6.1485, Sum: Can't / must not / mustn't

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LINGUIST List:  Vol-6-1485. Mon Oct 23 1995. ISSN: 1068-4875. Lines:  91
 
Subject: 6.1485, Sum: Can't / must not / mustn't
 
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---------------------------------Directory-----------------------------------
1)
Date:  Mon, 23 Oct 1995 11:19:53 +0200
From:  hiro-t at ias.tokushima-u.ac.jp (hiro-t)
Subject:  Summary: can't / must not / mustn't
 
---------------------------------Messages------------------------------------
1)
Date:  Mon, 23 Oct 1995 11:19:53 +0200
From:  hiro-t at ias.tokushima-u.ac.jp (hiro-t)
Subject:  Summary: can't / must not / mustn't
 
Dear Linguists,
   I received a summary from my senior colleague who posted a query
on epistemic English modals. Here is his summary:
 
**********************************************************************
   At the end of August, I raised a query about the English modals through
Prof. Tanaka's e-mail. I asked you what is the most suitable modal
in the following chocies.
 
  (1) Sam isn't eating his food. He {can't / must not / musn't} be hungry.
 
  (2) A: I saw Prof. Smith in the dining room.
      B: He {can't / must not / mustn't} be there. I just saw him in his office
.
 
  (3) A: Who are you calling?
      B: Dick. The phone is ringing, but there's no answer. He
         {can't / must not / mustn't} be home.
 
  (4) A: Someone is knaocking at the door. It may be Mary.
      B: It {can't / must not / mustn't} be Mary. She went to a movie[
         tonight.
 
  (5) A: Sally has flunked every test so far this semester.
      B: She {can't / must not / mustn't} have studies very hard.
 
  (6) A: Someone told me that jane quit school.
      B: You're kidding! That {can't / must not / mustn't} be true.
 
   I got 29 repondences. Thank you very much for answering my query.
I would express my sincere thanks to the following people who supplied
useful data:
 
  D. Yeager, S. thibault, S. Schaufle, T. Wilmott. B.T. Bruening,
  L. Colvin, M. Johnson, T. Lander, D.A. Schneider, r. DcArrmond,
  A.F. Gupta, S. Fleischman, J. Kirchner, J. DeChicchis, P.M. Jacobson,
  P. Foulkes, L. Trask. M.R. West, N. Ostler, M. Egan, S. Nicolle,
  M. Jackman, N. Stenson, M. Abramovich, K. Barskaitiki, A. Sherwood,
  Gladney, S. Seemiller, and Anonymous.
 
   The result of this inquiry is as follows. I will show it in percentages:
 
              can't            must not         mustn't
     (1)       22%                61%             17%
     (2)       96                  4               0
     (3)       22                 66              12
     (4)       96                  4               0
     (5)       32                 53              15
     (6)       92                  8               0
 
**********************************************************************
   As you can see from his table above, _must not_ is more likely to be
used in negative context of previous utterances. _Can't_ is vice versa.
The result is as expected, he said.  If you have any comments on this
result, please don't hesitate to e-mail me (Tanaka) diurectly. I will
send him your message.
 
Best Wishes,
Hiroaki Tanaka, Tokushima University, Japan.
E-mail:hiro-t at ias.tokushima-u.ac.jp
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