Sequence, gaze, and modal semantics: modal verb selection in German permission inquiries
Two modal verbs of German are regularly used to express deontic possibility: können (‘can’) and dürfen (‘may’). We examine how speakers select between them, focusing on modal inquiries for permission to carry out some action ( darf/kann ich das machen , ‘may/can I do this’). Our data are video-rec...
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| Hauptverfasser: | , |
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| Dokumenttyp: | Article (Journal) |
| Sprache: | Englisch |
| Veröffentlicht: |
2025
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| In: |
Linguistics
Year: 2025, Jahrgang: 63, Heft: 1, Pages: 159-192 |
| ISSN: | 1613-396X |
| DOI: | 10.1515/ling-2023-0017 |
| Online-Zugang: | Verlag, kostenfrei, Volltext: https://doi.org/10.1515/ling-2023-0017 Verlag, kostenfrei, Volltext: https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1515/ling-2023-0017/html 
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| Verfasserangaben: | Jörg Zinken and Christina Mack |
| Zusammenfassung: | Two modal verbs of German are regularly used to express deontic possibility: können (‘can’) and dürfen (‘may’). We examine how speakers select between them, focusing on modal inquiries for permission to carry out some action ( darf/kann ich das machen , ‘may/can I do this’). Our data are video-recordings of everyday face-to-face interaction, which we analyze sequentially, drawing on interactional-linguistic methods. We find that local sequential context and aspects of visible turn-design systematically enter into the accomplishment of deontic meaning. (1) Position of the modal inquiry within a course of action informs verb selection: speakers select kann to nominate an action as coming “out of the blue” and initiating a new course of action; darf to nominate an action as sequentially occasioned: a solution to an already known-in-common problem. (2) Bodily behavior (gaze, body posture) guides the interpretation of modal flavor, moving a kann -inquiry towards a deontic or a circumstantial interpretation, and moving a darf -inquiry towards a deontic or a bouletic interpretation. Overall, the study demonstrates the systematic contributions of sequential position and body behavior in the accomplishment of modal meanings. |
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| Beschreibung: | Online veröffentlicht: 26. September 2024 Gesehen am 14.03.2025 |
| Beschreibung: | Online Resource |
| ISSN: | 1613-396X |
| DOI: | 10.1515/ling-2023-0017 |