Modal predicates in Russian: Semantics and syntax

This dissertation investigates the semantics and syntax of Russian modal predicates occurring with infinitival complements. 'Modality' is conceptualized as a conditional relation between states of affairs, and is classified in terms of three 'modal features': 'subjectivity', 'kind', and 'degree' of the 'modal relation'. Accordingly, the modal domain is classified in three ways: subjective vs. objective modality, epistemic vs. non-epistemic modality, and necessity vs. possibility. These characterizations provide a descriptive framework for the semantic description of Russian modal predicates.; This investigation also deals with two structurally different, but semantically similar, constructions in Russian: 'personal' and 'impersonal' modal constructions. Although the literature on Russian modal expressions assumes that these two types of modals are synonymous or near-synonymous, this study finds a number of differences in their semantic and morphosyntactic behaviors. These differences can be explained by assigning a different syntactic status to the nominative NP occurring with a 'personal' modal and the dative NP occurring with an 'impersonal' modal. More specifically, the nominative NP is a sister NP of the verb in the infinitive form, whose participant role is determined by the semantics of the infinitival complement, whereas the dative NP is a sister NP of the modal predicative, whose participant role is 'modal experiencer'.; With respect to the usage of modal predicates it is observed that personal predicates such as moc' and dolzen can express both epistemic and non-epistemic modality, whereas impersonal predicatives such as mozno and nado are limited in their usage; the latter cannot express epistemic modality. This study also suggests that nado and nuzno can be semantically differentiated; nado is more likely to be used to express 'situational-external' necessity, while nuzno is more likely to be used to express 'internal-personal'.; This study further touches on the interrelations and interactions between modal predicates and other grammatical categories such as tense, aspect, and mood. When a modal predicate is used epistemically, the past tense can be interpreted as denoting either the past time of the modal situation or the past time of the dictal situation. It is observed that a modal predicate denoting 'impossibility' as a rule triggers the use of the perfective when the infinitive verb is telic, and a modal predicate denoting 'non-necessity' as a rule triggers the use of the imperfective. Mood and modality are claimed to be distinguished as two separate categories. Mood is concerned with an 'actuality' relation between the content of an utterance and the reality (actual vs. non-actual), which is inflectionally expressed in Russian. In contrast, modality is concerned with a conditional relation between states of affairs, which is lexico-syntactically expressed in Russian.