MULTIPLE MODALS IN MODERN SCOTTISH SPEECH (THE EVIDENCE OF THE SCOTS CORPUS)
Abstract
10.18522/1995-0640-2026-2-71-85
The aim of this study is to assess the extent to which constructions with multiple modal verbs (MMs) are used in the written (and indirectly spoken) form of the Scots language in the Scottish Lowlands. The study was conducted using data from the SCOTS corpus, which contains fiction and non-fiction prose, poetry, and transcripts of recorded speech from 1945 to the present day. The methods used were observation, description, comparison, and quantitative and qualitative content analysis. The corpus revealed the presence of three types of MMs ('ll can do, may can do, and would will do), which are used in oral and written speech. Overall, the SCOTS corpus demonstrated high informativeness and reliability as a primary source for the study of constructions with multiple modal verbs. Its data confirms evidence that MMs in Scotland are an alive feature, predominantly of southern and (to a lesser extent) central dialects. MMs are found in both written and spontaneous oral speech and are incorporated into literary texts as a means of stylization. Their greatest number and most consistent use are observed in translated texts. Judging by the texts in the corpus and grammar data, attitudes toward MMs can be diametrically opposed. Sociolinguistically, they are polarized, ranging from stigmatization of this feature to its popularization. Grammar manuals generally either ignore or condemn this feature as “incorrect,” which reveals a kind of modern “regional” purism. Meanwhile, individual authors consciously use MMs in written speech as “overt” Scotticisms and entrench them as an element of the grammatical system, if not of the entire Scots language, then at least of some of its regional varieties. In written speech, the richness of MMs and the consistency of their use increase among authors who can be considered language activists. The phenomenon of MMs in Scottish material requires further study within the dialectological and discursive perspectives. Theoretically, the most promising approach is to conceptualize the phenomenon of MMs as a discursive signal, with subsequent correlation of the entire range of MMs nomenclature with different types of discursive signals.
Key words: multiple modals (MMs), Scots language, electronic text corpus, token, metadata, forms of language
Acknowledgements: the reported study was funded by Russian Science Foundation; research project No. 24-28-00049, https://rscf.ru/project/24-28-00049
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Copyright (c) 2026 Alexander E. Pavlenko, Nadezhda V. Gukalova
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