A Study On Semantic-pragmatic Interaction Of Modal Verbs From The Perspective Of Adaptation Theory

Modal verbs,as the core expression of modal system,are the most important ways and carriers to realize modal meaning in various languages.Scholars have explored its essence from semantic,pragmatic,functional and cognitive perspectives.From the perspective of semantics,English modal verbs are studied in terms of ambiguity,monosemy and polysemy;From the perspective of pragmatics,Papafragou(1998)explores the semantic expression of English modal verbs from the perspective of context-dependent lexical meaning;From the perspective of functional linguistics,Halliday(1985)reveals the interpersonal meaning of modality;Cognitive linguistics studies the cognitive and psychological factors in the use of modal verbs.The studies above have revealed the important attributes and usage features of modals and modal verbs,but little attention has been paid to the semantic and pragmatic interaction in the use of modal verbs.Based on the above research background,this thesis explores the static meanings and dynamic pragmatic meanings of English modal verbs in combination with language properties in adaptation theory,aiming to explore the interactive relationship between semantic of modal verbs and pragmatic of modal verbs.This thesis is based on the adaptation theory,which was first proposed by Verschueren(1999).He believes that language choice is the means and language adaptation is the purpose and result.Choice and adaptation run through the process of language use.Language has selectivity,variability,negotiability,adaptability.The purpose of choice is to adapt to physical world,social world and mental world.This thesis explores the following English modal verbs: must,may,might,will,would,shall,should,can and could.From the perspective of adaptation theory,this thesis analyzes the static meanings of modal verbs and the dynamic pragmatic meanings of modal verbs to achieve adaptation in specific contexts,aiming to explore the interactive relationship between semantic of modal verbs and pragmatic of modal verbs.In accordance with the objectivity principle and speculative principle,this thesis selects some cases from the Corpus of Contemporary American English(COCA),and adopts qualitative research methods to summarize the research status.This thesis mainly explores the following questions:1.What are the static meanings of modal verbs? What are their features?2.What are the dynamic pragmatic meanings of modal verbs? How do they achieve the purpose of adaptation?3.How do semantic meanings of modal verbs interact with context?The findings are as follows:1.The static meanings of English modal verbs are the basic meanings out of context.They have stability,conventionality and social norm,but they are not invariable and monotonous.The static meanings of modal verbs develop diachronically,and they are polysemous.2.The dynamic pragmatic meanings of English modal verbs are the different meanings produced by adapting to physical world,social world and mental world in the use of modal verbs.On the basis of the variability of the dynamic pragmatic meanings of English modal verbs,the purpose of adaptation is achieved through negotiation of communicative objects,range of cognition and pragmatic strategies.3.Static meanings of modal verbs set the keynote for the dynamic pragmatic expression of modal verbs.Modal verbs derive multiple dynamic pragmatic meanings under specific contexts.Pragmatic meanings of modal verbs are the result of the interaction between semantic meanings and context.In theory,this thesis is helpful to extend the applied range of adaptation theory and provides a new perspective for the study of semantic-pragmatic interaction of modal verbs.In practice,both semantic and pragmatic factors open up new ideas for the meaning study of English modal verbs.At the same time,it provides some enlightenment for foreign language teaching.