Choice of strategies in realizations of epistemic possibility in English and Lithuanian

Abstract

The paper deals with the qualitative and quantitative parameters of equivalence between the realizations of epistemic possibility in English and Lithuanian. The focus of the contrast is on the auxiliary and adverb strategies (van der Auwera et al. 2005) in English (can,could,may,mightvs.maybe,perhaps,possibly) as opposed to the corresponding modal verb and adverb/particle strategies in Lithuanian (galeti“can/could/may/might” vs.gal,galgi,galbut,rasi,lyg ir“maybe/perhaps/possibly”). The purpose of the corpus-based study is to find out which means of expression are preferable in the two languages and what the scope of their meanings is. The paper will also look at the frequency of epistemic and non-epistemic use of the modal expressions in the original and in translation.

Realizations of deonticity in Lithuanian: The case of particles

“…Alongside modal verbs, considerable attention has been devoted to sentence adverbials expressing modal meanings (Usonienė & Šolienė 2010;Šolienė 2012, 2013Šinkūnienė 2012). Studies into realizations of epistemic possibility and necessity have shown that, like in Slavic languages, epistemic meanings in Lithuanian tend to be coded by adverbials or particles rather than by modal verbs, for the latter are not highly grammaticalized elements (Usonienė & Šolienė 2010).…”

“…Alongside modal verbs, considerable attention has been devoted to sentence adverbials expressing modal meanings (Usonienė & Šolienė 2010;Šolienė 2012, 2013Šinkūnienė 2012). Studies into realizations of epistemic possibility and necessity have shown that, like in Slavic languages, epistemic meanings in Lithuanian tend to be coded by adverbials or particles rather than by modal verbs, for the latter are not highly grammaticalized elements (Usonienė & Šolienė 2010). As evidenced by the qualitative and quantitative findings obtained from the parallel corpus ParaCorp, English modal verbs of necessity and possibility are rendered into Lithuanian by a variety of adverbials displaying culture-specific conceptualization of epistemic modality (Šolienė 2012, 2013).…”