Lexicon
Vol 2, No 2 (2013)

The Meanings of Modal Auxiliary Verbs in the Movie "The Perks of being a Wallflower"

Herlina Endah Atmaja (Universitas Gadjah Mada)



Article Info

Publish Date
01 Oct 2013

Abstract

This research attempts to investigate the meanings of modal auxiliary verbs in the movie The Perks of being a Wallflower. In particular, it aims to identify and classify the modal auxiliary verbs according to their meanings. The data used in this research were dialogues containing modal auxiliary verbs. The modal auxiliary verbs are analyzed semantically and pragmatically. Based on the data analysis, 171 modal auxiliary verbs were found in the movie. The most commonly used modal auxiliary verb in the movie is the modal auxiliary will (28.7%), followed by can (24.0%), would (21.6%), could (14.0%), should (7.0%), might (2.9%), and must (1.8%). From the 171 modal auxiliary verbs, 43 (25.1%) are used to express epistemic meanings, 23 (13.4%) are used to express deontic meanings, and 105 (61.3%) are used to express dynamic meanings. It was found in this research that the modal auxiliary verbs are most frequently used to express dynamic meanings.

Copyrights © 2013






Journal Info

Abbrev

lexicon

Publisher

Subject

Humanities Languange, Linguistic, Communication & Media

Description

Lexicon, Journal of English Language and Literature, is an open access, peer reviewed, academic journal published by the English Department, Universitas Gadjah Mada in cooperation with the English Studies Association in Indonesia (ESAI). It is devoted primarily to the publication of studies on ...