Lithuanian impersonal modal verbs reik(ė)ti ‘need’ and tekti ‘be gotten’: a corpus-based study

LTReikšminiai žodžiai: Beasmeniai modaliniai veiksmažodžiai; Daiktavardėjimas; Gramatikalizacija (gramatinimas); Gramatinimas; Modalumas; Semantinis kitimas; Semantinis pokytis; Subjektyvizacija; Tekstynu paremta analizė; Tekstynų lingvistika; Corpus-based analysis; Grammaticalization; Impersonal modal verbs; Modality; Semantic change; Subjectification.

ENThe paper is devoted to a detailed synchronic analysis of two impersonal modal verbs expressing the notion of necessity: reik(ė)ti ‘need’ and tekti ‘be gotten’. It seeks to establish to what extent the verbs under analysis have developed modal meanings and to reveal if there are, besides structural, any semantic restrictions regarding modal values. It demonstrates how reik(ė)ti ‘need’ and tekti ‘be gotten’ predominantly convey participant- external necessity. This is motivated by the type of the construction the verbs appear in. Contrary to tekti ‘be gotten’, reik(ė)ti ‘need’ seems to be more advanced in respect of the process of subjectification (in the sense of Traugott 1989) and shows greater potential for realising deontic necessity. [From the publication]