Graded Modality: Qualitative and Quantitative Perspectives [Hardcover]

This book explores graded expressions of modality, such asmore likely thanandquite possible, which provide a rich and underexplored source of insight into modal semantics. The volume explores and expands the typology of scales among English adjectives and uses the result to shed light on the meanings of a variety of epistemic and deontic modals.This book explores graded expressions of modality, a rich and underexplored source of insight into modal semantics. Studies on modal language to date have largely focussed on a small and non-representative subset of expressions, namely modal auxiliaries such asmust,might, andought. Here, Daniel Lassiter argues that we should expand the conversation to include gradable modals such asmore likely than,quite possible, andvery good. He provides an introduction to qualitative and degree semantics for graded meaning, using the Representational Theory of Measurement to expose the complementarity between these apparently opposed perspectives on gradation. The volume explores and expands the typology of scales among English adjectives and uses the result to shed light on the meanings of a variety of epistemic and deontic modals. It also demonstrates that modality is deeply intertwined with probability and expected value, connecting modal semantics with the cognitive science of uncertainty and choice.Series prefacePrefaceAcknowledgmentsList of abbreviations1. Gradation, scales, and degree semantics2. Measurement theory and the typology of scales3. Previous work on graded modality: Lewis and Kratzer4. Epistemic adjectives: likely and probable5. Certainty and possibility6. Implications for the epistemic auxiliaries7. Scalar goodness8. Ought and should9. Concluding remarksReferencesIndexDaniel Lassiter is Assistant Professor in the Department of Linguistics at Stanford University. His research combines formal tools and experimental methods from linguistics, philosophy,lÃn