The Category of

Mood

Different Approaches

A Theory of Multiple Moods

(M. Deutschbein, A.I. Smirnitsky)

A Theory of Multiple Moods

M. Deutschbein: 16 moods including Indicative, Optative, Voluntative, Expectative, Potentialis, Concessive, Dubitative, Irrealis, Subjunctive, Imperative, Adhortative …

This approach is semantic and does not take the form into consideration:

He may be here (Potentialis).

He may be here, but I don’t want to see him (Concessive).

A Theory of Multiple Moods

A.I. Smirnitsky: six moods (Indicative, Imperative, Subjunctive I, Subjunctive II, Suppositional, Conditional).

Weak points:

1.The semantic basis is inconsistent (condition is not modal). 2.Combinations of modal verbs having pronounced lexical meaning

with the infinitive are referred to analytical forms, which is not the case.

3.Homonymous forms are introduced.

4.It is not clear why some forms are the forms of different moods if they have the same meaning and similar syntactic contexts.

A Theory of Three Moods

(Traditional Grammar, G.O. Curme, O.

Jespersen)

A Theory of Three Moods

Sweet, Curme, Jespersen: three moods (Indicative - Fact-Mood, Imperative - Will-Mood, Subjunctive - Thought-Mood). Similar to Latin, the same as in Russian.

Indicative represents an action as a fact: He is here.

Imperative expresses the speaker’s inducement (order, request, command, etc.) addressed to another person to do smth: Come here.

Subjunctive shows actions as non-facts (including not modal; + heterogeneous means of expression).

A Theory of Two Moods

(M.Y. Bloch)

A Theory of Two Moods

M.Y. Bloch: two moods (Indicative and Subjunctive).

Indicative represents an actual action. Subjunctive represents an imaginary action.

Subju nctive

A Theory of Two Moods

The theory is semantic-formal. The formal point is tense-retrospect shift:

The opposition of perfect and non-perfect phases turns into the opposition of relative substitutes for the absolute past and present tenses of the indicative.

E.g., I know it (present real) - I wish I knew it (present unreal); I knew it (past real) - I wish I had known it (past unreal).

! Though this shift is very important in expressing unreality, tense and phase are verbal

categories other than mood and should be treated as such. One category cannot be expressed by another. They are only means of expressing modality.

A Theory of No Moods

(V.Y. Plotkin)