A Comparative Study On Epistemic Modal Verbs In News Discourse And Scientific Discourse

This research explores how epistemic modal verbs are employed to express the judgment on the possibility or necessity of the proposition,and analyzes the features of epistemic modal verbs in different discourses through a comparative study on epistemic modal verbs used in news discourse and scientific discourse.This research adopts a corpus-based approach,with quantitative and qualitative analyses combined.Epistemic modal verbs are explored from the following aspects:the distributions,syntactic characteristics,modality values and the functions of epistemic modal verbs in news discourse and scientific discourse.The research results are as follows:there is a significant difference in the distribution of epistemic modal verbs between news discourse and scientific discourse.From the perspective of 'aspect',epistemic would with perfective aspect is used commonly in news discourse;epistemic may with perfective aspect appears in scientific discourse frequently;epistemic modal verbs with progressive aspect in news discourse are used more frequently than those in scientific discourse.In respect of modality value,writers prefer to use epistemic modal verbs with median value in news discourse;whereas writers tend to employ epistemic modal verbs with low value in scientific discourse.In addition,the study also finds that the epistemic modal verbs have important politeness function and negotiation function.The findings can contribute to a better understanding of the application of epistemic modal verbs in different discourses,which helps English learners to apply epistemic modal verbs appropriately so as to realize their interpersonal function.