ABSTRACT
This conclusion presents some closing thoughts on the concepts covered in this book. The book discusses that most studies on modality have concentrated on the formal and semantic analysis of the modal auxiliaries to the exclusion of other types of modal expression. The chief reason for this seems to be that, more than any other category of modal expression, the auxiliaries are syntactically distinct and lend themselves most easily to description and analysis. Contrary to the view that when adverbs occur with the modals they do so pleonastically, modal-adverb combinations function as units of modal expression. This is most clearly demonstrated by idiomatic sequences, and various types of lexical phrase, where the modal expression operates with a high degree of functional integrity. Modal-adverb collocations in deontic environments also play an important role and especially in expressions used for making offers or requests.
