13.1001, Qs: Past Imperative/Eng, Modal Verbs/Quotatives

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Fri Apr 12 03:20:13 UTC 2002


LINGUIST List:  Vol-13-1001. Thu Apr 11 2002. ISSN: 1068-4875.

Subject: 13.1001, Qs: Past Imperative/Eng, Modal Verbs/Quotatives

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1)
Date:  Thu, 11 Apr 2002 22:33:25 +0200
From:  "Wolf" <hwolf at fa.knaw.nl>
Subject:  Past imperatives in English

2)
Date:  Wed, 10 Apr 2002 18:03:04 +0200
From:  Geert Brone <Geert.Brone at arts.kuleuven.ac.be>
Subject:  German modal verbs sollen and wollen in quotative constructions

-------------------------------- Message 1 -------------------------------

Date:  Thu, 11 Apr 2002 22:33:25 +0200
From:  "Wolf" <hwolf at fa.knaw.nl>
Subject:  Past imperatives in English

Some time ago I posted a query on past imperatives. I would be most
grateful for some more native speakers' judgements on the following
four sentences. Please, only respond if you are a native English
speaker, and if you accept at least one of the following sentences.

(1) When I was a child, teachers accepted no contradiction. So did be
a good boy, unless you didn't mind spending half a day in a dark
coal-shed.

(2) When I was a child, parents demanded absolute obedience. So ate
your dinner without complaining, unless you didn't mind spending half
a day in a dark coal-shed.

(3) When I was a child, teachers accepted no contradiction. So were a
good boy, unless you didn't mind spending half a day in a dark
coal-shed.

(4) When I was a child, parents demanded absolute obedience. So did
eat your dinner without complaining, unless you didn't mind spending
half a day in a dark coal-shed.


-------------------------------- Message 2 -------------------------------

Date:  Wed, 10 Apr 2002 18:03:04 +0200
From:  Geert Brone <Geert.Brone at arts.kuleuven.ac.be>
Subject:  German modal verbs sollen and wollen in quotative constructions



Dear LINGUIST LIST subscribers,
	
I am currently working on a research paper dealing with modal verbs in
quotative constructions. A well-known example are the German modal verbs
'sollen' and 'wollen', which a speaker can use to distance him- or herself
from the original proposition (reported speech, hearsay). Consider the
examples below:

- Er soll es die ganze Zeit gewusst haben ('It is claimed that he has known
it all the time'; 'He is said to have known it all the time')
- Er will es die ganze Zeit gewusst haben ('He claims that he has known it
all the time')

In the construction with 'sollen', the sentence subject is not identical
with the source of the original utterance ('PEOPLE claim that HE...'). In
the example with 'wollen', however, we do have this identity between
subject and source ('HE claims that HE has known it all the time').

My request(s):

- It has been shown that some other languages (Danish, Turkish, a large
number of South American languages,...) have similar constructions. I would
appreciate any comments, bibliographical references, examples, etc. Is it
suitable to posit a common underlying conceptual phenomenon for these cases
in different languages?
- Although I am familiar with a number of studies on German modal verbs in
quotative constructions (Diewald (1999), Palmer (1998), Reynaud (1977),
Fritz & Gloning (1997)), I would welcome further references.

I will post a summary of the replies as soon as possible.

Sincerely,
	
Geert Brone
	
	
	Geert Brone
	Katholieke Universiteit Leuven
	Departement Linguistiek
	Blijde-Inkomststraat 21
	3000 Leuven
	Belgi=EB
	tel: (0032) (0)16-324812
	fax: (0032) (0)16-324767
	e-mail: geert.brone at arts.kuleuven.ac.be

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