles"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" 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style="border-spacing:0;background:transparent;color:inherit"><tbody><tr><th scope="col" class="navbox-title" colspan="2"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1129693374"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1239400231"><div class="navbar plainlinks hlist navbar-mini"><ul><li class="nv-view"><a href="/wiki/Template:Grammatical_moods" title="Template:Grammatical moods"><abbr title="View this template">v</abbr></a></li><li class="nv-talk"><a href="/wiki/Template_talk:Grammatical_moods" title="Template talk:Grammatical moods"><abbr title="Discuss this template">t</abbr></a></li><li class="nv-edit"><a href="/wiki/Special:EditPage/Template:Grammatical_moods" title="Special:EditPage/Template:Grammatical moods"><abbr title="Edit this template">e</abbr></a></li></ul></div><div id="Linguistic_modalities_and_grammatical_moods" style="font-size:114%;margin:0 4em"><a href="/wiki/Linguistic_modality" class="mw-redirect" title="Linguistic modality">Linguistic modalities</a> and <a href="/wiki/Grammatical_mood" title="Grammatical mood">grammatical moods</a></div></th></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%"><a href="/wiki/Realis_mood" title="Realis mood">Realis</a><br /><i>(what is)</i></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd hlist" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Realis_mood#Other" title="Realis mood">Indicative/declarative</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Aggressive_mood" title="Aggressive mood">Aggressive</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Realis_mood#Other" title="Realis mood">Energetic</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Evidentiality" title="Evidentiality">Evidential</a> (<a href="/wiki/Sensory_evidential_mood" title="Sensory evidential mood">Sensory</a>)</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Gnomic_aspect" title="Gnomic aspect">Generic/gnomic</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Mirative" class="mw-redirect" title="Mirative">Mirative</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%"><a href="/wiki/Irrealis_mood" title="Irrealis mood">Irrealis</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd hlist" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"></div><table class="nowraplinks navbox-subgroup" style="border-spacing:0"><tbody><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%"><a href="/wiki/Deontic_modality" title="Deontic modality">Deontic</a><br /><i>(what should be)</i></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Benedictive" title="Benedictive"> Benedictive</a></li> <li><b><a href="/wiki/Commissive" class="mw-redirect" title="Commissive">Commissive</a></b> <i>(promises, threats)</i></li> <li><b><a href="/wiki/Directive_moods" class="mw-redirect" title="Directive moods">Directive</a></b> <i>(commands, requests, requirements)</i></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Debitive" title="Debitive">Debitive</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Deliberative_mood" title="Deliberative mood">Deliberative</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Dynamic_modality" title="Dynamic modality">Dynamic</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Hortative" title="Hortative">Hortative (+ subtypes)</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Imperative_mood" title="Imperative mood">Imperative</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Injunctive_mood" title="Injunctive mood">Injunctive</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Jussive_mood" title="Jussive mood">Jussive</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Necessitative_mood" title="Necessitative mood">Necessitative</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Permissive_mood" title="Permissive mood">Permissive</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Precative_mood" class="mw-redirect" title="Precative mood">Precative</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Prohibitive_mood" class="mw-redirect" title="Prohibitive mood">Prohibitive</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Propositive_mood" title="Propositive mood">Propositive</a></li> <li><b><a href="/wiki/Volitive_modality" title="Volitive modality">Volitive</a></b> <i>(hopes, wishes, fears)</i></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Desiderative_mood" title="Desiderative mood">Desiderative</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Imprecative_mood" title="Imprecative mood">Imprecative</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Optative_mood" title="Optative mood">Optative</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%"><a href="/wiki/Epistemic_modality" title="Epistemic modality">Epistemic</a><br /><i>(what may be)</i></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><i>(inferences, possibilities, questions, etc.)</i></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Alethic_modality" title="Alethic modality">Alethic</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Assumptive_mood" title="Assumptive mood">Assumptive</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Deductive_mood" title="Deductive mood">Deductive</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Dubitative_mood" title="Dubitative mood">Dubitative</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Hypothetical_mood" title="Hypothetical mood">Hypothetical</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Inferential_mood" title="Inferential mood">Inferential/renarrative/oblique</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Interrogative" title="Interrogative">Interrogative</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Potential_mood" class="mw-redirect" title="Potential mood">Potential</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Speculative_mood" title="Speculative mood">Speculative</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Subjunctive_mood" title="Subjunctive mood">Subjunctive</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Dependent circumstances<br /><i>(what would be)</i></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Conditional_mood" title="Conditional mood">Conditional</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Eventive_mood" class="mw-redirect" title="Eventive mood">Eventive</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr></tbody></table><div></div></td></tr></tbody></table></div> <div class="navbox-styles"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1129693374"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1236075235"></div><div role="navigation" class="navbox" aria-labelledby="Formal_semantics_(natural_language)" style="padding:3px"><table class="nowraplinks mw-collapsible autocollapse navbox-inner" style="border-spacing:0;background:transparent;color:inherit"><tbody><tr><th scope="col" class="navbox-title" colspan="2"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1129693374"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1239400231"><div class="navbar plainlinks hlist navbar-mini"><ul><li class="nv-view"><a href="/wiki/Template:Formal_semantics" title="Template:Formal semantics"><abbr title="View this template">v</abbr></a></li><li 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class="mw-redirect" title="Entailment">Entailment</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Extension_(semantics)" title="Extension (semantics)">Extension</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Generalized_quantifier" title="Generalized quantifier">Generalized quantifier</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Intension" title="Intension">Intension</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Logical_form_(linguistics)" title="Logical form (linguistics)">Logical form</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Presupposition" title="Presupposition">Presupposition</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Proposition" title="Proposition">Proposition</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Reference" title="Reference">Reference</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Scope_(formal_semantics)" title="Scope (formal semantics)">Scope</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Speech_act" title="Speech act">Speech act</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Syntax%E2%80%93semantics_interface" title="Syntax–semantics interface">Syntax–semantics interface</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Truth-conditional_semantics" title="Truth-conditional semantics">Truth conditions</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Topics</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd hlist" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"></div><table class="nowraplinks navbox-subgroup" style="border-spacing:0"><tbody><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Areas</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Anaphora_(linguistics)" title="Anaphora (linguistics)">Anaphora</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Ambiguity" title="Ambiguity">Ambiguity</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Binding_(linguistics)" title="Binding (linguistics)">Binding</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Conditional_sentence" title="Conditional sentence">Conditionals</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Definiteness" title="Definiteness">Definiteness</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Disjunction" class="mw-redirect" title="Disjunction">Disjunction</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Evidentiality" title="Evidentiality">Evidentiality</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Focus_(linguistics)" title="Focus (linguistics)">Focus</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Indexicality" title="Indexicality">Indexicality</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Lexical_semantics" title="Lexical semantics">Lexical semantics</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Linguistic_modality" class="mw-redirect" title="Linguistic modality">Modality</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Negation" title="Negation">Negation</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Propositional_attitudes" class="mw-redirect" title="Propositional attitudes">Propositional attitudes</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Tense%E2%80%93aspect%E2%80%93mood" title="Tense–aspect–mood">Tense–aspect–mood</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Quantifier_(logic)" title="Quantifier (logic)">Quantification</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Vagueness" title="Vagueness">Vagueness</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Phenomena</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Antecedent-contained_deletion" title="Antecedent-contained deletion">Antecedent-contained deletion</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Cataphora" title="Cataphora">Cataphora</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Coercion_(linguistics)" title="Coercion (linguistics)">Coercion</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Conservativity" title="Conservativity">Conservativity</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Counterfactuals" class="mw-redirect" title="Counterfactuals">Counterfactuals</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Crossover_effects" title="Crossover effects">Crossover effects</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Cumulativity_(linguistics)" title="Cumulativity (linguistics)">Cumulativity</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/De_dicto_and_de_re" title="De dicto and de re">De dicto and de re</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/De_se" title="De se">De se</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Deontic_modality" title="Deontic modality">Deontic modality</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Discourse_relation" title="Discourse relation">Discourse relations</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Donkey_anaphora" class="mw-redirect" title="Donkey anaphora">Donkey anaphora</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Epistemic_modality" title="Epistemic modality">Epistemic modality</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Exhaustivity" title="Exhaustivity">Exhaustivity</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Faultless_disagreement" title="Faultless disagreement">Faultless disagreement</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Free_choice_inference" title="Free choice inference">Free choice inferences</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Givenness" title="Givenness">Givenness</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Homogeneity_(linguistics)" class="mw-redirect" title="Homogeneity (linguistics)">Homogeneity (linguistics)</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Hurford_disjunction" title="Hurford disjunction">Hurford disjunction</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Inalienable_possession" title="Inalienable possession">Inalienable possession</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Intersective_modifier" title="Intersective modifier">Intersective modification</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Logophoricity" title="Logophoricity">Logophoricity</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Mirativity" title="Mirativity">Mirativity</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Modal_subordination" title="Modal subordination">Modal subordination</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Opaque_context" title="Opaque context">Opaque contexts</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Performative_utterance" title="Performative utterance">Performatives</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Polarity_item" title="Polarity item">Polarity items</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Privative_adjective" title="Privative adjective">Privative adjectives</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Quantificational_variability_effect" title="Quantificational variability effect">Quantificational variability effect</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Responsive_predicate" title="Responsive predicate">Responsive predicate</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Rising_declarative" title="Rising declarative">Rising declaratives</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Scalar_implicature" title="Scalar implicature">Scalar implicature</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Sloppy_identity" title="Sloppy identity">Sloppy identity</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Subsective_modifier" title="Subsective modifier">Subsective modification</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Subtrigging" title="Subtrigging">Subtrigging</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Telicity" title="Telicity">Telicity</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Temperature_paradox" title="Temperature paradox">Temperature paradox</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Veridicality" title="Veridicality">Veridicality</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr></tbody></table><div></div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Formalism</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd hlist" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"></div><table class="nowraplinks navbox-subgroup" style="border-spacing:0"><tbody><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Formal systems</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Alternative_semantics" title="Alternative semantics">Alternative semantics</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Categorial_grammar" title="Categorial grammar">Categorial grammar</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Combinatory_categorial_grammar" title="Combinatory categorial grammar">Combinatory categorial grammar</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Discourse_representation_theory" title="Discourse representation theory">Discourse representation theory (DRT)</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Dynamic_semantics" title="Dynamic semantics">Dynamic semantics</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Generative_grammar" title="Generative grammar">Generative grammar</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Glue_semantics" title="Glue semantics">Glue semantics</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Inquisitive_semantics" title="Inquisitive semantics">Inquisitive semantics</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Intensional_logic" title="Intensional logic">Intensional logic</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Lambda_calculus" title="Lambda calculus">Lambda calculus</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Mereology" title="Mereology">Mereology</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Montague_grammar" title="Montague grammar">Montague grammar</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Segmented_discourse_representation_theory" class="mw-redirect" title="Segmented discourse representation theory">Segmented discourse representation theory (SDRT)</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Situation_semantics" title="Situation semantics">Situation semantics</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Supervaluationism" title="Supervaluationism">Supervaluationism</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Type_theory" title="Type theory">Type theory</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Type_theory_with_records" title="Type theory with records">TTR</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Concepts</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Autonomy_of_syntax" title="Autonomy of syntax">Autonomy of syntax</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Context_set" class="mw-redirect" title="Context set">Context set</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Continuation" title="Continuation">Continuation</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Conversational_scoreboard" title="Conversational scoreboard">Conversational scoreboard</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Downward_entailing" title="Downward entailing">Downward entailing</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Existential_closure" title="Existential closure">Existential closure</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Function_application" title="Function application">Function application</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Meaning_postulate" title="Meaning postulate">Meaning postulate</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Monad_(functional_programming)" title="Monad (functional programming)">Monads</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Plural_quantification" title="Plural quantification">Plural quantification</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Possible_world" title="Possible world">Possible world</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Quantifier_raising" class="mw-redirect" title="Quantifier raising">Quantifier raising</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Quantization_(linguistics)" title="Quantization (linguistics)">Quantization</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Question_under_discussion" title="Question under discussion">Question under discussion</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Semantic_parsing" title="Semantic parsing">Semantic parsing</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Squiggle_operator" title="Squiggle operator">Squiggle operator</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Strawson_entailment" title="Strawson entailment">Strawson entailment</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Strict_conditional" title="Strict conditional">Strict conditional</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Type_shifter" title="Type shifter">Type shifter</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Universal_grinder" title="Universal grinder">Universal grinder</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr></tbody></table><div></div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">See also</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even hlist" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Cognitive_semantics" title="Cognitive semantics">Cognitive semantics</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Computational_semantics" title="Computational semantics">Computational semantics</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Distributional_semantics" title="Distributional semantics">Distributional semantics</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Formal_grammar" title="Formal grammar">Formal grammar</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Inferentialism" class="mw-redirect" title="Inferentialism">Inferentialism</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Logic_translation" title="Logic translation">Logic translation</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Linguistics_wars" title="Linguistics wars">Linguistics wars</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Philosophy_of_language" title="Philosophy of language">Philosophy of language</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Pragmatics" title="Pragmatics">Pragmatics</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Semantics_of_logic" title="Semantics of logic">Semantics of logic</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr></tbody></table></div>    </div><noscript><img src="https://login.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:CentralAutoLogin/start?type=1x1" alt="" width="1" height="1" style="border: none; position: absolute;"></noscript> <div class="printfooter" data-nosnippet="">Retrieved from "<a dir="ltr" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Modality_(semantics)&oldid=1251916231">https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Modality_(semantics)&oldid=1251916231</a>"</div></div> <div id="catlinks" class="catlinks" data-mw="interface"><div id="mw-normal-catlinks" class="mw-normal-catlinks"><a 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