情态动词的单义研究——以may为例  

A Mono-semantic Approach to Modal Verbs——The case of May

作　　者：莫启扬[1] 邢晓宇[1] 

机构地区：[1]西南大学外国语学院,重庆400715

出　　处：《内蒙古大学学报（哲学社会科学版）》2012年第5期104-110,共7页Journal of Inner Mongolia University(Philosophy and Social Sciences)

基　　金：教育部人文社科青年基金项目(项目批准号:12YJC740079);重庆市社科规划青年项目(项目批准号:2010QNWX21);中央高校基本科研项目(项目批准号:SWU1009071;SWU1209105)

摘　　要：情态动词编码的是程序性信息,只有一个基本意义,其在不同句子中有不同的理解,是这个基本义和具体语境相结合的结果。情态动词本身并无歧义和多义,歧义和多义是语用因素造成的。从单义的角度对英语情态动词may作研究,不仅可以解决may和否定的关系问题,也可以解释may的"弱化"和"回声"等礼貌用法问题,是对多义观的有益补充,为情态动词的研究提供了新的视角。Modals encode procedural information and have only a basic meaning.The different interpretations imparted on modals arise from the interplay of this basic meaning and the context.Modals are nor ambiguous or polysemous by their own.Pragmatic factors are to account for these ambiguities and polysemies.A mono-semantic approach to MAY is found to solve not only the puzzle between MAY and negation,but also that of politeness interpretation resulting from the softening and the echoing uses of MAY,thus proved to be a good supplementary to the polysemy view,and offering a new approach to the study of modals.

关 键 词：单义 MAY 礼貌 否定 

分 类 号：H31[语言文字—英语]