Saturday 21 December 2019

Facts: Cases vs Chances vs Proofs


Halliday & Matthiessen (2014: 537):
The first three differ in terms of modality of the subtype modalisation:
(1) cases (nouns of simple fact) relate to ordinary non-modalised propositions ‘it is (the case) that ... ’ 
(2) chances (nouns of modality) relate to modalised propositions ‘it may be (the case) that ... ’ 
(3) proofs (nouns of indication) relate to propositions with indications, which are equivalent to caused modalities, ‘this proves/implies (i.e. makes it certain/probable) that ... ’