EPISTEMIC MODALITY IN PANNONIAN RUSYN: MODAL VERBS AND MODAL ADVERBS
Date
2025-04-16
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
ORCID
Type
Thesis
Degree Level
Masters
Abstract
This thesis explores epistemic modality in the Pannonian Rusyn language, focusing on modal verbs and modal adverbs. While modality as a linguistic phenomenon has been studied in various Slavic languages, epistemic modality in Pannonian Rusyn remains under researched. This research aims to fill that gap by providing a comprehensive overview of epistemic modal expressions and examining their syntactic structures, morphological properties, and semantic nuances.
By analyzing both modal verbs and adverbs, this study finds how certainty, deduction, and possibility are expressed in Pannonian Rusyn. The data was collected in two ways: from literary works published in Pannonian Rusyn, and by conducting interviews with native speakers of Pannonian Rusyn. Storyboards were used during the interviews so as to elicit utterances from participants that contain modal verbs or adverbs. Findings showed that Pannonian Rusyn has syntactic constructions with modal verbs typically found in East Slavic languages, such as Russian, as well as some found in South Slavic, in this case, Serbian. Semantically, an interesting finding is that Rusyn epistemic modal adverbs only express the epistemic meaning. Rusyn epistemic modal verbs, on the other hand, can also be interpreted as deontic depending on the specific context of their use. Finally, an interaction is noticed between the syntactic structure and meaning, where the potential structure emphasizes the meaning of possibility of Rusyn epistemic modal verbs.
The research intends to contribute to a broader understanding of modality in Slavic languages and lay the foundation for future research on Rusyn grammar and semantics.
Description
Keywords
epistemic modality, Pannonian Rusyn
Citation
Degree
Master of Arts (M.A.)
Department
Linguistics
Program
Linguistics