Weak necessity without weak possibility: The composition of modal strength distinctions in Javanese

Abstract

This paper investigates the semantics of the suffix -NE in Javanese (Austronesian; Indonesia), bringing to light new findings to bear on the composition of modal strength distinctions. In a transparent manner, this functional morpheme derives weak necessity modals from strong necessity modals, but cannot attach to possibility modals to derive weak possibility. Javanese thereby takes a different compositional route to weak necessity than most Indo-European languages, which might lexicalise modal strength distinctions or rely on counterfactual morphology for that purpose. We propose a new type of domain restriction analysis for weak necessity to capture both the defining properties of weak necessity as well as the restriction in Javanese to only necessity modals. Specifically, we propose that -NE requires quantification over a non-empty subset of a minimal witness set for the original quantification. The Javanese data thus show that weak necessity is not a unified phenomenon across languages, and our analysis contributes to a model of crosslinguistic variation concerning the relationship between gradability and modality, and the semantics of weak modal strength.

Cross-linguistic dataset of force-flavor combinations in modal elements

“…To our knowledge, weak possibility modals have not been reported in the literature, although they may in principle exist at least under certain theoretical analyses of the strength distinction (see Rubinstein, 2012;Vander Klok & Hohaus, 2020 for discussion). Thus, for the purpose of this paper and in our database, we assume that the strength distinction is only applicable to necessity.…”

“…circ.pos 'Javanese people ought to be able to speak Krama, and the Sultan's son has to be able to.' Here, one can see that the weak necessity is expressed by the combination of the strong necessity modal kudu and the additional morpheme ne, which Vander Klok & Hohaus (2020) argue to be a designated morpheme not utilized e.g., in counterfactual conditionals. Yet another pattern is observed in Logoori, where an anticausative morpheme is attached to necessity for weak necessity (Gluckman & Bowler, 2020).…”

Modals and conditionals in instrumental practical reasoning: the case of Polish

“…Accordingly, should do X is often taken to express the so-called 'weak' root necessity (e.g. Silk 2018;Matthewson & Truckenbrodt 2018;Vander Klok & Hohaus 2020), and communicate a strong suggestion or advice to do X, as opposed to placing an obligation upon the hearer. Now, what should do X and have to do X have in common is that they both indicate the existence of some compelling reasons to do X, but only the latter also signals the absence of other alternatives than the one expressed in the prejacent (X).…”