A compositional semantics for the double-modal construction in Southern US English

In (1), the idea is put forth that if a class wanted to, meeting early would ensure that they get out at a specified time. In (2), speaking of a piece of furniture that she did not realize was for sale, a Texan uses might would to say that if she had known the furniture was for sale, she might have made the decision to purchase it. In (3), a suggestion is made to a friend that, if she chose to, she could try to revive a dead plant by putting it in the sun and watering it. Despite frequent mention in the literature, as well as in the verbal lore of the field, the semantics of this construction has never been adequately described, as far as we know. This paper will propose an explicit analysis in terms of Kratzer’s (1981, 1991) analysis of modal expressions as supplying a modal base and an ordering source. In brief, we will argue that the second (lower) modal typically establishes an epstemic or circumstantial modal base, and the first (upper) modal contributes a bouletic ordering source that reflects the desires and intentions of some agent involved in the described event. As a result, the meaning expressed by (1) is more subtle and more interesting than the mere conjunction of its two constituent modals: