Платная доработка на тему The peculiarities of the usage of modal verbs in English-American newspapers (Особенности использования модальных глаголов в англо-американских газетах)

Содержание:

Introduction 2
1. Modality and modal constructions 3
1.1. The concept of modality 3
1.2. General characteristics of modal verbs 6
1.3. Values and variations of modal verbs 7
2. Features of the use of modal verbs in the text of the English-American popular science newspapers 16
2.1. General provisions on the use of modal verbs in the text of a popular science article 16
2.2. Modal verbs expressing objective possibility 17
2.3. Modal verbs expressing the importance of necessity and duty 20
Conclusion 29
References 25

Введение:

Recently, modern linguistics has been actively developing research aimed at describing and analyzing language realizations of such a universal and communicatively significant textual category as modality.
However, despite rather large number of publications and serious achievements in understanding this category, modal words and phrases are considered one of the most controversial lexical and grammatical categories of words. Modal words and phrases did not receive a full explanation due to their multiplicity, specificity of linguistic expression and functional features. In the texts of various functional styles there are problems associated with the study of the patterns of functioning of means of expression of modality.
The object of the research is the modal verbs in the text of an English-language popular science article.
To achieve the aim of the research the following objectives are set:
— to analyze a selection of scientific English-American articles on the problems of modal verbs as a means of expressing modality;
— to present characteristic features of modal verbs;
— to review the texts of English-language popular science articles and to identify in them the features of the use of modal verbs.
The data for this paper was selected from a number of on-line versions of British and American newspapers and journals, including The BBC Focus Magazine, The New Scientist, The Popular Science Magazine, The Scientific American.
The methodological basis is founded on the works of such domestic researchers as V.V. Vinogradov, T.A. Barabash, A.A. Khudyakov, and other linguists.
Structurally the paper is arranged to meet the set goals. It consists of Introduction, two Chapters, Conclusion and References.
Chapter I provides a theoretical basis for the research, covering the main aspects of the chosen theme. In the first chapter the category of modality and modal verb is considered as an object of linguistic research.
Chapter II gives the features of the use of modal verbs in the texts of popular English-American science articles.
The results of the study are summed up in the Conclusion. The list of literature and sources used in the paper is provided in the References.

Заключение:

. Modality and modal constructions
1.1. The concept of modality

The concept of modality does not have a clear unambiguous definition due to its multiplicity, specificity of linguistic expression and functional features.
Its nature is not defined unequivocally, its subtypes are not identified, its relations with the adjacent category — the category of predicativeness are not clarified, the connection between the modality logical and the language modality is not always clearly explained [7]. The absence of a generally accepted definition of modality puts it on par with other basic concepts of linguistics — words, sentences, text, etc. — and therefore cannot be considered its distinctive feature.
In the literature, there is a wide range of views on the category of modality. Important theoretical propositions on the problem of modality are presented in the works of A.M. Peshkovsky (1928), V.V. Vinogradov (1975), F.R. Palmer (Palmer, 1979), A.A. Khudyakov (2005) etc. An analysis of existing works suggests that in general there are several points of view on the nature of language modality. There is a gradual expansion of the concept of modality, transferred from logic to linguistics, a tendency caused by the study of the verb, lexico-grammatical, syntactic and other means of expressing modality in different languages. Thus the teaching of Academician V.V. Vinogradov on the category of modality in Russian which is widely used in the study of other languages.
In general, a considerable amount of work is devoted to the problem of modality. And at the same time, in this area th ere is a complete range of opinions, up to diametrically opposed. Due to the multiplicity of this category, its complexity and inconsistency researchers give different definitions of the category of modality.
For the first time the term “modality” was introduced by Aristotle and was interpreted as a way of existence of an object or the realization of a phenomenon.
Medieval scholastics also expressed various judgments about modality.
I. Kant also studied modality and described its features such as: according to the judgment of reality; according to the judgment of necessity and possibility. Already in classical logic, modality is considered as a definition of types of judgment, for which the following terms are used: assertive type of judgment, reflecting reality; apodictic type of judgment, expressing the need; problematic type of judgment that determines the possibility.
Categories of modality in the teachings of Kant [8]:
1. The indicative (judicium assertoricum) for showing the action of an independent and truly accomplished.
2. The imperative (judicium apodicticum) for the expression of the will of an independent and direct, direct.
3. The subjunctive (judicium problematicum) for the expression of the action of the supposed and only possible»
Brunot F. singled out three groups of modality: the modality of judgment, feeling and will. He noted that in each of these cases, two categories are distinguished: the real and the possible. However, it can be noted that the groups distinguished by Bruno interpret the concept of modality proposed by classical logic.
For example, je veux que tu me donnes une pomme = transition zone from the desired modality to the incentive one; in this zone, the values of desirability and urgency are combined, so it is difficult to determine which of the two: desirability or urgency ,. present in the statement to a greater extent; this. the zone of joint functioning of the desired modality and the incentive[20].
In developing his theory of expression, the Swiss linguist Charles Bally noted that there are two elements in the statement: the main content (dictum) and the individual assessment of the stated facts (modus). Bally borrowed the terms dictum (lat. Dictum — word, expression) and modus (lat. Modus — method) from scholasticism and used them to denote the objective and subjective part of judgment. He also distinguishes between three common varieties of modality: intellectual judgment, affective evaluation and desire.
E. Benveniste also divides the modality into three types: opportunity, impossibility and necessity.
In the statement “leaving things (as they are)”, we identified 3 phonemic units in different places: [i], [θ], [ŋ]. Do they allow the selection of the highest level unit that would contain these units. Logically, six combinations of the specified phonematic units are possible: [iθŋ], [iŋθ], [θiŋ], [θŋi], [ŋiθ], [ŋθi]. Two of these combinations are indeed represented in this statement, but they are implemented in such a way that they have two common phonemes, and we are forced to choose one of them and exclude the other; in [li: viŋθiŋz] it will be either [ŋiθ] or [θiŋ]. Let’s drop [ŋiθ] and raise [θiŋ] to the rank of the new unit / θiŋ /. The identification of a new unit of the highest level must satisfy the requirement of meaningfulness, — [θiŋ] makes sense, and [ŋiθ] is meaningless. To this is added the distributive criterion, which can be obtained earlier or later in the course of the analysis described, if a sufficient number of texts are analyzed: [ŋ] is not allowed in the initial position, and the sequence [ŋθ] is impossible; at the same time, [ŋ] belongs to the phonemes that occur in the final position, a [θi] and [iŋ] are equally possible [3].
Let us turn to the consideration of the definition given in the explanatory dictionary by Ushakov D.N.: What is said can be thought of as real, cash in the past or present, as realized in the future, as desirable, demanded from someone, as potential, as invalid, etc.
For example, «a potential opportunity to change the situation is a modifier ready <willingness to do something>, not leading to the desired in the novel: … while I really loved and I love some of my Baturin ones»[12].
Bondarko A.V. the category of modality is still a matter of debate. He argues that understanding modality is very vague.
For example, «I passionately wanted to share with her the pleasure of my observation, refinement in this observation, I wanted to infect her with my merciless attitude towards my surroundings and with despair I saw that something completely opposite to my desire to make her a participant in my feelings and thoughts came out»[4].
Vinogradov V.V. consider that the category of modality is still debatable in science and requires addition and clarification. Language modality, being one of the key semantic categories, traditionally ranks among the most researched. And although scientists have done quite a lot in this area over a fairly long period (over 60 years), it still represents a phenomenon that can be compared to the “boom” of studying metaphors, and has been persistently maintained for many decades as a recognized subject of discussion [6].
Taking into account the points of view of various scholars who studied the concept of modality, you can still give a general definition of this grammatical category, relying on philosophy. From this point of view, modality is “a way of the existence of an object or the occurrence of a phenomenon, or a way of understanding judgments about an object, phenomenon or event”.
In linguistics, there were two main approaches to the description of the category of modality — wide and narrow. V.V. Vinogradov is the founder of a broad approach to the problem of the category of modality. The concept of V.V. Vinogradov and her position developed thanks to his students and followers (TP Lomtev, GA Zolotova, E.N. Klobukov, etc.).
The indicative mood is identified with the modality of reality, the imperative mood is identified with the modality of necessity, and the subjunctive mood is identified with the modality of possibility. G.V. Kolshansky, V.Z. Panfilov, V.N. Bondarenko and other linguists used and support this approach in their works.
So, in the end, we can state the following facts:
1. The essence of the category of modality in linguistics is quite fully considered in many scientific works within the framework of various approaches to its interpretation.
2. Due to the vagueness of the categorical boundaries of this category, two “traditional” approaches emerged and stood out in linguistics: broad and narrow.
3. From the point of view of a broad approach, based primarily on the teaching of V.V. Vinogradov and S. Bally, modality is understood as the attitude of the statement to reality from the point of view of the speaker and includes various types of “emotional”, “expressive”, “assessment”, meaning of affirmation and denial, predicativeness, communicative goal of the statement.
4. With a narrow approach, linguistic modality is understood as a direct analogy of the modality of judgment, and this point of view is not widely spread, as it directly reduces the linguistic modality to the logical concept of the modality of judgment.
5. In general, it can be said that modality is a multidimensional phenomenon, a conceptual category, characterized by the attitude of the speaker to the content of the statement or the correlation of the statement with reality.
Many domestic and foreign researchers dealt with the category of modality and modal verbs. These aspects of linguistics are still of interest to philologists today. As there is still no definite definition of the category of modality and some of its aspects are not fully covered.
The material examined in this paper shows that the problem of modality as a subjective and objective category, as well as issues related to the meanings of the assumptions of modal verbs are not completely resolved. Thus, discussions on these topics are inevitable in the future to resolve insufficiently covered issues.
Imagine a comparative description of the use of modal verbs in British and American newspapers. The diagram below shows the frequency of use of modal verbs in newspapers.
We can say that modal verbs have different shades of categorical, depending on the intention of the author of the article in American newspapers. For example, in cases where the author prefers to sound more categorical, he uses the verb will. But knowing that he is responsible for the statement, the author reduces the categorical statement with the help of modal verbs could (38%) and should.
Weakening the categorical nature of an author of a popular science text is a way to express one’s opinion without depriving the reader of the opportunity to interpret the presented judgments in his own way. Such a strategy makes it possible to avoid absolutely categorical statements and to establish a distance.
Most often in the English newspapers the modal verbs could be is used (27%). Evaluation of the textual modality is associated with an increase in self-control, the avoidance of over-categoricalness, which can be perceived as inattention, disrespect to another point of view. In caution, the modal tinge of “not one hundred percent objectivity” is expressed: by this the author emphasizes some degree of doubt, incomplete self-righteousness, reserving the right to dissociate himself from what has been said. On the other hand, the reason for the non-categorical nature may be his desire to avoid excessive straightness, perseverance. In the second place, the use of verb must (22%), and in third place the modal verb might (21%).
This work has theoretical and practical value for further research in the field of theoretical grammar of the English language, and can also be used for educational purposes, for conducting theoretical and practical classes in this discipline.
Thus, the goal of the work can be considered achieved: a review and analysis of the category of modality, the classification of modal verbs and the characteristics of their use in popular science articles of English-language publications.
To achieve this goal, the following tasks were set and solved: an analytical review of the scientific literature on the problems of modal verbs, as a means of expressing modality; a review of texts of English-language popular science articles and the identification in them of the features of the use of modal verbs.
The composition of the work is determined by its tasks, reflects the main stages and logic of the research development.

Фрагмент текста работы:

. Modality and modal constructions
1.1. The concept of modality

The concept of modality does not have a clear unambiguous definition due to its multiplicity, specificity of linguistic expression and functional features.
Its nature is not defined unequivocally, its subtypes are not identified, its relations with the adjacent category — the category of predicativeness are not clarified, the connection between the modality logical and the language modality is not always clearly explained [7]. The absence of a generally accepted definition of modality puts it on par with other basic concepts of linguistics — words, sentences, text, etc. — and therefore cannot be considered its distinctive feature.
In the literature, there is a wide range of views on the category of modality. Important theoretical propositions on the problem of modality are presented in the works of A.M. Peshkovsky (1928), V.V. Vinogradov (1975), F.R. Palmer (Palmer, 1979), A.A. Khudyakov (2005) etc. An analysis of existing works suggests that in general there are several points of view on the nature of language modality. There is a gradual expansion of the concept of modality, transferred from logic to linguistics, a tendency caused by the study of the verb, lexico-grammatical, syntactic and other means of expressing modality in different languages. Thus the teaching of Academician V.V. Vinogradov on the category of modality in Russian which is widely used in the study of other languages.
In general, a considerable amount of work is devoted to the problem of modality. And at the same time, in this area th ere is a complete range of opinions, up to diametrically opposed. Due to the multiplicity of this category, its complexity and inconsistency researchers give different definitions of the category of modality.
For the first time the term “modality” was introduced by Aristotle and was interpreted as a way of existence of an object or the realization of a phenomenon.
Medieval scholastics also expressed various judgments about modality.
I. Kant also studied modality and described its features such as: according to the judgment of reality; according to the judgment of necessity and possibility. Already in classical logic, modality is considered as a definition of types of judgment, for which the following terms are used: assertive type of judgment, reflecting reality; apodictic type of judgment, expressing the need; problematic type of judgment that determines the possibility.
Categories of modality in the teachings of Kant [8]:
1. The indicative (judicium assertoricum) for showing the action of an independent and truly accomplished.
2. The imperative (judicium apodicticum) for the expression of the will of an independent and direct, direct.
3. The subjunctive (judicium problematicum) for the expression of the action of the supposed and only possible»
Brunot F. singled out three groups of modality: the modality of judgment, feeling and will. He noted that in each of these cases, two categories are distinguished: the real and the possible. However, it can be noted that the groups distinguished by Bruno interpret the concept of modality proposed by classical logic.
For example, je veux que tu me donnes une pomme = transition zone from the desired modality to the incentive one; in this zone, the values of desirability and urgency are combined, so it is difficult to determine which of the two: desirability or urgency ,. present in the statement to a greater extent; this. the zone of joint functioning of the desired modality and the incentive[20].
In developing his theory of expression, the Swiss linguist Charles Bally noted that there are two elements in the statement: the main content (dictum) and the individual assessment of the stated facts (modus). Bally borrowed the terms dictum (lat. Dictum — word, expression) and modus (lat. Modus — method) from scholasticism and used them to denote the objective and subjective part of judgment. He also distinguishes between three common varieties of modality: intellectual judgment, affective evaluation and desire.
E. Benveniste also divides the modality into three types: opportunity, impossibility and necessity.
In the statement “leaving things (as they are)”, we identified 3 phonemic units in different places: [i], [θ], [ŋ]. Do they allow the selection of the highest level unit that would contain these units. Logically, six combinations of the specified phonematic units are possible: [iθŋ], [iŋθ], [θiŋ], [θŋi], [ŋiθ], [ŋθi]. Two of these combinations are indeed represented in this statement, but they are implemented in such a way that they have two common phonemes, and we are forced to choose one of them and exclude the other; in [li: viŋθiŋz] it will be either [ŋiθ] or [θiŋ]. Let’s drop [ŋiθ] and raise [θiŋ] to the rank of the new unit / θiŋ /. The identification of a new unit of the highest level must satisfy the requirement of meaningfulness, — [θiŋ] makes sense, and [ŋiθ] is meaningless. To this is added the distributive criterion, which can be obtained earlier or later in the course of the analysis described, if a sufficient number of texts are analyzed: [ŋ] is not allowed in the initial position, and the sequence [ŋθ] is impossible; at the same time, [ŋ] belongs to the phonemes that occur in the final position, a [θi] and [iŋ] are equally possible [3].
Let us turn to the consideration of the definition given in the explanatory dictionary by Ushakov D.N.: What is said can be thought of as real, cash in the past or present, as realized in the future, as desirable, demanded from someone, as potential, as invalid, etc.
For example, «a potential opportunity to change the situation is a modifier ready <willingness to do something>, not leading to the desired in the novel: … while I really loved and I love some of my Baturin ones»[12].
Bondarko A.V. the category of modality is still a matter of debate. He argues that understanding modality is very vague.
For example, «I passionately wanted to share with her the pleasure of my observation, refinement in this observation, I wanted to infect her with my merciless attitude towards my surroundings and with despair I saw that something completely opposite to my desire to make her a participant in my feelings and thoughts came out»[4].
Vinogradov V.V. consider that the category of modality is still debatable in science and requires addition and clarification. Language modality, being one of the key semantic categories, traditionally ranks among the most researched. And although scientists have done quite a lot in this area over a fairly long period (over 60 years), it still represents a phenomenon that can be compared to the “boom” of studying metaphors, and has been persistently maintained for many decades as a recognized subject of discussion [6].
Taking into account the points of view of various scholars who studied the concept of modality, you can still give a general definition of this grammatical category, relying on philosophy. From this point of view, modality is “a way of the existence of an object or the occurrence of a phenomenon, or a way of understanding judgments about an object, phenomenon or event”.
In linguistics, there were two main approaches to the description of the category of modality — wide and narrow. V.V. Vinogradov is the founder of a broad approach to the problem of the category of modality. The concept of V.V. Vinogradov and her position developed thanks to his students and followers (TP Lomtev, GA Zolotova, E.N. Klobukov, etc.).
The indicative mood is identified with the modality of reality, the imperative mood is identified with the modality of necessity, and the subjunctive mood is identified with the modality of possibility. G.V. Kolshansky, V.Z. Panfilov, V.N. Bondarenko and other linguists used and support this approach in their works.
So, in the end, we can state the following facts:
1. The essence of the category of modality in linguistics is quite fully considered in many scientific works within the framework of various approaches to its interpretation.
2. Due to the vagueness of the categorical boundaries of this category, two “traditional” approaches emerged and stood out in linguistics: broad and narrow.
3. From the point of view of a broad approach, based primarily on the teaching of V.V. Vinogradov and S. Bally, modality is understood as the attitude of the statement to reality from the point of view of the speaker and includes various types of “emotional”, “expressive”, “assessment”, meaning of affirmation and denial, predicativeness, communicative goal of the statement.
4. With a narrow approach, linguistic modality is understood as a direct analogy of the modality of judgment, and this point of view is not widely spread, as it directly reduces the linguistic modality to the logical concept of the modality of judgment.
5. In general, it can be said that modality is a multidimensional phenomenon, a conceptual category, characterized by the attitude of the speaker to the content of the statement or the correlation of the statement with reality.