| Abstract | 第1-9页 |
| 内容摘要 | 第9-11页 |
| Chapter One Introduction | 第11-18页 |
| 1．1 Modality and English Modal Auxiliaries | 第11-16页 |
| 1．2 Rationale of the Thesis | 第16-18页 |
| Chapter Two Previous Analyses | 第18-34页 |
| 2．1 The Traditional Paraphrase | 第18-20页 |
| 2．2 The Ambiguity View | 第20-24页 |
| 2．3 The Polysemy View | 第24-29页 |
| 2．4 The Traditional Unitary View | 第29-34页 |
| Chapter Three Theoretical Foundations | 第34-49页 |
| 3．1 Relevance Theory and Utterance Interpretation | 第34-38页 |
| 3．2 Conceptual and Procedural Information | 第38-44页 |
| 3．2．1 The Distinction Between Conceptual and Procedural Information | 第38-41页 |
| 3．2．2 The Significance of the Distinction | 第41-44页 |
| 3．3 Domains and Tripartite Structure | 第44-49页 |
| Chapter Four The Monosemantic Framework of English Modals | 第49-82页 |
| 4．1 The Unitary Semantics of English Modals: a General View | 第49-50页 |
| 4．2 The Semantics and Interpretation of WILL | 第50-55页 |
| 4．3 The Semantics and Interpretations of MAY and CAN | 第55-69页 |
| 4．3．1 MAY | 第55-60页 |
| 4．3．2 CAN | 第60-66页 |
| 4．3．3 MAY and CAN compared | 第66-69页 |
| 4．4 Semantics and Interpretations of MUST and SHOULD | 第69-78页 |
| 4．4．1 MUST | 第69-75页 |
| 4．4．2 SHOULD | 第75-76页 |
| 4．4．3 MUST and SHOULD Compared | 第76-78页 |
| 4．5 Some Constraints on the Interpretation | 第78-82页 |
| Chapter Five Application of the Framework to Some Modal Puzzles | 第82-100页 |
| 5．1 The Negation of MAY | 第82-86页 |
| 5．2 Modals and Politeness | 第86-96页 |
| 5．2．1 The Softening Use of Modals | 第86-93页 |
| 5．2．2 The Concessive Use of the Modals | 第93-96页 |
| 5．3 Modals and Scale of Epistemic Strength | 第96-100页 |
| Chapter Six Conclusion | 第100-104页 |
| Bibliography | 第104-108页 |
