New Benjamins title: Nordstr öm - Modality and Subordinators

[Paul Peranteau]

Modality and Subordinators

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Jackie Nordström
Lund University

<http://www.benjamins.com/cgi-bin/t_seriesview.cgi?series=SLCS>Studies 
in Language Companion Series 116

2010. xvii, 341 pp.
Hardbound – In stock
978 90 272 0583 4 / EUR 105.00 / USD 158.00
<http://www.benjamins.com/cgi-bin/cart.cgi?t=u&copies=1&edition=0&bookid=SLCS%20116>
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e-Book – Not yet available
978 90 272 8860 8 / EUR 105.00 / USD 158.00
<http://www.benjamins.com/cgi-bin/wishcart.cgi?t=u&copies=1&bookid=SLCS%20116>
[]

This book connects two linguistic phenomena, modality and 
subordinators, so that both are seen in a new light, each adding to 
the understanding of the other. It argues that general subordinators 
(or complementizers) denote propositional modality (otherwise 
expressed by moods such as the indicative-subjunctive and 
epistemic-evidential modal markers). The book explores the hypothesis 
both on a cross-linguistic and on a language-branch specific level 
(the Germanic languages). One obvious connection between the 
indicative-subjunctive distinction and subordinators is that the 
former is typically manifested in subordinate clauses. Furthermore, 
both the indicative-subjunctive and subordinators determine clause 
types. More importantly, however, it is shown, through data from 
various languages, that subordinators themselves often denote the 
indicative-subjunctive distinction. In the Germanic languages, there 
is variation in many clause types between both the indicative and the 
subjunctive and that and if depending on the speaker's and/or the 
subject's certainty of the truth of the proposition.


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Table of contents

Preface and acknowledgements
xiii–xiv
Abbreviations
xv–xvii
Chapter 1. Introduction
1–12
Part I. Modality and subordinators in the language of the world
Chapter 2. Modality
15–54
Chapter 3. The morphosyntactic status of modality
55–90
Chapter 4. Subordinators and modality
91–110
Chapter 5. Investigation of semantic, functional, and notational 
similarities between propositional modality and subordinators in the 
languages of the world
111–124
Part II. Modality and subordinators in the Germanic languages
Chapter 6. The Germanic indicative and subjunctive as propositional 
modality markers
127–148
Chapter 7. Modal markers and word order in the Germanic languages
149–172
Chapter 8. General subordinators and propositional modality in the 
Germanic languages
173–224
Chapter 9. Speech-act modality
225–238
Chapter 10. Relative and adverbial subordinators
239–266
Chapter 11. Conclusion and final remarks
267–284
Appendix A. Two typological surveys of the morphosyntactic status of 
propositional modality
285–306
Appendix B. Sources for the typological surveys
307–322
References
323–336
Language index
337–338
Subject index
339–342


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"The author of this book fearlessly approaches the seemingly chaotic 
mess of complementizers in Germanic languages. The study focuses in 
particular on Scandinavian, English and German, but provides examples 
from Dutch, Icelandic, Frisian, Romance and a number of other 
languages. Armed with data from a range of typological studies and 
also carrying out a couple of her own, the author defends the idea 
that Germanic complementizers come in three different varieties, 
where one of the types (consisting in complementizers like THAT and 
WHETHER) denotes propositional modality. This type of modality 
therefore bears crucial resemblance to propositional mood like 
subjunctive and indicative, according to the author, and is akin to 
verbal mood inflections as well as verb placement (verb-first and 
verb-second) in signifying the values Realis and Irrealis. The book 
contains a plethora of new data, providing a platform for the reader 
to entertain the quite innovative and fresh ideas put forth by the 
author. I would recommend this book to anyone working with mood, or 
modality, or complementizers; or anyone ready to take a fresh look at 
the semantics of verb placement."
Kristin Melum Eide, The department of Scandinavian studies and 
comparative literature, NTNU, Trondheim


Paul Peranteau (paul at benjamins.com)
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