My newsletter for June 2022: modals and a nifty (spoilery!) linguistics paper
Some linguists got very excited about a very cool linguistics paper by the late Anne Cutler, which I wonāt spoil (because it really does have spoilers, but trust me you donāt need any particular linguistics background to get why itās cool) and as a result we also managed to track down Anne Cutlerās Christmas Letter, which is mentioned in the paper. (The full twitter thread, linked to from below,ā¦
Hello! i just learned about soler and was wondering if there are any other verbs used as abverbs that are common? Thank you :)
These are actually closer to Spanish modal or auxiliary verbs... helping verbs for Spanish. The most common ones aside from poder, querer, deberĀ and some others influence the mood or ability of the subject.
Iām not sure what the linguistic term is, but the ones youāre talking about have more to do with the timing of the verb. Iām sure there must be more, but the four I can think of off the top of my head are soler, acabar,Ā volver,,Ā and sometimes ir.
Though solerĀ is the most particular of the three since it doesnāt have additional functions.
solerĀ is used likeĀ āto do normallyā orĀ āto do oftenā; and in imperfect it specifically meansĀ āused toā [while imperfect can mean that on its own, solerĀ is much more emphatic about it]
Suelo ir a la playa. = I normally go to the beach. / I often go to the beach.
Iba a la playa. = I went to the beach. / I was going to the beach. / I used to go to the beach. [imperfect, which has various readings depending on context]SolĆa ir a la playa. = I used to go to the beach. [only one reading]
Then you have acabarĀ which normally isĀ āto finishā orĀ āto endā orĀ āto terminateā.
But when you use it as acabar de (hacer algo)Ā the meaning comes across asĀ ājust didā
Acabo de volver a casa. = I just got back home.
Acabo de limpiar. = I just cleaned. / I just got done cleaning.
Acabo de hacerlo. = I just did it.
Then thereās volverĀ which normally isĀ āto returnā, or in some cases itāsĀ āto turn/revolveā
When you see it as volver a (hacer algo)Ā it meansĀ āto (do something) againā
Vuelvo a decirlo. = Iām saying it again. / I say it again.
Vuelvo a verte. = I see you again.
Vuelvo a pensar en ti. = Iām thinking about you again.
And then thereās the basic irĀ which isĀ āto goā, but then ir + a + infinitivoĀ isĀ āgoing to do somethingā.
Voy a irme. = Iām going to go.
Voy a comprarlo. = Iām going to buy it.
Voy a volver a verte. = Iām going to see you again.
There are a few others I can think of that might apply like desear āto want/desireā, empezar/comenzar a āto start/begin to (do something)ā,Ā or estar a punto deĀ āto be just about to (do something)ā and those function sort of the same way since they involve the infinitive. There are some like seguir/continuarĀ āto keep/continue (doing something)ā that might work though they use a progressive form following them like sigo pensandoĀ āI keep thinkingā or sigue lloviendoĀ āit keeps rainingā
Other expressions I can think of tend to be more subjunctive so itās not quite the same thing. Subjunctive works with more than one clause, modal/auxiliary verbs usually have one conjugated verb and one verb in the infinitive
What is this tutorial about ?Ā How to create and style a pop-up window that opens when you load the webpage and can be closed again.
Difficulty level ?Ā If you have a basic understanding of HTML and CSS, this will definitely be a piece of cake. But even without this knowledge, all code will be handed to you in this tutorial so you can tweak it and my inbox is always open for questions !
Supported browsers ?Ā All as far as Iām aware (Ā this includes Google Chrome, Internet Explorer, and SafariĀ )
Intro
Hey lovelies ! Very soon Iāll be leaving for a while to focus on my exams and studying. I know that afterwards a lot of requests will be done, donāt worry ! Ā I just feel guilty whenever I work on them right now instead of studying.
If you open up my blog during my hiatus ( till 31st of January ) youāll get to see a pop-up window that informs everyone of my hiatus !
HTML
The below code should be pasted after your <body> tag and before your </body> tag ! It does not matter if this is place in the beginning or at the end. All instructions are between <!-- --> indicators !
NOTE: the id (e.g. id=āCUSTOMNAMEā) and class names are free to be chosen by you !Ā id means you style this item with a # in front of the name and you can only use this style once/for one element! class means you style this item with a .Ā in front of the name and you can use this same style for multiple elements.
<div id="popup_bg"> <!-- This is the black transparent background. If you want to close by clicking on this as well, add: onclick="closePopupMenu()" between the triangle brackets--> <div id="popup_main_div"> <!--This is your actual popup. Everything you want in there, goes in this div--> <div id="close_popup_div" title="close!" onclick="closePopupMenu()"><!-- This is the button to close your popup window. If you click it, it'll close because it has onclick="closePopupMenu()" added to it between brackets--> <img src="https://i.imgur.com/3wEkbAo.png"><!--Replace this image link to have another button to close your window OR type an X and style it yourself by adding a class to your CSS code and adding the same class within paragraph brackets: e.g. <p class="closer">X</p>--> </div><!-- end of closer--> <!--Content goes here--> <div> <img src="https://i.imgur.com/Beax9DQ.jpg" class="popup_image"><!-- Whatever you put in here can be styled separately by making a class in your CSS code and adding the same one to your div (recommended in case of text) and/or to your img (recommended in case of image)--> </div> </div><!-- end of popup_main--> </div><!-- end of popup_bg-->
CSS
Here you can style your pop-up window however you'd like ! See my example below:
This is the most important part !Ā This part will make sure your pop-up window opens when you load the page and closes when you click on the close button. Below code will be placed under your <body> tag but before your </body> tag and will be placed within <script type=ātext/javascriptā>CODE HERE</script> tags !
NOTE: if there is no Javascript in your theme yet. Make sure to add a script tag before your code that links you to a js library. (You can find these via Google or use this one, itās the latest version)Ā
var popupDiv = document.getElementById("popup_bg"); function openPopupMenu(){ popupDiv.style.display="block"; }
The name of your function is here openPopupMenu. This function should be added to your body tag to open on load of your web page. e.g.
function closePopupMenu(){ popupDiv.style.display="none"; }
The name of your function is here closePopupMenu. This function should be added to the elements you wish to click on to close the window, in my case the image of the little cross e.g.
So now all you have to do is add the names of your two functions, in the tags of the element you want ( I already did this in my html code ). You add onclick=āNAMEOFFUNCTIONāĀ
NOTE: if you want to open your window by clicking on a button instead of when loading the page, replace the onload=āNAMEOFFUNCTIONā by onclick=āNAMEOFFUNCTIONā in the element you want (e.g. a button you made). You can also do both in case you want it to load but later be able to click it open again somewhere.Ā
Thatās it !Ā For any questions, hit me up !Ā Below you can find my example.Ā
Do modals confuse you? Are you unsure how to use the words can, could, may, might, should, ought, must, have to, shall, will, or would? Watch this lesson and learn three easy rules to use modals correctly in English, once and for all!
In our most recent episode, we talked about modals: words like ācanā, āmayā, āmustā, and more. In particular, we took a deep dive into the semantics of modal verbs. But we didnāt talk much about how they fit into the structures of sentences, and this seems to leave open some important questions. For starters, we made the claim that ā in terms of their meanings ā modal verbs combine with whole sentences, and not just the verb phrase that follows them. After all, the meaning of the sentence in (1a) seems to correspond to (1b).Ā
Ā Ā Ā (1a) Ā Ā The Observers must report to their commander. Ā Ā
Ā Ā Ā (1b) Ā Ā It must be that the Observers report to their commander.
On the face of it, it seems weird that subjects in modal sentences appear separate from the main verb phrase, as in (1a), while being interpreted as though they were right next to them, as in (1b). It looks like this could be a big problem for our overall theory.
Thankfully, when we take into account some of the important discoveries weāve talked about in past episodes, like the VP-Internal Subject Hypothesis, this problem goes away pretty quick. If itās true that, in general, subjects start off somewhere inside the verb phrase, and only later move to a spot that's higher up (and more to the left, at least in English), we can suppose that the meanings of sentences ā modal and all ā are simply computed before the subject starts moving around, instead of after.
But, this still leaves us wondering what part of the tree modal verbs typically call home. If you want to know more about how to set that up, keep reading!
In our old system, we mightāve been happy dumping all our modal verbs into the bucket labelled āinflection.ā And this seems reasonable at first, since like other kinds of inflection (e.g., tense, aspect, voice), modality sometimes appears as an affix on the verb.
Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā āYou ought not to come.ā
But this probably isnāt the most sophisticated picture of how sentences get put together, given that concepts like tense and modality are pretty different from each other. Moreover, if they really were members of the exact same category, you might not expect to find them showing up in the same place at the same time, like how a coin canāt land both heads and tails; in fact, most modal verbs have both present tense (may, can, shall, will) and past tense (might, could, should, would) forms.
So, it probably makes more sense to think of modal verbs as appearing either somewhere just below, or somewhere just above, a dedicated tense phrase (TP).
It might even be both, given that modal verbs seem to interact with tense in subtly different ways, depending on their flavour:
Ā Ā (3a) Ā Ā Olivia could have used her powers, but she didnāt want to.
Ā Ā (3b) Ā Ā Olivia could have used her powers, but I havenāt found out yet.
After all, the sentence in (3a), which is saying something about Oliviaās abilities, seems to be about what was possible in the past (i.e., circumstances might be different now), whereas the sentence in (3b) says something about the speakerās present state of knowledge. In other words, it looks as if the same modal verb either falls under the influence of the past tense, or else manages to escape it, depending on how itās interpreted. This suggests there might be modal phrases both below and above the tense phrase.
Lastly, itās important to say something about how modal phrases actually get their meanings, and what that says about their internal structure. In the episode, we gave the modal verb āmustā a meaning that looked like this:
Ā Ā (4) Ā Ā āmustā = Ī» B . Ī» p . B ā p
Reading it from left to right, it says that a modal verb first combines with some contextually defined modal base B ā whose job it is to give the flavour, like whether itās about belief or ability ā and then goes on to combine with the sentence p, saying of the two that the set of worlds described by the base is a subset of the set of worlds described by the sentence. The modal base, then, is kind of like a pronoun; itās like ātheyā or āthem,ā since it picks up its meaning from the context of the conversation. Whether āmustā says something about someoneās knowledge, or about some set of rules to be followed, depends on the content of B. And if all this is right, it means that the structures of modal phrases ā at a minimum ā look something like this:
In reality, a bit more needs to be said about this, since a modal base by itself (as weāve been thinking of it) canāt completely determine the meaning of the sentence. Thatās because all the context can really provide is a general description of whatās being talked about ā like whether whatās being discussed includes beliefs, rules, goals, abilities, et cetera. But, it canāt take the extra step of supplying those beliefs or rules or goals. To get a sense of why this makes a difference, take a look at the following sentence.
Ā Ā (5) Ā Ā I must report to the Colonel.
Imagine that this sentence is said by someone who mistakenly believes that the Colonel asked to see them. In this case, unbeknownst to the speaker, the sentence is false. And the reason itās false is because of what the actual requirements are, and not simply what the speaker might suppose they are. So, whether or not this kind of sentence ends up true or false depends on the way the world actually is, and not the way the speaker thinks it is. In other words, speakers can be uninformed about the content of the modal base, in a way that canāt be handled by context alone; that is, they can be mistaken about what the relevant rules or beliefs really consist of. And all of this means that the modal base must really be more like a function thatās meant to take some world as its input (the world in which the sentence is spoken), and then produce a set of worlds out of that, for the modal verb to work with ā one that accurately captures whateverās being talked about.
So, a more complete picture of what the internal structure of a modal phrase looks like is this:
What we see here is a function (sometimes called an accessibility relation) combining with a special kind of world pronoun. This relation R is whatās actually provided by the context of the conversation; itās what determines the overall flavour. That w* symbol is what does the job of filling in the content of whateverās being talked about, by providing the full set of rules or abilities under discussion. And itās together that they determine the modal base ā the set of worlds that modals like āmustā or āmayā go on to compare with the set of worlds described by the rest of the sentence. This way, we fully account for the fact that the truth of modal sentences depends not just on the context of the conversation, but on the way the world is.
As a final point, itās worth mentioning that no matter which kind of structure we choose to represent modal sentences, none of them ever quite match up with how the sentence is actually pronounced. That is, the Logical Form of the sentence (how itās interpreted), at least in these cases, is reliably different from its Phonetic Form (how itās said). In fact, as itās turned out, the idea that there are mismatches between how sentences are spoken and what they mean has played a big role in modern syntactic theory ā one weāll continue to talk about in the future!
