modal

Definition:

A verb that combines with another verb to indicate mood or tense. The modals in English are can, could, may, might, must, ought, shall, should, will, and would. See also: modality.

Etymology:

From the Latin, "measure"

Examples and Observations:

• "A modal auxiliary has the following characteristics:
  • Takes negation directly (can't, mustn't).
  • Takes inversion without DO (can I? must I?).
  • 'Code' (John can swim and so can Bill).
  • Emphasis (Ann COULD solve the problem).
  • No -s form for third-person singular (*cans, *musts).
  • No non-finite forms (*to can, *musting)
  • No co-occurrence (*may will)
  The first four of these are what Huddleston (1976: 333) calls the NICE properties (Negation, Inversion, Code, Emphasis) and they very clearly draw a dividing line between auxiliaries and main verbs, a line which would be far from clear if we tried to use semantic characteristics. The last three, which are specifically 'modal' criteria (see Palmer 1979: 9), are needed to exclude the auxiliaries BE, HAVE, and DO."
  (Jennifer Coates, The Semantics of the Modal Auxiliaries. Routledge, 1983)



• "As early as Old English, a group of verbs signaling modal characteristics of action share morphosyntactic and semantic features which later result in the formation of the category of modal auxiliaries. . . .
  
  "The most important syntactic developments which distinguish [modals] from other verbs are the following: (1) they lost their non-finite forms and their ability to take non-verbal objects; (2) the preterite forms came to be used in the present, future or timeless contexts; (3) they did not develop the to- link with an infinitive (in the Southern standard); (4) they became more and more uncommon in contexts where they were not followed by an infinitive."
  (Richard M. Hogg, et al., The Cambridge History of the English Language: 1476-1776. Cambridge Univ. Press, 1999)

Pronunciation: MODE-l

Also Known As: modal auxiliary, modal verb