Semantics-Pragmatics: Modality and Uncertainty

Undergraduate / Graduate

Building on the logical tradition of possible world semantics, we will explore in this class the rich and diverse empirical domain of modality in language, offering an ambitious theory of linguistic modality as indicative of uncertainty. We cover a wide variety of languages ranging from English, Greek, Italian, German and French to Native American and Asian languages (Japanese, Korean). We study modal expressions such as modal verbs, adverbs, particles and mood (subjunctive, indicative, optative) - alongside evidentials, questions, and imperatives in order to enable a deeper and broader understanding of modality. We introduce a new analysis of linguistic necessity as conveying evidential bias and discuss the relation between epistemic modality and evidentiality. We also study deontic modality, and the relationship between questions and modals through the concepts of nonveridical equilibrium, reflection, and evidential bias. Laying out the formal semantic tools step- by-step, we will combine descriptive adequacy with analytical rigor. This class should be of interest to students from linguistics, philosophy, psychology, typology, and communication theory.