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The Impact of Context on Modal Meaning in English and Danish

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 December 2008

Alex Klinge
Alex Klinge
Affiliation:
Copenhagen Business School, Dalgas Have 15, DK-2000 Frederiksberg, Denmark. Email: klinge/[email protected]
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Abstract

In this article it is argued on the basis of English and Danish data that modal meanings traditionally discussed as semantic properties of the modal auxiliaries are derived from intra- and extra-sentential context. On the basis of preferred readings the article illustrates and discusses some of the central variables which determine the assignment of modal meaning to a sentence in a context of utterance.

Type
Research Article
Information
Nordic Journal of Linguistics , Volume 19 , Issue 1 , June 1996 , pp. 35 - 54
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1996

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References

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