'Oblique' Modals in English and German.

Matthews, Richard

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Peer reviewed

ERIC Number: EJ532559

Record Type: Journal

Publication Date: 1996

Pages: N/A

Abstractor: N/A

ISBN: N/A

ISSN: ISSN-0388-0001

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'Oblique' Modals in English and German.

Matthews, Richard

Language Sciences, v18 n1-2 p363-79 Jan-Apr 1996

Compares the English modals "could,""might,""should,""ought to" and others with German "konnte,""durfte,""sollte,""mubte," referring to the diachronic perspective and using Reichenbach's (1947) grid of times and worlds. The article suggests that the variety of use of these forms far exceeds that of "can" and "may" and their German equivalents. (25 references) (Author/CK)

Descriptors: Adverbs, Cognitive Structures, Contrastive Linguistics, Diachronic Linguistics, English, German, Morphology (Languages), Pragmatics, Semantics, Sentence Structure, Tenses (Grammar), Time Perspective, Verbs

Publication Type: Reports - Descriptive; Journal Articles

Education Level: N/A

Audience: N/A

Language: English

Sponsor: N/A

Authoring Institution: N/A

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