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Description:
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This book connects two linguistic phenomena, modality and subordinators, so
that both are seen in a new light, each adding to the understanding of the
other. It argues that general subordinators (or complementizers) denote
propositional modality (otherwise expressed by moods such as the
indicative-subjunctive and epistemic-evidential modal markers). The book
explores the hypothesis both on a cross-linguistic and on a language-branch
specific level (the Germanic languages). One obvious connection between the
indicative-subjunctive distinction and subordinators is that the former is
typically manifested in subordinate clauses. Furthermore, both the
indicative-subjunctive and subordinators determine clause types. More
importantly, however, it is shown, through data from various languages,
that subordinators themselves often denote the indicative-subjunctive
distinction. In the Germanic languages, there is variation in many clause
types between both the indicative and the subjunctive and that and
if depending on the speaker’s and/or the subject’s certainty of the
truth of the proposition.
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