Nadiya V. The Epistemic Modality in the English Language (Diachronic Aspect)

The thesis highlights the functional-semantic category of epistemic modality in its diachronic aspect and focuses on the description of formation processes evolution and the language (morphological, syntactic, lexical) means of its expression in Middle English. The research is conducted with reference to grammatical means of credibility/incredibility realisation in Old English and in comparison with the paradigm of subjective modality in Modern English. The changes in the structure of meanings and means of objective modality expression during the period analysed resulted in the reconstruction of content and means of subjective modality expression in Middle English. The reconstruction of modal meanings caused changes in the organisation of the language means of their expression. This process is described as a search for an appropriate form of expression by a new modal meaning, which resulted in the greater number of lexical, grammatical, syntactic means and the lower number of inflection forms. Epistemic modality is considered to be a core of subjective modality. It is an integral functional semantic category with its own system of well-ordered devices for the expression of the speaker's knowledge of the world and of his/her epistemic state characteristics. As a result, a class of modal verbs appeared in the system of Middle English. The research revealed the peculiarities in the development of epistemic modality meanings (credibility/incredibility, hypothetic modality) in the history of the English language, singled out the processes of transition from the formation of modal meanings with the help of verbal inflections and ablaut to their expression by analytical constructions, modal and epistemic verbs, modal adverbs, particles, modal words, means of compound connection in a sentence, and the context.