Case studies of italian modal constructions in context

Abstract

The chapter examines how specific modal constructions of the Italian language in a concrete context of argumentative discussion can function as indicators for the reconstruction and evaluation of arguments put forth in ordinary discourse. The chapter examines a segment of the Italian modal system comprising different constructions with verbs potere ‘may, can’ and, especially, dovere ‘must’, which have direct or indirect epistemic interpretations. A special focus is represented the constructions DEVEE and DOVREBBEE based on the verb dovere. In these constructions the basic context-dependent relational semantics is enriched by subtle constraints on the evidential source. As a result, the two constructions end up guiding the establishing of argumentative relations of very specific kinds, differing not only in the expressed strength of support or degree of commitment towards the conclusion, but also along a series of parameters including the nature and epistemic status of the premises, the presence of rebuttals, the semantic type of the standpoint, and the argumentative locus invoked. At the same time, the studies in this chapter aim at understanding how the social and material ontology of the contexts in which argumentative discussions take place is reflected in the semantic structure of argumentative discourse in the area of modality. To do so, the chapter unravels how argumentation and modality intertwine in the genre of business-financial newspaper articles by focusing on acts of prediction, which represents a key speech-act in view of the whole functioning of the interaction field of financial communication.