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http://e-lib.bsufl.by/handle/edoc/17802| Title: | The Syntax of Double Modality in Standard English: a Corpus-Based Study |
| Authors: | Nuriyeva Saadat Tapdıq |
| Keywords: | Языкознание (лингвистика) Частное языкознание. Языки мира Грамматика Английский язык |
| Issue Date: | 2025 |
| Publisher: | Белорусский государственный университет иностранных языков |
| Citation: | Nuriyeva Saadat Tapdıq. The Syntax of Double Modality in Standard English: a Corpus-Based Study / Nuriyeva Saadat Tapdıq // Язык в эпоху цифровых трансформаций и развития искусственного интеллекта : сб. науч. ст. по итогам II междунар. науч. конф., Минск, 23–24 окт. 2025 г. / редкол. : Н. Е. Лаптева (отв. ред.) [и др.]. – Минск : БГУИЯ, 2025. – С. 138–146. |
| Description: | This article presents a corpus-based study of the syntactic structure and grammatical behavior of double modality in Standard English. While double modal constructions such as might could or may can are typically associated with non-standard dialects, Standard English employs syntactically permissible combinations involving a core modal and a semi-modal or lexical modal phrase (e.g., might be able to, may be able, might have to, may have to, could be going to, “must be able to”, etc.).The study draws on data from contemporary English corpora to identify and analyze these combinations, it also aims to analyze these combinations from a syntactic perspective, focusing on their linear order, internal structure, and the distributional rules that govern them. By combining insights from corpus analysis and modern grammatical theory, the article identifies productive and frequent patterns of double modality and distinguishes them from dialectal or regionally restricted forms.It also explores the interaction between modality, tense, and aspect in multi-modal constructions. The corpus evidence reveals that although Standard English avoids true double modals, it permits layered modal expressions through grammatically structured auxiliary chains, reflecting complex semantic layering.The findings contribute to a clearer understanding of modality stacking and provide corpus-driven insights into the syntactic flexibility and evolving usage patterns of modal expressions in contemporary English. Corpus Examples of Double Modality in Standard English (core modal + lexical/semi-modal such as “might be able to”,” may have to”, “could be going to”, “must be able to”, “might want to”) obtained from sources such as the British National Corpus (BNC), the Corpus of Contemporary American English (COCA), and the NOW Corpus, and adapted to reflect real and standard sentence structures. Key words: syntax; double modality; a corpus-based study; standard English; core modal; periphrastic modal. |
| URI: | http://e-lib.bsufl.by/handle/edoc/17802 |
| ISBN: | 978-985-28-0275-8 |
| Appears in Collections: | Язык в эпоху цифровых трансформаций и развития искусственного интеллекта (статьи) |
Files in This Item:
| File | Description | Size | Format | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 138-146.pdf | 9,01 MB | Adobe PDF | View/Open |
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