Evolutionary Linguistic Theory - Volume 7, Issue 1-2, 2025

This paper explores the concepts of needing and wanting, and their relevance for communication from an evolutionary perspective. The main claim is that volition is rooted in the set of needs that determine an individual’s condition. It will be shown how needs and volition shape the architecture of speech acts, providing new support for Gricean intentionalism, according to which each major speech act is driven by a communicative intention. In addition, the paper investigates how these concepts are mapped onto natural-language expressions with intensional semantics and argues that the resulting ‘need’-predicates and volitional predicates differ in their argument structure: whereas ‘need’-predicates are analyzed as three-place predicates introducing an extra slot for a goal-argument, volitional predicates are analyzed as two-place predicates. Finally, it is assumed that all semantic flavors of deontic modality can be derived from volitional modality.

In recent years, it has been shown that perspectivization is not a pragmatic add-on but central to human cognition and linguistic conceptualization (see e.g. MacWhinney 2005, Verhagen 2023). One linguistic aspect where this is particularly obvious is modality as the semantic domain whose core function is commonly seen in denoting speakers’ attitudes towards a proposition, and as such, dependent on viewpoint (e.g. Bybee & Fleischman 1995, Papafragou 2002, 2006, Abraham & Leiss 2012, Abraham 2020). In this paper, we want to support this view by showing that the viewpoint constellation is a central semantic component which is responsible for the (synchronic as well as diachronic) shifts between different readings of German modal verbs. With this aim in mind, the paper brings together previous formal semantic and functional cognitive approaches and offers a unified analysis of the perspectival mechanism that allows for various semantic readings of modal verbs. We will show this exemplarily for one particular modal verb in German, i.e. sollen (‘shall’) + inf. Based on historical empirical evidence, we will work out a unified analysis of the viewpoint constellation which is able (i) to unify root, epistemic and evidential readings, (ii) to describe the semantic development, and (iii) to explain the complementary distribution to the imperative. By doing so, our aim is to shed light on fundamental processes of perspectivization in modal verbs and their status in linguistic theory.

The article proposes a systematic spell-out of the conditions for clausal complementation, and it pinpoints principled problems concerning the “diagnosis” of complementation in authentic linguistic data. In particular, the article presents a comprehensive functional classification of clause-initial connectives which, under certain conditions, can be considered complementizers, i.e. word units that flag clauses as complements (= arguments) of higher-order clauses. This classification is provided for modern Slavic languages across the board. The onomasiological background for the classificatory grid of the relevant connectives is supplied by a discussion of the underlying concepts and dimensions. Concomitantly, the conditions under which complementation may arise are detailed, together with possible alternative analyses: often, relevant clause-initial connectives need not be qualified as complementizers, and the clauses introduced by them as complements, even if favorable conditions apply. The same holds true for clause pairs without any such connective. This creates systematic delimitation problems of clausal complements against parenthetical comments and quotation. These problems are shown to be fundamental: they usually originate in syntactic indeterminacy, both in the relation between adjacent clause pairs and concerning the status of clause-initial connectives. The discussion of these problems shows their relevance for linguistic theory and the methodology of empirical analysis.

This article discusses the controversial classification of “modal particles” (MPs) in German linguistics, debating whether they are truly “modal” or primarily contribute to illocutionary force. It explores particles like wohl and ja to show that both have to be regarded as modal egophorics. The analysis builds on Frege’s hierarchy of propositional operations, arguing that MPs function as judgment specifiers rather than direct contributors to epistemic stance. The article also discusses existing multi-layered models of commitment, going back to Frege. Despite their frequent lack of consideration for the intersubjective nature of epistemic judgments, Fregean approaches help describe the fine structure behind epistemic commitment. It is showed that MPs intervene as specifiers of what Frege and Krifka call a judgment. Throughout the paper, particular attention is paid to retroactions between the various layers of assertion, which can give rise to the impression that MPs are located higher than their actual place in the functional hierarchy. It is claimed that these effects are due to pragmatic implications inhibiting the felicity conditions of some theoretically possible combinations.

This study investigates the cognitive plausibility of diachronic modal development using an experimental approach grounded in the Human Diachronic Simulation Paradigm, which has been proposed and shown to successfully simulate the conditions under which an attested semantic change occurs (Gergel, 2020; Gergel et al. 2021). Building on historical claims that modal meanings evolve along a unidirectional path — from dynamic to deontic to epistemic meaning — we designed acceptability judgment experiments to test whether speakers accommodate hypothetical shifts in modal usage. Experiment 1 employed constructed stimuli, and Experiment 2 used naturally occurring sentences from the Corpus of Contemporary American English, testing three English modal expressions (be able to, be allowed to, might) across dynamic, deontic, and epistemic contexts. Results largely align with historical predictions (but there is also a notable exception that we discuss in more detail): be able to is acceptable in dynamic and deontic contexts but not epistemic; be allowed to remains strongly deontic and resists epistemic reinterpretation; might is highly acceptable in epistemic contexts and degraded elsewhere. A third experiment examined whether possibility adverbials facilitate the deontic-to-epistemic shift, revealing an interaction effect that reduces markedness in epistemic contexts. These findings support the experimental replication of diachronic tendencies while highlighting constraints on semantic change and the potential role of bridging elements. We conclude that experimental paradigms can illuminate mechanisms underlying language change and propose directions for future research integrating syntactic factors and contextual triggers.

Modal verbs in epistemic reading are widely used in German. A general question with epistemically used modal verbs is, whether the epistemic reading developed out of the deontic usage by a grammaticalization process, or the epistemic and deontic usage arose simultaneously. The paper concentrates on modal verbs governing a past infinitive (e.g. sie muss das gesehen haben ‘she must have seen it’ in the sense of ‘I am sure that she saw it’). A corpus study searching for such combinations in Middle High German, Early New High German and New High German texts showed that the epistemic reading developed out of the deontic reading between the 14th and 16th century. A trigger for the epistemic reading might have been that the combination of modal plus past infinitive was available in the language as early as Middle High German, but with a different meaning, namely the one expressed by Ersatzinfinitiv constructions in Modern German (e.g. sie hat das sehen müssen ‘she must have seen it’ in the sense of ‘she was obliged to see it’). The Ersatzinfinitiv becomes frequent at about the same time as the unambiguous epistemic readings come about, so it is argued that after the advent of the Ersatzinfinitiv, speakers tried to attach some sensible meaning to the modal plus past infinitive complexes still lingering on, eventually settling for the epistemic reading of the modal.

Modal particles are often considered a distinctive feature of Germanic languages with V2 word order and are typically confined to the middle field. Previous research has largely addressed their semantic and pragmatic development, usually within individual languages. This squib shifts the focus to syntax, offering a comparative Germanic perspective on the emergence and structural behavior of modal particles and examining their interaction with the V2 property.