Mirative extensions in the postmodal domain

Abstract This paper offers a unified analysis of the postmodal meanings of should and would. It proposes a semantic-pragmatic account based on how these modals function in contexts that yield mirative interpretations. The analysis begins with their use in content clauses under factive predicates and then examines a parallel use in why -interrogatives. It also explains why only would can produce a mirative reading in the assertive equative construction ‘That Would Be X’. The paper argues that these mirative extensions arise from the speaker’s knowledge state and their assumptions about the addressee’s expectations. The postmodal domain is therefore shaped by pragmatic strengthening within patterns that still preserve aspects of the modals’ core semantics. The shift from modality to postmodality marks a move toward the illocutionary level. However, this domain is not uniform: postmodal meanings may represent either the endpoint of grammaticalisation or the emergence of new discourse functions through constructionalisation, as in the TWBX construction.