Modality of Lexicographic Discourse in Dictionaries of Usage

Abstract

Dictionaries are increasingly making use of corpus data or, at least, of secondary sources based on them. This has brought about a revision of the concept of the standard of usage and changes in modality of lexicographic discourse, first in general-purpose explanatory dictionaries and later in dictionaries of usage. The paper analyses Oxford Fowler’s Modern English Usage, registering the markers of frequency in its entries expressing modal meanings other than “statement of fact” for epistemic modality and modal markers expressing deontic modal meanings, taking into account high and low modality in both types. The findings have revealed that the balance is decidedly in favour of epistemic modality, while in both types of modality it is in favour of low modality markers. The data show that some epistemic markers of frequency referring to high probability or likelihood of occurrence have functions opposite to those in academic discourse beyond lexicography, where they are used primarily as hedges. This allows us to conclude that genre (or type of discourse) and context are the decisive factors in establishing the meanings and functions of modality markers.