Modal Verb Usage at the Interface of English and a Related Creole: A Corpus-based Study of Can/Could and Will/Would in Trinidadian English

Abstract

In Trinidad, English coexists with an English-based Creole in a Creole continuum. Creole could is equivalent to international Standard English can, and would to will. Previous authors have observed that the Creole exerts a strong influence on the use of these modals in Trinidadian English. This article presents a detailed analysis, based on data from the International Corpus of English, of the use of can/could and will/would in this variety. Comparisons are drawn with other varieties, especially British English. Quantitative distributions as well as uses and meanings of the modals are analyzed. It is shown that distinctions between the members of each pair of modals are not lost generally but are liable to be blurred in particular categories of uses where they are relatively weak anyway, consisting only in the degree of tentativeness or politeness implied, for example. Furthermore, the data indicate that the use of will in present habitual contexts is more prominent in Trinidadian than in British English, probably as a result of influence from the Creole marker of present habitual aspect; would is commonly used in present habitual contexts as well.