Modal and semi-modal verbs in German news text

The article is dedicated to identifying the specifics of the functioning of modal and semi-modal verbs in media texts. The subject of the study is the structural and semantic features of modal and semi-modal verbs in modern German. The object of the study is verbs that express modality. The material for the research is an article from the news web portal of the German broadcasting organization ARD Tagesschau, published on March 4, 2025. The research tasks are: to establish the composition of modal verbs involved in text creation; to determine the types of modal and semi-modal verbs; to identify the structural and semantic features of modal and semi-modal verbs; to establish their role in creating modality in news text as a whole. The authors examine in detail the semantic possibilities of the verbs sollen, wollen, and müssen. Special attention is given to the functioning of the semi-modal verbs brauchen and scheinen. The theoretical basis for the interpretation of modality includes the works of German linguists H. Hellwig and I. Bush, the editorial team of Duden, and others. We also note the work of E. V. Bodnaruk, which is dedicated to the systematization of the meanings and areas of use of modal verbs in the German language. The methods used in writing the work include intertextual and conceptual analysis. The material of the study is a news text from the web portal; the novelty lies in revealing the specifics of the functioning and selection of verbs for creating the modality of the text. It is established that all verbs traditionally classified as modal in modern German are present in the news text. It has been found that, according to the overall semantics of the text, the verbs with deontic modality of necessity müssen and the intention verb wollen are most frequently used. Structurally, the use of modal verbs müssen, dürfen, and können in the form of Konjunktiv Präsens with the meanings of necessity, assumption, and impossibility is noted. In sentences with the verb müssen, its deontic meaning is realized. The use of the verb brauchen in the modal meaning in combination with a substantive verb is identified, indicating an expansion of its syntagmatics.

modality, modal verbs, semi-modal verbs, objective modality, deontic modality, subjective modality, evidential modality, text modality, news text, media text