open access

https://doi.org/10.14943/112970

https://hdl.handle.net/2115/94614

A Study of Two Forms Expressing “necessity” in Turkmen

日本語

認識的モダリティ

2025-03-20

日本北方言語学会

Northern Language Studies

15

35-52

This study examines two forms used to express “necessity” (deontic modality, meaning ‘it is necessary (that/to...)’) in Turkmen (Turkic languages, Southeastern branch): 1. Obligative V-mAlI, 2. Necessity construction V-mAk(lIk) gerek [V(erb stem)-VN necessary]. The semantic issue in question is whether both the abovementioned forms express epistemic modality, because, Turkmen grammar reference books do not mention anything about this aspect. However, studies on Turkic languages have indicated ambiguity between deontic and epistemic modalities. A contrastive study of subjective modal auxiliary verbs in Japanese and English (e.g., the English epistemic modal auxiliary may, daroo in Japanese, etc.) found that subjective modal auxiliary verbs (a) do not have negative and past form, (b) are not included in interrogative sentences and temporal/conditional clauses, and (c) do not come within the ambit of the sentential pronoun it/so. These constraints should therefore restrict the above two Turkmen forms as well. However, previous studies do not contain any information about these constraints. This study clarifies the differences between the two Turkmen forms expressing necessity by resolving the abovementioned semantic and formal issues through examinations conducted with two native Turkmen speakers. The examinations focused on meanings (translation examination and acceptabiliy evaluation) and clarified that V-mAlI could express both deontic and epistemic modalities while V-mAk(lIk) gerek could not be used to express epistemic modality. The examination focused on forms (acceptability evaluation) clarified that V-mAk(lIk) gerek does not express epistemic modality, so the verb stems in V-mAk(lIk) gerek do not follow the item expressing tense. Therefore, it is concluded that in Turkmen, V-mAlI could express epistemic modality while V-mAk(lIk) gerek could not.

紀要論文

Version of Record

2185-7121

AA12516968