Epistemic "mustn´t" in English
ISSN: 1576-4737
Year of publication: 2008
Issue: 36
Type: Article
More publications in: Círculo de lingüística aplicada a la comunicación
Abstract
It is a widespread claim in the literature that there does not exist an epistemic use of the modal verb mustn�t in English. Instead, the form can�t is said to fill the gap in the system. This paper shows that there is an epistemic use of mustn�t in present-day English, investigates the contexts in which it appears and compares the use of epistemic can�t and mustn�t.