Modal Debris: Threefold Ambiguities between Permission, Weak Necessity, & Strong Necessity in Bengali

Abstract

In this paper, I explore the possibility of X-marking (in the sense of von Fintel & Iatridou 2023) used in weak necessity modals being null. I argue that this is exactly what seems to be the case in a hitherto undiscussed phenomenon in Bengali, in which the modal that’s canonically described as the strong necessity modal of the language shows a systematic ambiguity between strong and weak necessity in upward entailing environments, and between strong necessity and permission in non-upward-entailing environments. The behavior in upward entailing contexts can be understood if X-marking (that is known to turn strong necessity modals into weak necessity ones) can have null exponence, and the behavior in non-upward-entailing contexts can be explained if Staniszewski’s (2022) account of weak necessity and X-marking is espoused, which involves strengthening an underlyingly existential meaning into a universal one. Crucially, the QR approach to neg-raising in weak necessity modals fails to explain the facts. I also address an independent problem of alternatives faced by Staniszewski’s account and propose a solution for that.