Does "wanna" have a modal function here?

Hi,

Does "wanna" have a modal function here? Yes, it does. I think of it as being like 'You ought to . . . '
You should/wanna see a doctor about that cough.

You'd normally write it in full as 'want to', unless you were really trying to write dialogue that captures pronunciation, like 'ya' 'for 'you', etc.

eg 'Ya wanna see . . . '

Having a modalish function doesn't make it a modal though. You can't put it in sequence with other modals (like "he can and should go") and it has a past tense.

It is a conciously abnormal item, a conscious "perversion" of the general "want to", and therefore not worth classifying, since unless something goes nicely into a system there is no point giving it a grammatical name.

Hi,

It's surprising how much perverted and unworthy English there is, isn't it?

Clive

<<It is a conciously abnormal item, a conscious "perversion" of the general "want to", and therefore not worth classifying, since unless something goes nicely into a system there is no point giving it a grammatical name.>>

Has that system always been the same?