In Modals^x, Expressions^x

<Now I find them all slightly odd. I would insert "to go" before "in search".> Let's focus on the modal expressions for the moment. So, your answer is...?

Milky wrote: <By the way, would you always interpret this as the expression of an external "drive"?> Why do you ask? That's what we do here, old chap. Except when we're answering. But let me explain what I mean. Suppose your attractive neighbour (a native BrE speaker) confessed to...

<"External to both subject and speaker". Clearly, that doesn't apply in this instance. "Internal drives" are external to the speaker, but not to the subject (the children).> Without going too far down the road to Psychologyville, what is your understanding of the word "drive" in that above...

MrPedantic wrote: <And what percentage of the BrE population apply it now, in your opinion?> Interesting. In the paper, "almost universal" relates to the percentage of writers on linguistics who agree about the semantic contrast. In your own comment, however, "almost universal"...

Milky wrote: <And would you also say that you have no guarantee that there's internal/subjective pressure on the speaker?> If the speaker is not using those modal expression in the conventional way, we have no guarantees. One cannot have too much control over dialects and...

<And would you also say that you have no guarantee that there's internal/subjective pressure on the speaker?> If the speaker is not using those modal expression in the conventional way, we have no guarantees. One cannot have too much control over dialects and idiolects.

MUST Basic meaning: Quasi-absolute necessity, presented as subjective. Larreya & Rivière (1999) ---------------- Here, the terms "neutral" and "subjective" are used: There is, in the modal system, a key opposition “neutral” / “subjective”. Modality is always the expression of a...

I must do X if I am going to do Y. (If Y is going to happen, I must do X) To me, there is no obligation with "going to" there. I must understand how people learn if I am to be a facilitator of learning. To me there is no obligation with "am to" there. It's purely an expression of intent. ...

Interlude 1Apparently, speaker-oriented modality does not inform about conditions on the agent. So, if you feel that "I must give up smoking" is deontic, and that "I" is the agent, who would the patient be in such a sentence? You've already agreed with this paraphrase: "must"…reflects an...

<Although he regards them as idiomatic, he claims that in these expressions "the speaker imposes upon himself the necessity" to say, admit, etc. (Note this is not in the section labeled must, Epistemic.)> Even he was not perfect. The whole expression is/was/are/were "I feel I must say..."...