Possibility, Necessity, and Negation in Turkish, Azerbaijani, and Turkmen: A Study Based on Modality

Abstract

Epistemic modality concerns the speaker’s stance toward the truth value of a proposition, whereas deontic modality relates to permission or obligation imposed either by the speaker or by a social authority, including legal, religious, ethical, or other normative institutions. Although epistemic and deontic modality are often treated as distinct categories, many languages have modality markers that express both types of modality due to diachronic developments. Modality markers that originally expressed ability may come to express root possibility, permission, and speculative possibility, while those that expressed obligation may begin to convey deduction. This article examines the Turkish marker -(y)Abil-, the Azerbaijani -(y)A bil-, and the Turkmen -p bil-, all of which encode speculative possibility and permission, as well as the marker -mAlI, which signals deduction and obligation and is shared by all three written Turkic varieties. Despite their formal similarity, these markers display noteworthy differences, particularly in their interaction with negation. For example, the modality markers -(y)A bil- in Azerbaijani and -p bil- in Turkmen can be used with double negation, in the forms of -mAyA bilmə- and -mAn bilme-, respectively. Identifying these differences constitutes one of the main aims of the study. The article first provides an overview of epistemic and deontic modality and introduces the theoretical framework on which the study is based. It then analyses the relevant markers in Turkish, Azerbaijani, and Turkmen in terms of possibility, necessity, and negation on the basis of modal logic.