View/Open - University of Zululand Institutional Repository

The group that perhaps need not be distinguished, that consists ofmag (may)-
ifit does not appear with an imperfect- and dun (dare, risk, venture) - which functions
differently in a sentence with the auxiliary verb het, but which links semantically and in
all other sentence structures to the modal auxiliary verbs.
MEANING IN MODAL AUXILIARY VERBS
According to Van Schoor (1983:48) not all modal auxiliary verbs have a
primary and secondary meaning. He qoutes durf, behoort and hoef as having only the
primary meaning. He also notes that there is often a future dimension in the content of
the sentence although it is not necessarily so. His sentence:
Hy kan dit doen.
(He can do it)
does not necessarily mean that we are going to make him do it, but the context
implies that he will (have to) do it some time in the future. He gives the meaning of sal
(shall) as:
van voorneme wees, beoog om, gedwing word om...
(intend to, aim at, be compelled to..)
Here he says the indication ofthe future is stronger that in other modal auxiliary
verbs, which wrongfully led to the idea that sal (shall) is or indicates the future (even
under the influence ofLatin grammar)
THE ROOT MODALS IN ENGLISH
Sweetser (1990:51) mentions Talmy's suggestion that: "the semantics of root
modality is best understood in terms offorce dynamics, that is in terms ofour linguistic
treatment offorces and barriers in general."
96