Modals in the Languages of Europe: A Reference Work

Published by De Gruyter Mouton 2009

Modals in the Languages of Europe

A Reference Work

Edited by: Björn Hansen and Ferdinand de Haan

Volume 44 in the series Empirical Approaches to Language Typology [EALT]

https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110219210

Overview
Contents

About this book

This book is the first comprehensive survey of modals and modal constructions in the languages of Europe. It is a collaborative effort between scholars from Europe and the United States, stemming from a workshop on Modals in the Languages of Europe in Valencia.

The aim of this book is to describe the properties of modals and modal constructions in the European area and to compare the systems in individual languages or language families from an areal and genetic perspective. For the sake of contrast, the book also looks at the expression of modality in some languages just outside of Europe. The book consists of fourteen chapters on modal systems in individual languages or language families, written by experts in the respective languages, and an introductory and concluding chapter, written by the editors.

The book gives both a description of the modals in the individual languages and an account of the nature and status of modals in general. It provides the reader with a theoretical account of how modals and modal constructions are grammaticalized. This theoretical account is informed by the parameters of grammaticalization of Christian Lehmann. These parameters were chosen because they are language-independent, as opposed to more language specific criteria (for instance, the NICE-criteria for English). The parameters themselves are examined as well for their suitability as part of any theory of grammaticalization.

The book thus gives readers access to a collection of data on modality that surpasses most works in this field and also provides a fresh perspective on issues of grammaticalization and language contact. It is therefore of interest to scholars of modality, language contact and areal linguistics, grammaticalization theory and typology.

Author / Editor information

Björn Hansen, University of Regensburg, Germany; Ferdinand de Haan, University of Arizona, USA.

Reviews

"This book provides excellent new research on modality in languages where studies on modal constructions are rarely conducted. It also emphasizes the impact of language contact in modality."
Stella Gevorgyan-Ninness in Linguist List 22.186

"This is a useful reference guide for students of comparative linguistics."
In: Scitech Book News Book News Inc. 2/2010

Topics

Frontmatter Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	i
Contents Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	v
List of contributors Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	vii
Abbreviations used in glossing Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	xii
1. Introduction Ferdinand Haan and Björn Hansen Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
A. Modals in Indo-European languages (Western branch)
2. Modals in the Germanic languages Tanja Mortelmans, Kasper Boye and Johan Auwera Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	11
3. Modals in Irish Peter McQuillan Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	71
4. Modals in the Romance languages Bert Cornillie, Walter Mulder, Tine Hecke and Dieter Vermandere Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	107
5. Modals in Greek Anastasios Tsangalidis Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	139
B. Modals in Indo-European languages (Eastern branch)
6. Modals in the Slavonic languages Juliane Besters-Dilger, Ana Drobnjaković and Björn Hansen Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	167
7. Modals in Baltic Axel Holvoet Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	199
8. Modals in Albanian Walter Breu Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	229
9. Modality in Romani Viktor Elšík and Yaron Matras Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	267
C. Modals in Non-Indo-European languages
10. The grammaticalisation of modal auxiliaries in Maltese and Arabic vernaculars of the Mediterranean area Martine Vanhove, Catherine Miller and Dominique Caubet Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	325
11. Modal verbs in Balto-Finnic Petar Kehayov and Reeli Torn-Leesik Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	363
12. Modals in Hungarian Erika Körtvély Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	403
13. Mood and modality in Berber Amina Mettouchi Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	431
14. Modality in Basque Alan R. King Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	457
15. Modals in Turkic Lars Johanson Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	487
16. Concluding chapter: modal constructions in the languages of Europe Björn Hansen and Ferdinand Haan Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	511
Backmatter Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	561

(Deutsch)

Language: English
Publisher: De Gruyter Mouton
Audience: Linguists working on Modality, Semantics, Grammaticalization, Language Change, and Areal Linguistics, Research Libraries, Academic Institutes
Pages
- Front matter: 13
- Main content: 577
Illustrations
- Other: Figs., tabs. and maps
Keywords: Typology; Semantics; Grammaticalization

eBook

Published: December 15, 2009
ISBN: 9783110219210

Hardcover

Published: October 16, 2009
ISBN: 9783110219203