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Abstract
This paper reports on a “controlled data elicitation” experiment investigating the role of information structure in the use of epistemic modal expression forms in Dutch. Specifically, it investigates the effect of focality versus nonfocality of an epistemic modal evaluation of Dutch speakers' selection of a number of alternative expression types for epistemic modality (adverbs, predicative adjectives, modal auxiliaries, mental-state predicates, and particles). In the experiment, subjects are asked to comment on a number of short cartoon strip stories — the conditions of focality versus nonfocality are created by varying the types of questions asked about the stories.
Received: 1998-03-30
Revised: 1998-11-06
Published Online: 2008-02-20
Published in Print: 1999-07-01
© Walter de Gruyter
