1

TYPES OF MODALITY

AND THE EQUIVALENCE IN THE TRANSLATION OF MODALITY

1. Abstract:

Modality in languages can be grammatically addressed by two means: the modal system and
mood (Palmer, 1986). This paper only examines the former means, seeking to classify sentences
or clauses (most of them) with modality in Chapter XV– Nest Building, in the novel, Secret
Garden and evaluate the equivalence of the translation of the modality from English to
Vietnamese.

The texts (English and Vietnamese versions) have been attached for reference.
2. Theoretical backgrounds
2.1. Definition of modality
According to Bybee (1985), modality is what the speaker’s doing with the whole proposition
while Palmer (1986), it is the semantic information associated with the speaker’s attitude or
opinion about what is said. More clearly, Saeed (2003) states that modality, a semantic category
operating at the sentence level, is a cover term for devices for speakers to express varying
degrees of commitment or belief in a proposition.
2.2. Types of modality
The following is Palmer’s categorization of modality in the modal system.
There are two types of modality: propositional and event modality. Propositional modality
includes two types, epistemic and evidential, which deal with the speaker’s attitude towards the
truth-value or the factual status of the proposition.Event modality, however, refers to events that
are not actualized and events that have not taken place. There are two major types, deontic and
dynamic modality.
2.2.1. Epistemic
With epistemic modality, speakers express their judgment about the factual status of the
proposition or signal their degrees of knowledge.
In English, there are three kinds of epistemic modality: Speculative, Deductive and Assumptive.
Take the following sentences for examples:
John may be in his office. (Speculative)
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John must be in his office. (Deductive)

John will be in his office. (Assumptive)
Speculative means a possible conclusion or is epistemically possible, whereas Deductive means
the only possible conclusion or is epistemically necessary and Assumptive relates to a reasonable
conclusion stemming from what is generally known.
For propositions relating to the past, the structure [HAVE + past] participle is employed.
The past tense forms of the modals are also used to express lower degrees of commitment and
judgment that are more tentative, namely, might, would, should, etc., for example,
Mary might be at school by now.
Mary would be at school by now.
Mary ought to be/should be at school by now.
Ought to and should are not only weaker form of must but they also suggest some sorts of
conditionality – “provided things are as I expect them to be”.
Another past form is could, which may suggest a possible conclusion but the conclusion is based
on some known facts.
Mary could be at school by now
Besides modal verbs, English has many other devices to express the degree of confidence and
commitment, such as adverbs like perhaps, probably, certainly or some adjectives like in “It is
probable that… it is likely that,….
2.2.2. Evidential
With evidentials, speakers indicate the evidence they have for the factual status. There are two
types of evidential modality, Reported and Sensory. However, there are no grammatical markers
for these, so they will not be discussed in this paper.
However, in English, it is possible to indicate the sources of evidence by the use of lexical verbs.
Saeed (2003) called these devices evidentiality, which communicates the speaker’s attitude
toward the source of information.
For example,
I saw that she was rich.
I read that she was rich.
She was rich, so they say.
It seems that she was rich.
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2.2.3. Deontic
With deontic modality, the conditioning factors are external to the relevant individual, relating to
the obligation and permission coming from external sources, for example,
John may/can come in now. (Permission) (Permissive)
John must come in now. (Obligation) (Obligative)
Although deontic modality comes from the external sources such as laws and rules, the authority
can come from the speaker, who puts the obligation on the listener.
Another type of deontic modality is Commisive, in which the conditioning factor for the action
lies with the speaker, for example:
You shall/will have it tomorrow.
Some past tense forms can be used to weaken the degree of the modality. Must has ought to and
shoud, can and may have could and might.
For past events, might and could cannot be used to deontically but should/ought to + [HAVE +
past participle] while must + HAVE can be interpreted espitemically but never deontically.
2.2.4. Dynamic
Dynamic modality is concerned with the ability and willingness, which comes from the internal
sources, for example,
John can speak French. (Ability) – Abilitive
John will do it for you. (Willingness) – Volitive
Ability can be interpreted as the physical or mental power of individuals to do something or
possibility in a general sense. For example:
He can go now. (Deontic: Permission)
He can run a mile in five minutes. (Dynamic: Ability)
He can escape. (Dynamic: the door’s not locked)
Unlike epistemic and deontic modality, past tense forms of can and will(could and would) can be
used to refer to actions in the past. For example,
When I was young, I could run very fast.
However, if the action actually happened in the past, neither couldnor would can be employed.
For example: * The house was on fire but luckily, they could escape. The past tense forms, could
and would, can be used to express willingness and ability more tentatively, for example when
making an offer:
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I can/could do that for you.

I will/would do that for you.
However, there is an implication of conditionality here – “if you asked me”.
3. Modality in Chapter XV of the Secret Garden
The following table shows the types of modality found in Chapter XV in the Secret Garden. The
devices of modality have been bolded. Also, some comments on the equivalence of translation in
terms of modality are also available for some cases.
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N Types of English clauses/sentences Vietnamese Comments on equivalence

o. modality
1 Dynamic The second thing she wanted to find Vàcònđiềunữa,
(Abilitive - out was this:If he could be trusted--if đólànếuthằngbélàngườicóthể tin cậy,
Possibility in a he really could, nếunóthựcsựđáng tin
general sense)
2 Deontic Thegranddoctorhadsaidthathemustha Ôngbácsĩtốtbụngđãdặnrằng Colin A reduction in the degree of
(Obligative) ve fresh air cầnđượcsốngtrongbầukhôngkhítronglành commitment is found in the
Vietnamese version.
3 Dynamic Colin had said that he wouldnot mind cònthằngbécũngbảonóchẳngquảnngạikhô
(Volitive) fresh air in a secret garden ngkhítươimáttrongkhuvườnbímật
4 Epistemic Perhaps if he had a great Biếtđâukhiđượchítthởđếnthỏathíchkhítrời An omission of “might” in the
(Speculative) deal of fresh air and knew Dickon nhẹnhõm, Vietnamese translation results
and the robin and saw things growing đượclàmquenvớiDickonvàchimứcđỏ, in an increase in the degree of
he might not think so much about đượctậnmắtthấymuônvậtsinhsôinảynở, knowledge.
dying thìnóchẳngcònnghĩnhiềuđếncáichếtnữa
5 Epistemic If gardens and fresh air had been Nếukhuvườnvàkhôngkhítronglànhcólợic
(Assumptive) good for her perhaps they would be honó, thìcólẽcũngsẽnhưvậyvới Colin
good for Colin
6 Epistemic I used to lie in my carriage everybody Dạohọđưatớtớibãibiển, An omission of would leads to
(Assumptive) used to stare and ladies wouldstop tớchỉnằmlìtrongxengựacủatớ, the surge of the degree of
and talk to my nurse and then they aiaicũngnhìntớchằmchằm, confidence.
wouldbegin to whisper cảcácquýbàcũngchẳngchịutha,
họvắtchuyệnvớingườivúemrồi quay sang
thìthào to nhỏ
7 Epistemic (Then when they took me to the vàlúcấytớthừabiếthọđangbảotớsẽchẳngsố
(Deductive) seaside and I used to lie in my ngnổichứđừngnóilàlớnlên
carriage everybody used to stare and
ladies would stop and talk to my
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nurse and then they would begin to

whisper and) I knew then they were
saying I shouldn't live
to grow up
8 Dynamic You can't bite a ghost or a dream Người ta khôngthểđicắnmột con ma hay
(Abilitive) giấcmộngđược
9 Dynamic Would you hate it if--if a boy looked Liệucậucóthấycămghétkhôngnếu...
(Volitive) at you nếucómộtanhbạnnhìncậu
1 Epistemic there's one boy I believe I shouldn't cómộtanhbạnmàtớchorằngkhôngcầnphải The translation of shouldn’t,
0 (Deductive) mind bănkhoăn “khôngcần” turn the epistemic
modality into a deontic one,
which is also unfaithful to the
original.
1 Epistemic I'm sure you wouldn'tmind him Tớcảquyếtrằngcậukhôngphải lo vềanhấy The translation of wouldn’t
1 into khôngphảiis disloyal to
the original.
1 Epistemic perhaps that's why I shouldn't. He's a đócólẽlàlý do tạisaotớkhông lo Omission of modality.
2 sort
of animal charmer and I am a boy
animal.
1 Deontic she need not fear about Dickon Mary cảmthấynókhôngcầnphải lo
3 (Obligative) lắnggìvề Colin nữa
1 Epistemic It willmake the green points push up Ấmápthếnàythìcácmầm non sẽchóngnhú,
4 (Assumptive) and up and up, and it will make the chồivàrễsẽchóngmọclênvớitấtcảsứcmạnh
bulbs and roots work and struggle củachúngtừtronglòngđất
with all their might under the earth
1 Dynamic She kneeled down and leaned out of Con
5 (Abilitive) the window as far as she could béquỳxuốngvàngảhẳnngườirangoàicửasổ
1 Epistemic It must be very early Cònsớmquá An omission of the modal verb
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6 considerably increases the

degree of confidence
1 Dynamic I can't wait Mìnhkhôngthểđợiđược
7 (Abilitive)
1 Dynamic She knew a small side door which Nóbiếtmộtcửangáchnhỏmànócóthểtựmởl
8 (Abilitive) she could unbolt herself ấy
1 Evidentiality there she was standing on the grass, vàthếlànóđãđặtchânlênbãicỏxanhmơnmở An increase in the degree of
9 which seemedto have turned green n confidence is the result of the
omission of modality.
2 Deontic she felt as if she mustfluteand sing đếnnỗi con An omission of modality can
0 (Obligative) aloud herself bécảmthấynómuốntựmìnhhuýtsáo be found in the translation.
2 Epistemic This afternoon I am sure ìnhđoánchắcchiều nay Dickonsẽđến
1 (Assumptive) Dickonwillcome
2 Epistemic Six months before Mistress Mary Sáuthángtrước, côchủ Mary Omission of modality can be
2 (Assumptive) would not haveseen how the world khôngtàinàohình dung found in the translation, which
was waking up, but now she missed nổithếgiớisẽbừngtỉnhthếnào leads to a considerable
nothing increase in the level of
confidence.
2 Epistemic When she got fairly into the garden Khiđãvàohẳntrongvườn, con bénhậnra An omission of the modality
3 she saw that he probably con chimđãsàxuốngđậutrênmộtcâytáocòi, can be found.
did intend to stay because he had dướitáncâytáo
alighted on a dwarf
2 Epistemic How could you get here so early! Sao anhcóthểđếnđâysớmthế? Hảanh? The translation fails to show
4 How couldyou! the surprise, which come from
the difference between
Epistemic Could and Abilitive
Can
2 Epistemic How could I have stayed abed! Làmsaocóthểlầnchầntrêngiườngcơchứ!
5
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2 Epistemic I couldn't have stayed away Tôikhôngthểkhôngtới A change from Epistemic

6 coundn’t have to Deontic
(Obligative) Modality after the
translation.
2 Deontic They ran from one part of the garden Haiđứachạytừgócvườnnày sang Omission of modality.
7 (Obligative) to another and found so many gócvườnkiavàkhámphárabaođiềukìdiệu,
wonders that they were obliged to đếnnỗichúngbuộcphảitựnhắcnhaunóikhé
remind themselves that they
mustwhisper or speak low
2 Deontic “We munnot stir," he whispered in Đừnglàmnáođộng, –
8 (Obligative) broad Yorkshire. thằngbéthìthầmbằngthứgiọng Yorkshire
"We munnotscarce breathe… thậtnặng. –
(We must not stir – We must not Chúngmìnhphảitránhcảthởmạnhnữa
scarce breathe)
2 Deontic Us mustn'tseem as if us was watchin' Chúngmìnhđừngnhìnnógầnquá A decrease in the level of
9 (Obligative) him too close commitment can be found in
the translation.
3 Epistemic He'dbe out with us for good if he got Cậuchàngsẽ bay khỏiđây,
0 (Assumptive) th' notion us was interferin' now nếulúcnàymàbịquấyrầy
3 Epistemic He'll be a good bitdifferent till all this Chỉlàhơikhótínhmộtchútthôichotớikhitấtc
1 (Assumptive) is over ảchuyệnnày qua đi
3 Epistemic He'll be shyer an' readier to take Nódễ e dèvàkhôngthoảimái Omission of modality
2 (Assumptive) things ill
3 Epistemic I'll chirp a bit an' he'll know us'll not tôisẽhótmộthồi,
3 (Assumptive) be in his way vàrồinósẽhiểuchúngmìnhchẳnghềcảnđườ
ngnó
3 Evidentiality Mistress Mary was not at all sure that Côchủ Mary An omission of modality can
4 she knew, as Dickonseemed to, how khôngchắccólàmnổinhưDickonkhông: be found in the translation.
to try to look like grass and trees and giảvờbắtchướccỏcây,
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bushes bụirậmchobằngđược
3 Epistemic and she felt it must Quảthực con An omission of modality can
5 (Deductive) be quite easy to him bécảmthấyviệcđóhoàntoàndễdàngđốivới be found.
Dickon
3 Dynamic If we talk about him I can't help Nếucứbànmãivềnónhưvậy, ta
6 (Abilitive) looking at him sẽchẳngthểnàongưngnhìnnóđược.
3 Deontic We must talk of something else Ta nênnóichuyệnkhácđi
7 (Obligative)
3 Epistemic He'll like it better if us talks o' Nósẽthíchhơnnếu ta nóichuyệngìkhác
8 (Asumptive) somethin' else
3 Deontic I knowed I must say nothin' about Tôivẫnbiếtkhôngđượcphépnóibấtcứchuyệ
9 (Obligative) him an' I don't like havin' to hide ngìvềcậuấy,
things màtôithìlạikhôngthíchchegiấuđiềugì.
4 Dynamic I'll never tell about it Tôichưahềkểvớiaivềnó
0 (Volitive)
4 Dynamic Colin's so afraid of it himself that he Bảnthân Colin
1 (Volitive) won't sit up khiếpsợviệcấyđếnnỗicậuấykhôngmuốnng
ồidậynữa
4 Epistemic He says he's always thinking that if Cậuấybảocậuấyluônnghĩrằngnếuthâymột An omission of modality
2 he cáibướumọcralàcậuấysẽphátđiênvàgàokh increases the degree of
should feel a lump coming he should ócchotớikhichết confidence.
go crazy and scream himself to death
4 Deontic Eh! he oughtn't to lie there thinkin' Trờiơi! Cậuấykhôngnênnằm ì
3 (Obligative) things like that ramàtưởngtượngnhữngđiềunhưvậy
4 Dynamic I was wonderin' if us could ever get Tôiđangnghĩnếucậuấyđượcrađâythìđỡiph The omission of modality as a
4 (Volitive) him in th' humor to come out here an' ải lo chuyệncaibướumọctrênlưng result of a change in the
A sugestion lie under th' trees in his carriage perspective.
4 Dynamic I've wondered if he could keep a Tôitựnhủkhôngbiếtcậuấycógiữđượcbímật The omission of modality does
5 (Ablitive) secret không not affect the meaning.
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4 Dynamic I've wondered if we could bring him vàliệuchúng ta

6 (Ablitive) here without any one seeing us cóthểđưacậuấyrađâymàkhôngsợaitrôngth
ấykhông
4 Dynamic I thought perhaps you could push his Tôinghĩcólẽanhsẽlàngườiđẩyxegiúpcậuấy
7 (Volitive) carriage
A sugestion
4 Deontic The doctor said he must have fresh Bácsĩbảocậuấycầnđượchítthởkhôngkhítro A change in the level of
8 (Obligative) air nglành obligation can be found in the
translation
4 Dynamic He won't go out for other people Cậuấysẽkhôngrangoàivớinhữngngườikhá
9 (Volitive) c
5 Dynamic perhaps they will be glad if he will go vàcólẽmọingườisẽlấylàmmừngkhicậuấyb
0 (Volitive) out with us ằnglòngđivớibọnmình
5 Dynamic “…He could order the gardeners to Cậuấucóthểralệnhchonhữngngườilàmvườ
1 (Volitive) keep away so they wouldn't find out” nđichỗkhác,
A suggestion thếnênhọsẽkhôngtàinàopháthiệnrađâu
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4. Conclusion

Various types of modality have been flexibly employed in the text to clearly express the attitude

and opinion of the speaker towards the propositional contents. One device can operate as many

modes of modality depending on the situation.

In terms of equivalence in the translation of modality, among the 51 sentences/clauses discussed

above, 22 comments are provided, in which 21 are about the failure to keep the equivalence as a

result of omissions of modality and changes in the modal devices leading to, in some cases,

serious harms to the meaning of the original sentences/clauses. Moreover, epistemic modality

seems to be more likely to be mistranslated, possibly because there are various devices of

epistemic modality, which convey a wide range of attitude and commitment.

5. Reference

Bybee, Joan 1985: Morphology. Amsterdams: Benjamins

Palmer, F.R 1986:Mood and Modality. Cambridge: University of Cambridge Press.

Saeed, John.I2003: Semantics. United Kingdom: Blackwell Publishing Ltd.