Limited variable-force modals and the interactions of scal{ar,eless} implicatures

Abstract

In this paper I present novel data from Kinande (Bantu J, DRC) attesting a previously undiscussed type of variable-force modal: limited variable-force modals. The Kinande modal prefix anga can be interpreted as a possibility modal or as a weak necessity modal, but never as a strong necessity modal. I show the prior analyses, whether they focus on domain restriction or exhaustification, are alone insufficient to account for this kind of modal force pat- tern, and develop a unified account of modal force that explains the Kinande facts as well as the previously-attested modal systems, generating a typology of modal force.