POSSIBILITY AND NECESSITY IN GRAMMATICAL MODALITY IN TURKISH

This study focuses on the semantics of -Abil, -(A/I)r, -mAlI and -DIr as grammatical markers of modality assocated with multiple functions/ meanings. After a brief survey of the different classifications proposed for the modal field, these four morphemes are analyzed in terms of the epistemic and non-epistemic split. Furthermore, following Kratzer, A. (1981, 1991) it is argued that the modal distinctions have the underyling modal forces of either possility or necessity. Investigating the different modal senses of the four grammatical modality markers in Turkish from the point of view of possibility and necessity, it is argued that -Abil underlyingly has the modal force of possibility while -mAlI has that of necessity. Furthermore, as -(A/I)r may be neutral in terms of its modal sense it is claimed to have a weak modal specification, and -DIr is analyzed as a sentence level speech act operator. The different modal senses associated with these forms, in fact, spring from the grammatical and/or discourse context, as claimed by Kratzer. This illustrates the role of context in form-function relations in grammatical formatives of Turkish.