Multiple Modals as Lexico-Grammatical Scotticisms (With a Focus on Scotland and Northern Ireland)
Multiple Modals as Lexico-Grammatical Scotticisms (With a Focus on Scotland and Northern Ireland)

Summary/Abstract: The purpose of the article is to assess to what extent the phenomenon of multiple modals (MMs) is covered in popular grammars of the Scots language, and how it can be considered a differential feature of this linguistic system. Five popular reference and/or teaching grammars published throughout the 20th and early 21st centuries were selected as primary material. Judging by the evidence from the above sources, it is possible to conclude that MMs and analytical grammatical forms of the modals constitute noticeable elements of the system of Scots and can be characterised as Scotticisms, although they are a regional feature and, in fact, are treated by the compilers as such. The special value of such sources is due to their “diagnostic” nature.

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