“What has to be has… deontic force. Contributions to the characterization of the Portuguese modal verb ‘ter de’ (have to)”

Abstract

In this paper, we will aim at contributing to the linguistic characterization of the verb ter de/ter que [have to], pointing out some particularities that individualize it among the modal semiauxiliaries of Portuguese. We will gather information from morphology, syntax, semantics and textual and discourse linguistics, also observed in examples collected from the CETEMPúblico corpus. The semi-auxiliary ter de, like dever [must], appears in the domain of necessity. Although the deontic reading prevails in several contexts, it is possible to find utterances of epistemic nature, external to the participant and even internal to the participant, following the typological classification proposed by van der Auwera and Plungian (1998). Its modal strength results from a maximum restriction of possible worlds (Kratzer 1981; 2012), being situated in the positive pole (certain/obligatory) of the modal verbs scale, which, in Portuguese, contemplates two other verbs, poder [can] and dever (Oliveira 1988). However, the prototypical strong obligation reading associated with ter de is only available in controllable by the subject situations and, even in these cases, the principle of politeness and the hedging effect can convert utterances with this semiauxiliary into suggestions or recommendations, particularly in injunctive acts of a non-impositive nature and in certain expressive acts. From a syntactic point of view, and following a proposal outlined by Óscar Lopes (2005), we tried to evaluate the effects of the combination of ter de with different syntactic types of verbs, namely unaccusative verbs and unergative verbs. Besides the aspects mentioned above, it was necessary to consider criteria such as the aspectual class of the verb, the nature (impositional or not) of the discourse acts, and the intentionality and status of the interlocutors. As a rule, and taking into account the analysis of utterances from CETEMPúblico, unaccusative verbs combine with aspectual classes that predict an achievement and, in the face of the modal semiauxiliary ter de, they may activate readings that focus on needs determined by external or internal circumstances of the participant. Regarding unergative verbs, we see that the atelic verbs are present in predicates that configure processes and activate the reading of modality external to the participant, while the potentially telic verbs are articulated with accomplishments and may also assume a modal reading external to the participant. Careful observation of other examples may, however, open the way to new modal readings.