Lingthusiasm Episode 69: What we can, must, and should say about modals

Sometimes, we use language to make definite statements about how the world is. Other times, we get more hypothetical, and talk about how things could be. What can happen. What may occur. What might be the case. What will happen (or would, if only we should have known!) What we must and shall end up with. In other words, we use a part of language known as modals and modality!  

In this episode, your hosts Lauren Gawne and Gretchen McCulloch get enthusiastic about modals! We talk about the nine common modals in English,  the gloriously-named quasimodals (no relation to the bellringer but I would absolutely read the Quasimodo/Quasimodal crossover, I’m just saying), and how people use the ambiguity between permission and believability in English modals for comic effect. We also talk about neat things modals do in various languages: in Nsyilxcen, the modal is a separate word, whereas in Nez Perce, it’s an affix on the verb, and in German, there are also modal adverbs. In Italian Sign Language and American Sign Language the forcefulness of the modal (such as the difference between “should” and “must”) is indicated through having modals that are performed faster or larger or have a more intensive expression in how they’re signed.

Click here for a link to this episode in your podcast player of choice or read the transcript here.

Announcements:

In this month’s bonus episode we get enthusiastic about the word “like”! We talk about why “like” falls prey to the frequency and recency illusions, why linguists get excited about “like” and other function words, and other important dispatches from the world of “like” (apparently people who use “like” are perceived as more attractive!).

Join us on Patreon to listen to this and 60+ other bonus episodes. You’ll also get access to the Lingthusiasm Discord server where you can chat with other language nerds!

Here are the links mentioned in this episode:

• All Things Linguistic post about modals
• Etymonline entry for ‘could’
• Etymonline entry for ‘must’
• ‘Can we talk?’ illustration of the ambiguity of modals
• All Things Linguistic post ‘Vexations of the Can-May Distinction’
• Guinness World Records post on the records it no longer monitors
• The Malay modal ‘mesti’ - Kroeger 2020
• The German modal ‘sollen’ - Herrmann 2013
• Semantics in Indigenous American Languages: 1917–2017 and Beyond by Lisa Matthewson
• On Modality in Georgian Sign Language (GESL) by Tamar Makharoblidze
  
• Etymonline entry for ‘mode’
• Lingthusiasm episode ‘Listen to the imperative episode!’ (which at a meta level is about mood, which unfortunately isn’t the same as mode, we’re very sorry about that, blame the Romans)
• German modal particles and the common ground by Fabian Bross
• Yale Grammatical Diversity Project English in North America entry for Multiple Modals
  
• Quasimodals
  
• All Things Linguistic post on double modals
• Totem Field Storyboards
• Superlinguo post on elicitation methods
• Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology Department of Linguistics Modal Questionnaire for Cross-Linguistic Use

You can listen to this episode via Lingthusiasm.com, Soundcloud, RSS, Apple Podcasts/iTunes, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. You can also download an mp3 via the Soundcloud page for offline listening. To receive an email whenever a new episode drops, sign up for the Lingthusiasm mailing list.

You can help keep Lingthusiasm advertising-free by supporting our Patreon. Being a patron gives you access to bonus content, our Discord server, and other perks.

Lingthusiasm is on Facebook, Tumblr, Instagram, Pinterest, and Twitter.

Email us at contact [at] lingthusiasm [dot] com

Gretchen is on Twitter as @GretchenAMcC and blogs at All Things Linguistic.

Lauren is on Twitter as @superlinguo and blogs at Superlinguo.

Lingthusiasm is created by Gretchen McCulloch and Lauren Gawne. Our senior producer is Claire Gawne, our production editor is Sarah Dopierala, our production assistant is Martha Tsutsui Billins, and our production manager is Liz McCullough. Our music is ‘Ancient City’ by The Triangles.

This episode of Lingthusiasm is made available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial Share Alike license (CC 4.0 BY-NC-SA).