Modality in Specialized Text
Maurizio Gotti & Marina Dassena
1. The Concept of Modality
From a linguistic point of view, modality is a complex concept to categorise and qualify in
its different forms. First of all, it is necessary to express what Palmer remarked:
“the distinction between mood and modality is similar to that between tense and time”.
Mood is a morphosyntactic category of verb forms, expressing the kind of reality assigned
to a sentence. Modality is not only expressed by verbal mood, but also by modal verbs and
by a range of grammatically and syntactically diverse items (adverbial, adjectival and
nominal expressions, together with particles, clitics and, in speech, intonation). Modality is,
moreover, categorized in three different types of modalities:
Epistemic modality expresses an inference by the speaker and it is related to the
speaker/writer making judgements about the possibility that something is or is not the case.
Deontic modality concerns permission, order, promise and obligation. The speaker gives
permission, threatens or makes promise, expresses a wish or places someone under an
obligation.
Dynamic modality is a third type of modality that classifies those uses of modal verbs
which expresses ability and disposition. This concept of dynamic is generally applied to
modal expression of ability, power, habit, prediction.
2. Modality in Specialized Text
Questions concerning modality are central to the analysis of specialized discourse.
In specialized texts, the persuasive aim (typical of argumentative function) is often achieved
by the author’s skilful use of rhetorical devices such as attitudinal adverbs, intensifying
adverbs and- in particular- modality. When authors do not want to express their views too
explicitly, modality may be the sole means of conveying the illocutionary and pragmatic
values of different statements in appropriate way. In order to guide the interlocutor’s
interpretation of the encoder’s argumentative instructions and reach the same conclusions,
specialist choose a more neutral tone and the use of less subject-oriented modality such as
dynamic and epistemic. In this way conclusions appear logically drawn from the evidence
