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Abstract

This paper examines the epistemic-evidential meanings of the Spanish modals ‘have to’ and ‘must’ using data from the . These verbs are regarded as near-synonyms, related to the notion of speaker commitment, and, when differentiating between them, previous studies frequently resort to register variation (e.g., RAE-ASALE, 2009, Blas Arroyo & Vellón, 2014). However, the results in the present study reveal that the dimension of (inter)subjectivity better accounts for the differences between the verbs: whereas is used for intersubjective as well as subjective and non-subjective meanings, is highly specialized for subjective uses. The semantic-pragmatic restriction of makes it unidiomatic or pragmatically unsuitable as a substitute for in many contexts. Hence, in this line of argumentation, has found a true niche in epistemic-evidential contexts.

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2026-04-09
2026-05-11

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Modality, evidentiality and (inter)subjectivity
John Benjamins ; https://doi.org/10.1075/rro.23001.the
/content/journals/10.1075/rro.23001.the
/content/journals/10.1075/rro.23001.the
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  • Article Type: Research Article
Keywords: evidentiality ; speaker-orientation ; epistemic modality ; Spanish modal verbs ; (inter)subjectivity

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