Double modals as single lexical items in American English

THE TENSE IN DOUBLE MODAL CONSTRUCTIONS

The tense specification for single modals in present-day English is somewhat unclear. On the one hand , there are some contexts where only the past-tense forms of some of the models are acceptable for most speakers of American English , as in the following dialogue:

- Why did he lose the all-around athlete contest last month?

- Well , he was

excellent in everything else , but he can’t/couldn’t swim across the river that day.

Although some speakers will also find this difference for might as opposed to may , or , will accept may in this context :

I am not sure what the problem was. But he may/might have had too much to eat before the race. The behaviour of may and might is not unusual for the present-day modals , which (except for can and will ) can usually be used in past tense contexts , or in present , future , or timeless action ones :

She might have eaten that last piece of cake.

You would have been just as angry.

George could have been more polite around his mother.

That woman may have been his mother-in-law.

It could be ready by 6 o’clock.

You should visit Rome in the spring.

In spite of the fact that some past contexts freely allow both past and present forms of the modals , there are other contexts which are more acceptable with past than with present :

I talked to Jim just before he left for Dallas last week.

A : He thought that he could get there in time.

B : He thought that he can get there in time.

As to Double Modals , their problem is more difficult. They could be conventionally subdivided the two groups : Tense-mixed and Tense-matched ones . The first group comprises DMs whose first and second parts are specified differently for tense :

e.g. may could

instead of having the same tense specification as it is in the second gro-

up :

e.g : may can

Although the present as well as the past forms of the modals seem to be acceptable , Tense-matched forms should be more acceptable than Tense-mixed ones if both modals are sensitive to tense specification.

While comparing the two DMs from diverse tense-groups , may could and may can, in a past context , the Tense-mixed DM could be found more acceptable than the Tense-matched one . That is probably because may could has at least some past-tense marking . However , this form isn’t as acceptable as it is found to be in situations in which the context doesn’t restrict the action to the past . If the action is limited to the past, it is more common to use both modals in the same (here past) tense underlying this way the certainty of the past :

e.g : may could - might could

e.g : It scared him because he might can have died.

It scared him because he might coulda died. (more preferable variant)

So , it is specific for DMs to change their tense according to the con- text , though tending to the Tense-matched form indicating both modals are sensitive to tense specifications .

LEXICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF DOUBLE MODALS

Double Modals are syntactically constructed sequences of single modals . Thus , they should be analyzed as two-word lexical items , like compound nouns , Verb + Particle constructions , Verb + Adjective const-ructions , or idioms . At first the DMs may seem a violation of the rule of non-iteration in the Auxiliary verbs usage , but that is not so . While deriving from the single modals , the DMs still form a specific lexico-grammatical part of the language and have their own characteristics .

The best way to show that the lexicon is the proper grammatical component for dealing with the particularities inherent in DMs is to develop an analogy between multiword lexical items and DMs. For all that they have at least three types of properties in common :

1. Non-productivity

2. A combination of both unit-like and non-unit-like behaviour

3. Syntactic and semantic irregularities

These properties are common just in sets of related lexical (not syntactic) constructions . Each of them will be discussed in general and then applied in particular to DMs .

1.NON-PRODUCTIVITY

A clear-cut example of the non-productive multiword lexical construct- ructions are the English Verb-Adjective ones . These lexical units have their steady shape , so they can’t be altered or reformed by will .

e.g : to hammer flat , to wipe clean , etc.

In spite that having an analogous lexical form , constructions of this type shouldn’t be confused with the simple combinations of verbs and adjectives such as to hammer round ( well , strongly ,…) or to wipe immaculate (thoroughly , softly) .

e.g : Margaret hammered it flat .

Margaret hammered it well .

Mary wiped it clean .

Mary wiped it immaculate .

The Verb-Adjective constructions are not syntactically constructed, that,s they are non-productive . Otherwise , any adjective should be able to follow any verb , that is absolutely unacceptable for non-productive-ness .

DMs are non-productive , too . It is clearly seen in that not all possible DMs are recognized by all DM users . This applies both to individual differences among speakers in a speech community and different ces among speech communities . Thus , it is normal when many persons who rejected might would accept might could. It means that some DMs are far more common than others .

DM speakers from different regions may have different DMs in their repertoire , but all DM speakers have a certain set of DMs . If DMs were not non-productive , that’s syntactically constructed, all the people who use them would produce the same set of them . Instead , the speakers apparently have learned or prefer just particular DMs . In this item learning DMs is equivalent to learning vocabulary .

2. UNIT-LIKE AND NON-UNIT-LIKE BEHAVIOUR

A second characteristic of multiword lexical constructions is that they can exhibit a combination of unit-like and non-unit-like behaviour . It means that syntactic and morphological rules sometimes treat these lexical items as one word and sometimes as more than one .

Verb-Particle constructions are good examples of this phenomenon:to make up , to get over , to calm down , to switch on , etc. In spite of ot- her evidence (especially semantic evidence) that they would be treated as lexical items , the well known rule of Particle Shift allows the components of Verb-Particle constructions to be nonadjacent in surface structure :

e.g : Please , wake me up earlier tomorrow .

He will certainly get all this obstacles over .

Switch the light down !

Furthermore , at least one adverb , right , can also interrupt the compo-

nents of some Verb-Particle constructions :

e.g : She came right back .

As soon as we got the computer started , it broke right down

Morphologically , Verb-Particle constructions often have idiosyncra-

tic characteristics . Although tense morphemes attach to the Verb ,

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