Talk:modal
Latest comment: 8 years ago by DCDuring in topic RFC discussion: November 2015
MODAL as a material for clothing - does anybody know what that is?
The following discussion has been moved from Wiktionary:Requests for cleanup (permalink).
This discussion is no longer live and is left here as an archive. Please do not modify this conversation, but feel free to discuss its conclusions.
I propose that the third entry with grammar modal verb should be put into a separate entry for a noun (using the ===Noun=== separator), as "modal verb" can hardly be an adjective.--Sae1962 (talk) 10:29, 12 November 2015 (UTC)
- We already have under the Noun PoS header "(linguistics) A modal form, notably a modal auxiliary." which seems to me include "modal verb". Perhaps the definition could be improved. The definition in question (adj def 3) should just be deleted as it is a definition of a noun. DCDuring TALK 14:29, 12 November 2015 (UTC)
- This is one of the problems with our love of SoP entries. If we didn't have "modal verb", but simply explained what the adjective "modal" means in relation to verbs at "modal", there wouldn't be this issue. Equinox ◑ 14:41, 12 November 2015 (UTC)
- Quite a few dictionaries, but not MWOnline, have modal verb (See “modal verb”, in OneLook Dictionary Search..) MWOnline defines modal#Adjective as "of, relating to, or constituting a grammatical form or category characteristically indicating predication of an action or state in some manner other than as a simple fact". I don't view MW's attempt to avoid SoPitude as successful in its application to modal verb.
- The online Lexicon of Linguistics "defines" modal as follows: "a modal expression indicates the attitude of the speaker with respect to the truth-value of the proposition expressed. EXAMPLE: maybe, probably, possibly, may, can, etc. Modal verbs (or 'auxiliaries' because of their defective flexion) are known to allow a non-modal interpretation. Thus you may go can either mean that the speaker feels that it is possible that you will go (the so-called epistemic reading) or it can mean that you are allowed to go (the so-called root interpretation)."
- Note that the Lexicon of Linguistics effectively has two distinct definitions of modal.
- Cleanup would have to extend to the grammatical, linguistic, and logic senses of mood, mode, modal, modality, and possibly others. My monitor isn't big enough to allow me to do this online. DCDuring TALK 15:07, 12 November 2015 (UTC)