紀要論文

Hypothetical Use of May ＋Perfect Infinitive

eng

13494686

https://doi.org/10.15002/00002790

法政大学言語・文化センター

4

149

158

2007-01-31

Version of Record

Although it is still often stigmatised as a grammatical deviation,may have has been increasingly used for expressing a hypothetical possibility in the past,irrespective of regional variations of English. A close analysis of the contexts in which the phrase is used reveals that it is likely to emerge in the reports of new findings about tragic accidents or evebts of public concern. Given that an epistemic may typically implies a spesker's higher commitment to the truth of a proposition or a greater likelihood of an event occurring than might,it is arguable that may have in hypothetical conditions is deliberately chosen to make the news more sensational and relevant to readers,with the likely intention of overturning their assumptions.

Article

AA11906774