Teacher Discussion Forums

I'm beginning to wish I hadn't titled this thread as I did. I think the best adjectives for these different types of modality (if they are all modality) would be: Suppletive - needs, lacks Penurative - needs, lacks with the added emotional state deriving from those lacks (I don't think it is possibl...

Metal wrote: In both, I see "lack". The former is the lexical use of "want" and the latter the modal use. I agree with your analysis but note that it implies that the same idea can be both lexical in meaning and modal. No wonder it's difficult to separate the two. Is the difference a bit like Shrodi...

Yup, usually, though "wants" meaning "lacks" is a bit archaic it can be completely unanthropomorphic (for "want" of a better word) and it's nobody's judgement, neither the speaker's nor the town's. It just means "hasn't got" as a matter of fact. "Want" meaning "lack" is not archaic. ALL wants imply...

Nevertheless it's not a play on wordS, it's a play with one word. Sometimes we need to ask a layperson; we may differentiate between "I am John", "I am typing" and "I am sleepy" but it's just three things I am. Despite the differences in grammar I would say there is a core meaning to the various ha...

Something like "carry". Or "bear". Carry around as a memory or experience: present perfect. As a burden of responsibility: obligation. As a possession. "Bear" is probably nearer to the mark. What you bear only becomes a burden when it involves difficulties or responsibilities. Having something can ...

I''l give it some thought if you can give more verbs which you think are lexical and modal at the same time. This is not easy my whole reason for asking the question is that I am unsure what is modality and what is meaning. By definition, the catenatives lie between the modal and lexical verbs. Sub...

OK, I appreciate that. I'm a bit surprised that the usual modality buffs aren't interested in this one.

Obligative.

No reply yet. OK, let me put it another way. Given a verb (in the present or past at least) that carries modality, it is easy to seperate tense, it's indicated by a suffix, it's easy to extract aspect, it's shown syntactically although aktionsart may be more difficult to separate off. Mood and modal...

Juan wrote: It's the same "have". It's not a pun and the double or triple take is not great. So what does the "have" of "I have to go" really mean? Is there a holy grail combining possession, obligation and experience? It hasn't completed this transformation yet but it is moving moving that way. The...

I'd say it more implies irritation (or irony at the very least) than an actual obligation. Just because 'have to' appears doesn't necessarily mean it's so. Perhaps we could say the mother feels compelled to get her little darlings the chocomilk - anything for an easy life, eh. Oh, and are the examp...

JuanTwoThree wrote:See my post about the things I have. "I have a man to meet" gets close to being both possession and obligation.

That sentence makes it easy to see how "have" for possession could morph into "have to" for obligation.

Ridiculous or not, I have no reason to doubt that this is the origin.

I'd say, "In the first you have a necessity to write the letter, the second possession of that letter which you are going to write, either way they amount to the same thing, NOW LET'S MOVE ON." BTW, the on-line etymology dictionary says this about "have to": To have to for "must" (1579) is from sens...

These are all abstract possessions and the necessity comes by virtue of their possession. This meaning is to all intents and purposes idiomatic. When I teach it, I treat it mearly as a collocation and don't go into whether anything is actually possessed or necessary. Comprehension questions also nee...