The modalization of temporal forms, in particular times of the future, is a phenomenon that has caused much ink to flow. To document the genesis of such a modal value, I will present a modal use of the future periphrastic: the extraordinary pace1. The following example illustrates this modal value:
(1) – I bet you go to Accates?
– Further.
– So at the Camoins?
– Further.
Bouzigue opened his eyes wide: “Aren’t you going to tell me you’re going to La Treille?” »(Chateau, p. 136) In this little dialogue, Bouzigue deduces from the answers of his interlocutors that they think they will go as far as La Treille. Such a long journey surprises Bouzigue – such an intention, such an attitude seems to him quite ‘extraordinary’ in the sense that they do not correspond to his expectations and to the “expected order of things”. modal use of the periphrastic future, it is necessary to integrate the temporal value in the analysis. The temporal and modal values of the periphrastic future (I’ll sing) arise from interactions between the basic semantics of the temporal form and the context. Such an interaction, which obeys precise rules, creates a pragmatic potential which determines the uses and the restrictions of use of the temporal form. The extraordinary allure is a type of employment that results from an interaction between the temporal value of the periphrastic future and the context. The description of the extraordinary allure that I will give here emphasizes the contextual factors which are responsible for this modalization. The description of such a modalization mechanism does not only provide knowledge on a particular type of use of the future periphrastic; the extraordinary allure can also shed more general light on the use of modal periphrases and modal verbs. Before explaining the mechanism of this modalization, I will briefly present the basic semantics of the periphrastic future while opposing it to that of the simple future.
–
