A conditional such as If I go to sleep, perhaps a dream would come and pretend for me is used to engage in conditional prediction of the dream based on the eventuality of the speaker’s going to sleep.In this example, the MV would co-occurs with the MSA perhaps.The MSA perhaps further indicates the uncertainty of the prediction conveyed by the MV would, based on the backgrounding mental space of the subordinate clause.
In some situations, mental spaces could be indirectly built.Fauconnier (1997: 113)refers to such a phenomenon as spreading and cancellation.For instance:
(93)Dad (watching wrestling on TV): When I was in my prime, I could’ve pinned Hulk Hogan in a matter of seconds!
Son (to mother): Is that true, Mom?
Mom: Probably.
Mom: Of course, when your dad was in his prime, Hulk Hogan was in kindergarten.
It can be understood from Example (93)that the father says he used to be a top wrestler, and that the mother’s answer, superficially in agreement, actually casts doubt on the “top wrestler” conclusion.In the father’s speech the MV could foregrounds the mental space of his ability, which the mother uses two MSAs probably and of course to cancel.This example illustrates the importance of MSAs in conceptualization.
To sum up, cognition contributes to the use of MSAs as sketched in Figure 3.3.
Figure 3.3 The impacts of cognition on MSAs
3.2 Pragmatics
Pragmatics plays an important role in the use of MSAs.From this perspective, MSAs act as devices of metapragmatic awareness, help the addresser to follow the rituals of discourse community, and clarify the attitudes concerned.
3.2.1 Metapragmatic awareness
According to Verschueren (1999: 188-198), metapragmatic awareness, just like all other mental processes and phenomena involved in language use, may show different degrees of salience.That is, some of its indicators betray a very conscious choice whereas others are not so easily accessible.Basically, there are three types, namely, indexical symbols (including personal pronouns and other deictic expressions, aspect, tense, mood, and modality and evidentials), discourse markers (including conjuncts, sentence adverbs of epistemic and/or illocutionary status, and interpreter-oriented markers such as you know), and contextualization cues (including prosodic markers, code-switching cues, and back channel cues).Consider the following:
(94)Traditional typologists have argued that text/discourse types reflect the way in which we view reality; thus even such static types would seem to have an obvious cognitive basis.While prototypical types of text have been shown to differ across cultures and some of them are connected more readily than others with particular educational systems and the ideologies that these convey and help to construct, some rather high-level distinction between narrative and non-narrative can probably be given a primarily cognitive justification.
In Example (94), there are four types of modal device: lexical verb (argue, seem), sentence adverb or disjunct (even), MA or subjunct (probably), and MV (would, can).Notice that the pattern of MSA + MV is used, i.e.even + would, and can + probably.This example indicates that people consciously or subconsciously combine meatapragmatic devices in their speech or writing.The purpose of doing this is to better reveal the attitude or judgment concerned.
Fant (2005: 109)holds that modal devices are generally used for two purposes: representation and rapport-management, in particular: (a)modalization of propositional content-signaling degree of generalization in categorizing statements; (b)modalization of illocutionary force- signaling trustworthiness of statements; (c)modalization of interaction management-signaling degree of intersubjectivity; (d)modalization of own-speech management-signaling degree of formulation accuracy.In fact, these purposes co-exist on many occasions when MSAs are used as devices of metapragmatic awareness.In Example (94), the MSAs even and probably signal how the addresser clearly expresses his/her view conveyed by the MVs would and can.
3.2.2 Discourse community
In writing or speech, the addresser must be careful to follow the rituals of discourse community.To do that, attitude or judgment should be delivered with care.In addition to MVs, MSAs help the addresser better achieve this purpose.
Hyland (2000: 54-62)points out that in academic reviews praise is generally fulsome, often even lavish, that negative comments tend to be mitigated, and that the full illocutionary force of specific criticisms is frequently assuaged by the juxtaposition of polar comments in praise- criticism pairs.Consider the following:
(95)Undoubtedly this book will be a valuable reference work, but it has also missed an opportunity.
(96)It could plausibly be retorted that what seems attractive about it are just inadequate in quite a few aspects.
(97)It can somewhat be a curious proposition given the thesis that we know.
In Example (95), the combination of the MSA undoubtedly and the MV will makes the praise high enough so that the ensuing criticism may sound less unpleasant.In Example (96), the MV could, the lexical verb seems, and the MSA just are combined to express the epistemic modality of prediction and hence a light criticism, while the MSA plausibly combined with the MV could makes the criticism even more trivial.In Example (97), the MV can and the MSA somewhat together render the criticism less serious.
