Modality and argumentative discourse relations: A study of the Italian necessity modal dovere

The paper presents a context-dependent relational analysis of two constructions of the Italian necessity modal dovere (‘must’) associated with an epistemic interpretation. Exploiting evidence from a journalistic corpus, the two constructions DEVEE and DOVREBBEE, based respectively on the indicative and the conditional mood, are examined as signals of argumentative discourse relations. The analysis, drawing from the theory of relative modality, shows that the context-dependent semantics of the modal constructions is intimately tied to their functioning as markers of argumentative relations in discourse, and that subtle differences in discourse functioning can be accounted for in terms of different underlying processes of meaning construction. The paper also shows that understanding the connection between modal meanings and argumentative discourse relations requires a clarification of the relationships that argumentation entertains with causality, on the one hand, and with evidentiality on the other.