Deontic modality (
abbreviated ) is a
linguistic modality that indicates how the world ought to be according to certain norms, expectations, speaker desires, etc. In other words, a deontic expression indicates that the state of the world (where 'world' is loosely defined here in terms of the surrounding circumstances) does not meet some standard or ideal, whether that standard be social (such as laws), personal (desires), etc. The sentence containing the deontic modal generally indicates some action that would change the world so that it becomes closer to the standard or ideal.
This category includes the following subcategories:
*Commissive modality (the speaker's commitment to do something, like a promise or threat;
alethic logic or
temporal logic In logic, temporal logic is any system of rules and symbolism for representing, and reasoning about, propositions qualified in terms of time (for example, "I am ''always'' hungry", "I will ''eventually'' be hungry", or "I will be hungry ''until'' I ...
would apply): "I shall help you."
*
Directive modality
Directive may refer to:
* Directive (European Union), a legislative act of the European Union
* Directive (programming), a computer language construct that specifies how a compiler should process input
* "Directive" (poem), a poem by Robert Frost
...
(commands, requests, etc.;
deontic logic would apply): "Come!", "Let's go!", "You've got to taste this curry!"
*
Volitive modality (wishes, desires, etc.;
boulomaic logic would apply): "If only I were rich!"
A related type of modality is
dynamic modality Dynamic modality is a linguistic modality that is the ability or requirement of the subject to do something. Dynamic modality is non- subjective in contrast to the similar deontic modality. Dynamic modality is expressed with "can" or "will
Will may ...
, which indicates a subject's internal capabilities or willingness as opposed to external factors such as permission or orders given.
Realisation in speech
Deontic moods are a category of
grammatical mood
In linguistics, grammatical mood is a grammatical feature of verbs, used for signaling modality. That is, it is the use of verbal inflections that allow speakers to express their attitude toward what they are saying (for example, a statement of ...
s that are used to express deontic modality. An example for a deontic mood is the
imperative ("Come!").
However, many languages (like English) have additional ways to express deontic modality, like
modal verbs ("I ''shall'' help you.") and other verbs ("I ''hope'' to come soon."), as well as
adverbials (''hopefully'') and other constructions.
Esperanto
Esperanto
Esperanto ( or ) is the world's most widely spoken constructed international auxiliary language. Created by the Warsaw-based ophthalmologist L. L. Zamenhof in 1887, it was intended to be a universal second language for international communi ...
has a mood formally called ''volitive'' which is also used for various directive uses, so it can be seen as a broader deontic mood. However, it is not used to express commissive modality. It is formed by adding ''-u'' to the verb stem, and it is used for orders and commands as well as for expressing will, desire, and purpose.
*''Estu feliĉa!'' "(May you) Be happy!"
*''Donu al mi panon.'' "Give me bread."
*''Ni iru!'' "Let's go!"
*''Mi legu tion.'' "Let me read that."
*''Mi volas, ke vi helpu min.'' "I want you to help me."
*''Ĉu mi faru tion?'' "Shall I do that?"
See also
*
Angelika Kratzer
Angelika Kratzer is a professor emerita of linguistics in the department of linguistics at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.
Biography
She was born in Germany, and received her PhD from the University of Konstanz in 1979, with a dissertat ...
*
Deontic logic
*
Epistemic modality
Epistemic modality is a sub-type of linguistic modality that encompasses knowledge, belief, or credence in a proposition. Epistemic modality is exemplified by the English modals ''may'', ''might'', ''must''. However, it occurs cross-linguisticall ...
*
Free choice inference Free choice is a phenomenon in natural language where a linguistic disjunction appears to receive a logical conjunctive interpretation when it interacts with a modal operator. For example, the following English sentences can be interpreted to mean ...
References
External links
modality in a machine-translation interlingua
{{Formal semantics
Grammatical moods
Linguistic modality
Semantics
Modal logic
Formal semantics (natural language)