Modal Categories of the Portuguese Grammar in the Mirror of Logical Analysis - I

This publication is the first part of the paper dedicated to the aspects of the logical analysis of the forms of grammatical modality in the Portuguese language. It takes into consideration the general nature of the modality. A difference between speech modality and linguistic modality is drawn. The grammatical modality includes those forms of it that are fixed in the morphology of the word. Forms of nominative modality (for nouns) and forms of predicative (verbal) modality are distinguished. The types of nominative modality are differentiated on the basis of the article. The types of predicative modality are represented by moods of the verb. Functionally, modality does not participate in the semantic representation, does not carry a denotative function, but at the same time it is a tool for controlling the logical form of the thought. The article controls the form of the concept (notion); the mood controls the form of judgment (proposition). Some Portuguese examples are given to demonstrate the logical function of the article accompanying the noun in speech accentuating the inner opposition between extensional and intensional features of substantive meaning. The verbal mood regulates the truth function of the sentence. The truth function of a sentence in Portuguese is marked by the forms of four verbal moods, which are characterized as follows: absolutely true (Modo Indicativo), absolutely untrue (Modo Imperativo), conditionally true (Modo Conditional) and conditionally untrue (Modo Conjuntivo/Subjuntivo). The truth function of a sentence depends on the logical correlation of the sentence with the surrounding sentences. On this basis, the paper introduces the concept of modal taxis. The modal taxis is seen as parallel to the temporal taxis. The temporal taxis means a contextual coordination between the sentences based on the semantic of tenses. In the modal taxis the verb takes a modal form according to its logical relation with other sentence. The independent and dependent types of modal taxis are distinguished; forms of modal coordination in each of the types of modal taxis are investigated. The article may be of interest to specialists in the field of general linguistics, theoretical grammar, Romance linguistics and Portuguese studies.

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