Modality in Irish (fwd)

[Andrew Carnie]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Wed, 28 Oct 1998 20:30:19 +0100 (MEZ)
From: Astrid Fiess <fiess at mail.uni-freiburg.de>
To: CELTLING at MITVMA.MIT.EDU, CELTIC-T at TC.UMN.EDU
Subject: Modality in Irish

Hello!

I have a question concerning the concept of modality in modern Irish.
I will have an exam on the subject soon and during the preparation I came
across a number of questions/problems:
There is no detailed account on the subject in Irish that I know of and I
find it quite difficult to apply definitions and approaches I found, e.g.
for the English language, on Irish, as there are virtually no
auxiliaries in that language. Irish rather uses analytical, i.e. often
prepositional constructions, to convey concepts like capability or
volition.
My first problem is now: How many different constructions are
there for every one of these various semantic concepts in the different
dialects? I used de Bhaldraithe's dictionary but he only gives a list of
possible constructions without specifying any dialectal variation or
variations in meaning and use.
Secondly, I need to find out which of the constructions are
grammaticalised, or rather to what extent they are at all.
I'd be very glad, if anyone could help.


Astrid Fiess