ARABIC EQUIVALENTS OF THE ENGLISH MODALITY

Abstract

The paper offers a general overview for the general linguistic category of modality. This is followed by a description of modal forms in Arabic and English by discussing the linguistic resources that each one of the two languages makes use of in the realisation of modal meanings by categorizing their modal markers into homogeneous groups on the basis of their morpho-syntactic properties and type modal marking. The model of analyzing modality in the two languages is that of van der Awera and Plungian (1998). Conclusions are then drawn about the most general characteristics of the modal markers in each language. Finally, the paper is rounded off with a comparative analysis of the points of convergence and divergence in the morpho-syntactic and semantic properties of modal markers of the two languages