SUMMARY
The English double-modal combinations such as might could, used by over 20,000,000 speakers in the southern United States and by much smaller populations in Scotland and Northern Ireland, are nonetheless unknown to speakers of standard and colloquial varieties of other types of English. In syntactic theory, they are somewhat problematic for versions of generative syntax that hold that in English the modal auxiliary is the head of its clause, ruling out modal combinations. This article assumes, based on previous investigations (Nagle 1993, Montgomery & Nagle 1994), that today's double modals are innovations. It then argues that their rise in Early Modern English reflects a conspiracy of syntactic and semantic factors.
RÉSUMÉ
Les combinaisons anglaises des expressions modales doubles comme might could, malgr6 le fait que'elles sont utilisées par 20 millions locuteurs au sud des Etats Unis et en Ecosse et Irlande du Nord par une population beau-coup moins grande, ne sont pas connus parmi les locuteurs d'autres variantes anglaises, standard ou colloquial. En theorie syntaxique, elles s'averent un peu problématiques pour des types de syntaxe generative qui maintiennent que la modale auxiliaire represente la 'tete' de sa clause, ainsi excluant les combinaisons modales. Le present article, se basant sur des investgations precedantes (Nagle 1993, Montgomery & Nagle 1994), suppose que les modales doubles d'aujourd'hui représentent des innovations. II constate que son apparition dans 1'anglais moderne du XVIIe siecle reflete une 'conspiration' de facteurs syn-taxiques et semantique.
ZUSAMMENFASSUNG
Kombinationen doppelter Modalwörtern im Englischen wie might could, die von iiber 2 Millionen Sprechern in den Siidstaaten verwendet werden und auch von einer geringeren Bevolkerungszahl in Schottland und Nordirland, sind unter Sprechern anderer Varietaten, des Standards wie auch der Um-gangssprache, nicht bekannt. Fur die Syntaxtheorie, vor allem fur gewisse generative Modelle, sind solche Verwendungen dieser Art problematisch, und zwar deshalb, weil sie behaupten, daB das modale Hilfszeitwort gewisser-maßen den 'Kopf der jeweiligen Wortgruppe darstelle. Auf vorangegangene Forschungen (Nagle 1993, Montgomery & Nagle 1994) aufbauend, nimmt der vorliegende Aufsatz an, daB es sich bei diesen doppelten Modalkombinationen um Neuerungen handelt. Ihr Aufkommen im Frühneuenglischen sei eine 'Ver-schworung' syntaktischer und semantischer Faktoren.
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