Some Remarks on the Semantics of the Norwegian Modal Verbs

Abstract

In this paper, I describe the meanings of the Norwegian modal auxiliary verbs (BURDE, KUNNE, MÅTTE, SKULLE and VILLE). I stick to the view that both epistemic and non-epistemic meanings can be described most adequately in terms of gradable scales (clines) rather than discrete values. Epistemic modality deals with the degree of commitment, while deontic modality deals with the degree of moral desirability and dynamic modality deals with the degree of readiness. Inside the scope of deontic modality, one has to distinguish subjective modality from objective modality, since the two types are expressed by means of different modal verbs. In the article, I propose a semantic map which explicitely shows the relationships between the different meanings of the Norwegian modal verbs, and allows us to make certain assumptions about their diachronic status. According to the unidirectionality hypothesis, in the process of grammaticalisation premodal meanings first develop into dynamic ones, which then can develop into deontic and later into epistemic ones.