DEONTIC MODAL SEMANTICS AND ITS EXPRESSIONS IN THE OLD GEORGIAN LANGUAGE
Abstract
Scholars distinguish three main types of modality: dynamic, deontic and epistemic (in their turn, these three types distinguish various semantic nuances). Each type of modality is expressed differently in different languages. Analysis of these means is one of the important directions of contemporary linguistics. Taking into account the topicality of the study of modality in contemporary linguistics, we aim at the study of modal semantics and systematic analysis of language means expressing this semantics based on the empirical material of the Old Georgian language. In this given article from the very beginning of the Georgian language, each type of modality and modal semantics were realized by diverse language means according to the old Georgian translated and original texts based on the corpus research. Also, the existance and productivity of the deontic language means revealed in the Middle Georgian texts.
The work has analyzed I and II Imperative screeves, which were specific for Old Georgian. Grammatical peculiarities of these screeves have been presented in numerous papers. However, their modal content has not been discussed so far. The Article is also focused on the complex and simple verbs expressing deontic modal semantics which has not been analyzed so far. Based on Middle and New Georgian material, special literature has analyzed only those modal particles which have been obtained as a result of grammaticalization of notional verbs. Apart from such forms, we have also analyzed the forms which functioned as particles back in Old Georgian and were not derived from verbs. In the end, we have had a complete picture of the language means expressing deontic modal semantics, based on the detailed study of the empirical material of Old Georgian and compared to the data of Middle Georgian, which will largely contribute to the study of the category of modality in Georgian linguistics.
Keywords: Old Georgian Language; Modal Semantics; Deontic Modality; Complex Verbs; Simple Verbs; Categorical Future; Particles.
