Deontic modality

Deontic modality (abbreviated ) is a linguistic modality that indicates how the world ought to be according to certain norms, expectations, speaker desires, etc. In other words, a deontic expression indicates that the state of the world (where 'world' is loosely defined here in terms of the surrounding circumstances) does not meet some standard or ideal, whether that standard be social (such as laws), personal (desires), etc. The sentence containing the deontic modal generally indicates some action that would change the world so that it becomes closer to the standard or ideal. This category includes the following subcategories: Commissive modality (the speaker's commitment to do something, like a promise or threat; alethic logic or temporal logic would apply): "I shall help you." Directive modality (commands, requests, etc.; deontic logic would apply): "Come!", "Let's go!", "You've got to taste this curry!" Volitive modality (wishes, desires, etc.; boulomaic logic would apply): "If only I were rich!" A related type of modality is dynamic modality, which indicates a subject's internal capabilities or willingness as opposed to external factors such as permission or orders given. Deontic moods are a category of grammatical moods that are used to express deontic modality. An example for a deontic mood is the imperative ("Come!"). However, many languages (like English) have additional ways to express deontic modality, like modal verbs ("I shall help you.") and other verbs ("I hope to come soon."), as well as adverbials (hopefully) and other constructions. Esperanto has a mood formally called volitive which is also used for various directive uses, so it can be seen as a broader deontic mood. However, it is not used to express commissive modality. It is formed by adding -u to the verb stem, and it is used for orders and commands as well as for expressing will, desire, and purpose. Estu feliĉa! "(May you) Be happy!" Donu al mi panon. "Give me bread." Ni iru! "Let's go!" Mi legu tion. "Let me read that." Mi volas, ke vi helpu min.

About this result

This page is automatically generated and may contain information that is not correct, complete, up-to-date, or relevant to your search query. The same applies to every other page on this website. Please make sure to verify the information with EPFL's official sources.

Related publications (2)

Related units (1)

Related concepts (3)

Modality (linguistics)

In linguistics and philosophy, modality refers to the ways language can express various relationships to reality or truth. For instance, a modal expression may convey that something is likely, desirable, or permissible. Quintessential modal expressions include modal auxiliaries such as "could", "should", or "must"; modal adverbs such as "possibly" or "necessarily"; and modal adjectives such as "conceivable" or "probable".

Epistemic modality

Epistemic modality is a sub-type of linguistic modality that encompasses knowledge, belief, or credence in a proposition. Epistemic modality is exemplified by the English modals may, might, must. However, it occurs cross-linguistically, encoded in a wide variety of lexical items and grammatical structures. Epistemic modality has been studied from many perspectives within linguistics and philosophy. It is one of the most studied phenomena in formal semantics. (a) grammatically: through modal verbs (e.g.

Imperative mood

The imperative mood is a grammatical mood that forms a command or request. The imperative mood is used to demand or require that an action be performed. It is usually found only in the present tense, second person. They are sometimes called directives, as they include a feature that encodes directive force, and another feature that encodes modality of unrealized interpretation. An example of a verb used in the imperative mood is the English phrase "Go.

In the Mood for Vlog: Multimodal Inference in Conversational Social Video

Daniel Gatica-Perez, Dairazalia Sanchez Cortes

The prevalent “share what’s on your mind” paradigm of social media can be examined from the perspective of mood: short-term affective states revealed by the shared data. This view takes on new relevance given the emergence of conversational social video as ...

Assoc Computing Machinery2015

Inferring Mood in Ubiquitous Conversational Video

Daniel Gatica-Perez, Joan Isaac Biel Tres, Dairazalia Sanchez Cortes

Conversational social video is becoming a worldwide trend. Video communication allows a more natural interaction, when aiming to share personal news, ideas, and opinions, by transmitting both verbal content and nonverbal behavior. However, the automatic an ...

ACM Press2013