A Database for Modal Semantic Typology (2022)

Abstract: This paper introduces a database for crosslinguistic modal semantics. The purpose of this database is to (1) enable ongoing consolidation of modal semantic typological knowledge into a repository according to uniform data standards and to (2) provide data for investigations in crosslinguistic modal semantic theory and experiments explaining such theories. We describe the kind of semantic variation that the database aims to record, the format of the data, and a current snapshot of the database, emphasizing access and contribution to the database in light of the goals above. We release the database at https://clmbr.shane.st/modal-typology .

## introduction modals-expressions used to talk about situations other than the actual one-are ubiquitous in natural language and have been the focus of intense study in the semantics thereof @xcite @xcite . an increasingly large body of work has gathered data on the crosslinguistic variation in this domain, i.e. the ways in which languages agree and differ in their mechanisms for expressing modality @xcite @xcite . this paper introduces and describes a modal typology database: a repository that consolidates much of this crosslinguistic knowledge in a format that is uniform and easy both to consume and to produce. such a resource can play several enabling roles in semantic typology research. for example, it can enable the verification of robust semantic universals @xcite @xcite and possibly trigger the formulation of new ones. similarly, these data and their format can be used in comparison to artificial languages to attempt to explain what pressures have shaped semantic typology in the domain of modality, as has been done in several other domains @xcite @xcite @xcite @xcite . after describing some of what is known about the variation in modals (section 2), we describe a data schema for representing particular axes of variation (namely: force and flavor) in modals crosslinguistically in a relatively theory-netural manner (section 3.1). we then (section 4) describe how to access this data, which we make available in two distinct formats: a 'basic' format, and one that conforms to the cross-linguistic data formats (cldf; @xcite schema. we illustrate how to use these data to verify a semantic universal in section 4.3, before explaining how researchers can contribute their own data (section 5) and providing a snapshot of what data the database currently has (section 6). we provide a discussion around future directions in section 7 before summarizing the present work in section 8. ## modal typology modals are expressions that are used to talk about alternative ways the world could be, over and above the way the world actually is. languages utilize various syntactic forms to express modality. for example, english uses auxiliary verbs like may and must as modals, in addition to adjectives like possible; javanese makes use of auxiliaries, a main verb, and several adverbs @xcite ). since at least @xcite , the semantics of modals have been explicated in terms of two axes of variation: force and flavor. these axes can be illustrated with the examples listed in the must examples exhibit strong (i.e. universal) force, but differ in flavor. for example, (1) in the ## representing modal semantics in a database a database for cross-linguistic modal semantics should be theory-neutral while still capturing the basic parameters of variation and facts upon which linguists agree. a natural way to proceed is to simply record the flavors and forces a particular modal can be used to express. we elaborate on this analysis in the following subsections. ## accessing the database the database may be found at https://clmbr. shane.st/modal-typology . this landing page-which will contain more information in the future-will point the reader to a repository containing the data. it is made publicly available in two formats. first, we have a 'raw' format: this is oriented around individual languages and is designed to make it easy for linguists to contribute new data. we describe this format in the next subsection (4.1) and how to contribute in section 5. secondly, we have a script to convert the raw format into a cross-linguistic data formats (cldf; @xcite format, which has several benefits of its own that are described in more detail in section 4.2. we then demonstrate one of these benefits, by showing how to verify the iff universal using the data in the database (in either format) in section 4.3. ## contributing to the database we have designed the database-and the basic format in particular-to be structured in a way that makes it easy for linguists to contribute new data from languages that they are studying. as the primary data resides in a github repository, contributing relies heavily on the mechanism of forking and submitting a pull request; for more information on those specific mechanics, we refer to their documentation. 12 the basic process for contributing data from a new language goes as follows (with further details provided in the file contributing.md in the repository): we will use the pull request interface to note any minor formatting issues and have any necessary discussions of the new data. after that quick process, we will merge your new data into the main database, and run the relevant scripts to join it with the rest of the data, including in the cldf format version. ## snapshot at the time of writing, we have added data from 17 languages to the database. some information about these languages, including the reference (and its type) that we used to gather this data, may be found in ## discussion most langauges (12 out of 17) in