Sequence, gaze, and modal semantics

• Verfasst von: Zinken, Jörg [VerfasserIn]
• Verfasst von: Mack, Christina [VerfasserIn]
• Titel: Sequence, gaze, and modal semantics
• Titelzusatz: modal verb selection in German permission inquiries
• Verf.angabe: Jörg Zinken and Christina Mack
• Jahr: 2025
• Umfang: 34 S.
• Illustrationen: Illustrationen
• Fussnoten: Online veröffentlicht: 26. September 2024 ; Gesehen am 14.03.2025
• Titel Quelle: Enthalten in: Linguistics
• Ort Quelle: Berlin : de Gruyter, 1963
• Jahr Quelle: 2025
• Band/Heft Quelle: 63(2025), 1, Seite 159-192
• ISSN Quelle: 1613-396X
• DOI: doi:10.1515/ling-2023-0017
• Datenträger: Online-Ressource
• Sprache: eng
• Sach-SW: context
• Sach-SW: embodiment
• Sach-SW: gaze
• Sach-SW: modal verbs
• Sach-SW: modality
• Sach-SW: sequence
• K10plus-PPN: 1919770747

Abstract

Two modal verbs of German are regularly used to express deontic possibility: können (‘can’) and dürfen (‘may’). We examine how speakers select between them, focusing on modal inquiries for permission to carry out some action ( darf/kann ich das machen , ‘may/can I do this’). Our data are video-recordings of everyday face-to-face interaction, which we analyze sequentially, drawing on interactional-linguistic methods. We find that local sequential context and aspects of visible turn-design systematically enter into the accomplishment of deontic meaning. (1) Position of the modal inquiry within a course of action informs verb selection: speakers select kann to nominate an action as coming “out of the blue” and initiating a new course of action; darf to nominate an action as sequentially occasioned: a solution to an already known-in-common problem. (2) Bodily behavior (gaze, body posture) guides the interpretation of modal flavor, moving a kann -inquiry towards a deontic or a circumstantial interpretation, and moving a darf -inquiry towards a deontic or a bouletic interpretation. Overall, the study demonstrates the systematic contributions of sequential position and body behavior in the accomplishment of modal meanings.