Masarykova univerzita

ag.xi)Modal Combinations

ag.xi.1Modally Harmonic and Modally Non-harmonic Combinations

The meeting must surely be over by now. - strong modal harmony

The meeting should probably be over by now. - medium modal harmony

The meeting may possibly be over by now. - weak modal harmony

As may be seen, a modal verb and an adverb of the same strength combine in a single sentence and “express a single feature of modal meaning” (2002:180). Huddleston and Pullum also refer to the non-harmonic modal combination where the modal components do not have an identical meaning as in It may surely have been an accident (2002:180).

Halliday (1970:330-331) calls the occurrence of a modal verb and an adverb in the same sentence “double modality” and adds that “where there is double modality one must be expressed non-verbally” (1970:330, note 12). The pairs of modal expressions which are equivalent in meaning, i.e. they are in a harmonic combination, strengthen each other (as “concord”), for example, “Perhaps he might have built it” (Halliday 1970:331). When the two modal expressions are not equivalent, as in the sentence “Certainly he might have built it” (1970:331), they “are thus cumulative in meaning” (1970:331, my emphasis).

In case modally harmonic expressions occur within one clause, “there is a kind of concord running through the clause, which results in the double realization of a single modality” (Lyons 1977:808). Nevertheless, in case of the non-harmonic combination of the modal verb and the adverb, these constituents influence each other in that one lies within the scope of the other. Lyons (1977:808) gives this examples:

Certainly he may have forgotten.

He may certainly have forgotten.

The first sentence means “It is certainly the case that he may have forgotten”, thus, may is within the scope of certainly. The meaning of the latter sentence is ambiguous. It may be interpreted either as “It is certainly the case that he may have forgotten” or as “It may be the case that he has certainly forgotten”. However, what is clear about the modal expressions in the latter sentence is the fact that, as Lyons puts it, “no more than one of the two modal expressions can express subjective epistemic modality (though they may both express objective epistemic modality) and it is the one which expresses subjective epistemic modality that has the wider scope” (1977:808).

In general, combinations of modal expressions are connected with various pragmatic functions such as making suggestions, recommendations, offers, commands or requests (Hoye 1997:84). As regards political interviews, the functions are slightly different. The always depend on the context in which the particular utterance is uttered. Therefore, these modal combinations may show indirectness, hesitation, and uncertainty of the speaker, or, by contrast, they may strengthen the illocutionary force of the utterance, as shown in the examples below.

Although there also appear non-harmonic modal combinations in the corpus, their number is much lower than the number of harmonic modal combinations, as Table 43 shows:

Example 118 is an instance of a modal harmonic combination since two modal expressions of the same strength are combined in one utterance:

Example

QUESTION: The President of Syria also says that the United States has a large border with Mexico and we can't prevent a lot of people from coming in. And he also says that there has to be a relationship before full cooperation can take place.

SECRETARY RICE: Well, a relationship, of course, is going to depend on whether or not Syria actually carries out the objectives and the responsibilities that it says it needs to carry out. But this isn't a quid pro quo. This isn't somehow a favor for the United States. I can assure you that Syria, with extremists transiting through Syria, that the Syrians are going to find themselves in a situation in which that's destabilizing for Syria.

And it certainly can't be very good for Iraq's neighbors to have a situation in which extremists are able to move across borders, to kill innocent Iraqis, to create large refugee flows -- something that the Syrians complain loudly about. So I would hope that Syria would do this in its own interests, and if there is cooperation to be had on that border, then, of course, the United States would want to cooperate.

(App., p. 216, Condoleezza Rice, 2007-05-07, ll. 58-71)

By contrast, Example 119 shows a modally non-harmonic combination in which two modal means, namely, the modal adverb certainly and the modal verb should, are combined. Should expresses medium modality, certainly expresses strong modality.

Example

QUESTION: We're just about out of time, but I'd like to ask one question about Darfur. Are you concerned that because of the difficulties we've had in Iraq, it's made it more difficult to take the kind of forceful action we might need to be taking against what is a genocide right now in Darfur?

BLAIR: I think that the trouble is that in Darfur, the Africans, other countries don't want American, U.K., other European troops there. Now, the (inaudible) said it's a United Nations-African Union force. I don't think that's the issue. I think the issue is getting the force in there and I think that if, in the next weeks and next couple of months or so, the Sudanese government are not prepared to agree to the U.N. plan, then we've got to move to sanctions and we've got to move to tougher action.

And I think we should certainly consider the option of a no-fly zone to help people in Darfur, because it's a very, very serious situation and it's now spilling into other countries next door.

But this is not our military force, certainly, in terms of boots on the ground.

(App., p. 35, Tony Blair, 2006-12-10, ll. 227-241)

ag.xi.2Modal Combinations in the Corpus

As demonstrated in Table 44 above, not only a modal verb and a modal adverb may be combined but various combinations of modal means are possible. These combinations will be described in greater detail in the following sections.

modal verb + modal adverb

Debating immigration problems and immigration law, Condoleezza Rice assures the audience that the defence of the border and financial support of border security is a very important issue of Bush’s administration. The adverb really combined with must emphasises the illocutionary force of her words:

Example 120

BLITZER: The president meets this week with the leaders of Canada and Mexico. Immigration, illegal immigration in the United States, a big issue. The House passed legislation which would make it a felony for an illegal immigrant in the United States simply to be here. Is that something the Bush administration supports?

RICE: The president has very clearly stated the principles on which we would work to try and get a more humane and effective immigration law, and those principles include that we really must, of course, defend our border, and we've put a lot of money into border security. The State Department has enhanced its request for border security. We are obviously determined that U.S. laws should be enforced.

It's also the case that we have a population here that needs to be treated humanely. No matter how they came here, I think Americans want to think that people would be treated humanely, and the president has talked about a temporary worker program that would allow people to -- who have work that Americans will not do, to find a way to be legally in the country.

(App., p. 204, Condoleezza Rice, 2006-03-26, ll. 276-290)

In Example 121, Hillary Clinton discusses nominations for American president and decisions president has to make. She uses the modal combination of the periphrastic form have got to and the modal adverb actually.

Example 121

Whoever is nominated, and it's likely to be Senator Obama or myself, will get a fresh look by the people of America, will get an increased amount of, you know, questions about who we are and where we're from. Because all of a sudden it becomes real. You've covered this for a long time. You know, when my husband ran in '92, he finally clinched the nomination in June in California. He was running third behind President Bush and behind Ross Perot. Others of our candidates on both sides of the aisle start out behind and wage a winning campaign.

So I think what people who are concerned about electability should be looking at is number one, who can be the best president, the best president from day one, who is prepared, who has taken tough positions, because you're going to have to take them. You know, Senator Obama voted present 130 times in the state Senate. When you're president, you can't vote present. You have to make a decision. Sometimes it's a split second decision. You don't have time to, you know, think about it. You've got to actually decide. So I'm going to take the case to the country as the nominee that I've been tested, I've been proven. I have the experience we need to make the changes we want and I think that's a winning case, and, you know, whomever the Republicans nominate.

(App., p. 142, Hillary Clinton, 2008-01-13, ll. 670-686)

In the following example, ex-president Bush should explain the problems with sharing information because his administration had been criticised because of that. The interviewer also asks if he changed anything in the past five years. In his answer, Bush uses the modal combination of the modal adverb probably and the modal verb could. Probably hedges his statement.

Example 122

COURIC: But – but what's your response to that?

BUSH: My response is, is that we're sharing information much better than prior to September the 11th. We've got a – a counterterrorism center where people from different agencies come and meet. And, you know, again, I repeat to you: We – we're working to improve as best as we possibly can. But this system of ours has improved dramatically since September the 11th.

COURIC: When you look back on the last five years, President Bush, is there anything that you wish you had done differently?

BUSH: Yeah. I mean, I wish, for example, Abu Ghraib didn't happen. That was a stain on our nation's character, and it sent a signal about who we're not to a lot of people around the world. I probably could have – watched my language a little better, you know?

(App., p. 80, George W. Bush, 2006-09-06, ll. 130-141)

pragmatic particle + modal adverb

In Example 123, the pragmatic particle I think and the modal adverb actually are combined in one utterance. Here, actually attenuates the illocutionary force of the utterance since the speaker wants to gain detachment from her statement:

Example 123

JON SOPEL: But a lot of the candidates seem to be moving to the left. I mean I wonder how you would characterise the race for the Deputy leadership as it is at the moment - the different camps.

HAZEL BLEARS: Well, what I think we've got as I say is a range of people out there who've got a lot of expertise and in different areas, and they've also got a lot of experience. Myself, I was a Home Office Minister for three years, I dealt with policing, counter-terrorism after 7/7, I've been a Health Minister, you've got a whole range of talents here. I actually think that rather than having one or two people to choose from, the fact that the Labour Party is able to throw up half a dozen people at the top of our movement, who are capable of taking this on, is actually a testament to what we've achieved.

(App., p. 67, Hazel Blears, 2007-02-25, ll. 73-83)

In the next example, the same combination of modal means as in the previous example is used, however, actually follows the pragmatic particle I think. It means that it hedges the following part of the utterance.

Example 124

NEIL CAVUTO, HOST: All right. All right, so Barack Obama plans to show up for Friday`s big debate at Ole Miss. John McCain does not. He is keeping his campaign going. John McCain is not. He insists he calls -- called John McCain first. John McCain says he called him first. So, these

two aren`t even remotely in synch on this issue.

Governor Janet Napolitano, Democrat of Arizona, joins me right now. She`s a big Obama supporter.

Governor, these two are not on the same page.

GOV. JANET NAPOLITANO (D), ARIZONA: Well, I think actually, they are on some fundamentals. They`re on the same page in terms of what any kind of bailout legislation needs to look like, that it has to have independent oversight, that it has to protect home buyers, that it has to repay taxpayers, and it has to ensure that the CEOs and others who have profited over the last few years don`t make profits out of this bailout.

(App., p. 195, Janet Napolitano, 2008-09-24, ll. 5-17)

Example 125 is similar to the previous exmple as regards the syntactic structure of modal means. The modal adverb really follows the pragmatic particle I think so it emphasises the following part of the utterance.

Example 125

DF: Prime Minister, back in November 2001 you said that the Taliban was in a state of total collapse. What's happened? It seems to have had a comeback, a revival to be a serious enemy again. What's happened, did we underestimate them or ...?

TB: No but I think really what's happened is that although in many parts of Afghanistan they've been beaten back, in the south in a sense they have never really left.

Up in Kabul it's been a different picture, but again what it indicates is that they are very serious about trying to take us on, trying to take on the Afghan people who obviously want to elect their government as they've been able to do for the first time, and again the answer is to stick with it and make sure that we, we help those people who want to, to get a better future where they’re not prey to the Taliban and al-Qaeda and their country is turned into a training camp or a narcotics economy or girls aren't allowed to go to school or any of the rest of the extremism that comes with them.

(App., p. 40, Tony Blair, 2006-12-11, ll. 162-174)

modal adverb + modal adverb

In the following example, in the first instance, modal adverbs actually and really accentuate the subjectivity of speaker’s message, by contrast, in the second instance, these modal adverbs hedge the utterance:

Example 126

JON SOPEL: Okay, and let me just try and drag you back to where we started because you say there isn't a contest, well there is.

Peter Hain has announced that he's running, you were sitting next to him when he declared that he was going to be running for the Deputy Leadership. So has Harriet Harman.

Were they wrong to do that?

HAZEL BLEARS: No, what they've said is that if and when there's a contest they intend their names to go forward and this is some time in the future.

What I'm actually really interested in is now, today, having a good conference. Also having some really exciting policies to meet some of the challenges that are coming upon us. You know, the world is changing very fast indeed.

JON SOPEL: Okay.

HAZEL BLEARS: If you think about migration, security, terrorism, the re-structuring of industry, particularly manufacturing industry, these are the real pressures on people.

I was at a Party meeting on Saturday morning, when my members actually raised with me the brand new academy that we've got in the city. They also talked to me about the maternity services in the hospital and they talked about the Lebanon.

So these were really big, important issues to our party members. But the strongest message was, for goodness sake, let's get on with that agenda and all this squabbling is actually really quite disturbing Party members and the public and I think that's a very strong message to us.

(App., p. 62, Hazel Blears, 2006-09-17, ll. 23-44)

In Example 127, the speaker also uses a modal combination of two modal adverbs but in this case, they are the same lexical items. Their pragmatic function is to emphasise the speaker’s statement and to assure the audience about the seriousness of the situation.

Example 127

JON SOPEL: And when you talk about the squabbling and you talk about the people in marginal seats feeling worried, and then you have Clare Short saying, well actually, what would be the best outcome of, of a General Election would be a hung parliament.

Now what action has been taken, will be taken, where are you on this?

HAZEL BLEARS: Well first of all, I think what Clare Short has said is extremely serious. Calling for a hung parliament inevitably means that we will have fewer Labour MPs.

The fundamental aim of the Labour Party is to elect Labour people in councils and to parliament, and therefore I think this is a very serious matter indeed.

The General Secretary has written to Clare Short and the matter will be discussed at the National Executive Committee on Wednesday, but I think this is a really really serious matter, I genuinely do.

(App., p. 64, Hazel Blears, 2006-09-17, ll. 107-119)

modal verb + periphrastic verb

In Example 128, the combination of should and the periphrastic form have to express detachment of the speaker from the proposition:

Example 128

QUESTION: Madame Secretary, there was some thinking several years ago that nation-building was not something appropriate for the United States to do. Has that thinking changed?

SECRETARY RICE: Yes. (Laughter.)

QUESTION: And how important is it –

SECRETARY RICE: To be fair, yes. Look, I think we always knew nation-building was important, but I think my view coming in was, look, this isn’t something the 82^nd Airborne should be doing. As a matter of fact, I think I’m famous for that quote.

QUESTION: Taking children to school.

SECRETARY RICE: Yes. I still think this is not something that the military should have to shoulder, which is why getting the civilian capacity is so important. And it’s why some of our biggest supporters in this have been the military and the Defense Department -- Bob Gates, for instance, because you know, the problem is we now know the real cost of failed states. We know the cost of Afghanistan as a failed state that became, then, a breeding ground for terrorism, became terrorism central. I don’t think anybody wants to let that happen again. And we know the cost of Somalia as a failed state.

(App., p. 244, Condoleezza Rice, 2008-03-27, ll. 377-393)

Another two instances of this modal combination occur in one interview. It is a combination of the modal verb should and the periphrastic form to be able to. Both these forms put more emphasis on the content of the message.

Example 129

JON SOPEL: And has, I´ve seen it reported that you´re going to let councils borrow from the private sector so that they can build more. Is that right.

YVETTE COOPER: Well councils can already use their borrowing in order to do all sorts of investment in their area. There are certain difficulties around the way that the housing revenue account works and the way that technical rules work and we are looking at greater flexibility for councils. Of course it´s got to be within proper responsible public borrowing frameworks, but we do want councils to play a stronger role.

JON SOPEL: And in this vision, you say councils play a bigger role, I´m just trying to get the simple answer to the question, will there be a lot more council housing.

YVETTE COOPER: We do think councils should be able to build council housing, we also think that they should be able to work with housing associations, with private sector organisations, in partnership because that´s what you really need. We want greater flexibility, but we want that partnership development.

(App., p. 147, Yvette Cooper, 2007-07-15, ll. 146-159)