EPISTEMIC MODALITY OF CLAUSES AND SENTENCES WITH ENGLISH AND BULGARIAN ALTERNATIVE INTERROGATIVE STRUCTURESEPISTEMIC MODALITY OF CLAUSES AND SENTENCES WITH ENGLISH AND BULGARIAN ALTERNATIVE INTERROGATIVE STRUCTURES

Abstract

The article focuses on the qualitative and quantitative findings from a comparative corpus-based research into the epistemic modality of clauses and sentences with English and Bulgarian alternative interrogative structures. The study has shown that in both languages the clauses and sentences are either genuine inquiries expecting the addressee to provide the right answer or selfaddressed questions signaling the speaker’s lack of knowledge, unhelpful memory, wondering and uncertainty, assumption, or concern and worry.