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Madeline1987 Posted 16 years ago
Grammar
Modals
I know that certain dialects of English allow the appearance of a double modal construction
Such as
He will can go
he might could go
What would this say about Double Modals?
-That they are a combination of two or more auxiliaries or paired auxiliaries expressing possibility and necessity?
There are claims that one of the modal is really an adverb or that the double modal itself is a single word.
Such as
He will can go
he might could go
What would this say about Double Modals?
-That they are a combination of two or more auxiliaries or paired auxiliaries expressing possibility and necessity?
There are claims that one of the modal is really an adverb or that the double modal itself is a single word.
Top answer
I think in the dialects that do this, they are not using one as an adverb to modify the other. They just get paired up to indicated (usually) possibility. While "He might could go" sounds very natural to my half-Southern ears, the first does not.
- I think in the dialects that do this, they are not using one as an adverb to modify the other.
- They just get paired up to indicated (usually) possibility.
- While "He might could go" sounds very natural to my half-Southern ears, the first does not.
- Did you find that one somewhere, or just make it up as a modal pairing?
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5 Answers
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I think in the dialects that do this, they are not using one as an adverb to modify the other. They just get paired up to indicated (usually) possibility.
While "He might could go" sounds very natural to my half-Southern ears, the first does not. Did you find that one somewhere, or just make it up as a modal pairing?
While "He might could go" sounds very natural to my half-Southern ears, the first does not. Did you find that one somewhere, or just make it up as a modal pairing?
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Yes I looked it up searching for examples of double modal constructions and came across those examples
I see, thank you.
I see, thank you.
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LOL - I just looked up the topic and see that "might could" is indeed American South, while "will can" shows up as Northern UK. I guess that's why one sounded normal to me and one did not!
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What does he "might could" go indicate exactly? My Yankee self is right confused!
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The same as either maybe or might or could - it just double up on the uncertainty.
He might could go = Maybe he could go.
He might could go = Maybe he could go.
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