EPISTEMIC MODALITY OF CLAUSES AND SENTENCES WITH ENGLISH AND BULGARIAN ALTERNATIVE INTERROGATIVE STRUCTURES

VOL. 59, BOOK 1, PART А, 2021, pp. 308-320 Full text (En)

Author:
Velichka Spasova

Affiliation: Agricultural University – Plovdiv

Abstract
The article focuses on the qualitative and quantitative findings from a comparative corpus-based research into the epistemic modality of clauses and sentences with English and Bulgarian alternative interrogative structures. The study has shown that in both languages the clauses and sentences are either genuine inquiries expecting the addressee to provide the right answer or selfaddressed questions signaling the speaker’s lack of knowledge, unhelpful memory, wondering and uncertainty, assumption, or concern and worry.

Key words: alternative interrogative structure, genuine inquiry, selfaddressed question, lack of knowledge, unhelpful memory, wondering