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Syntactic possibility

In addition to the `morphological' modals ÁÔ£ laam `may', ᣠ-Num `must', and åÜ mudi `can', there are syntactic constructions which give various degrees of probability and/or possibility. One of these, a form which generally can be translated `(it) might just be possible that (x)' or perhaps (x) will (y)', takes the form of a verb appearing in the concessive (cf. 6.8) followed by the same verb with the modal laam affixed to it. Examples:

In terms of chance and probability, the degree of certainty underlying the semantics of this form could be said to be approximately 40%, i.e., the chances are less than even that the event in question will occur.



Haorld_F.Schiffman