2002•Hu'nan Shifan Daxue shehui kexue xuebaoRequires access
On the Meaning of Modal Auxiliaries in English
Yanmei Xie
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Abstract
This essay makes a brief study of the meaning of the modal auxiliaries in English from the angle of applied linguistics. The author believes that Palmer's three categories, namely epistemic, deontic and dynamic, basically summarizes the meaning of the modals. At the same time, by analyzing the meaning gradience of modals and the gradience of meaningful componential parts, he further sets forth the meaning of modals, which enables us to have a better understanding of them.