Modality as a component of lyrical emphasis in American and Russian Pop-Music

1.

Modality as a component of lyrical emphasis in
American and Russian Pop-Music. Shania
Twain, Shakira and Britney Spears vs. Elena
Vaenga, Polina Gagarina and Zara
(Comparative analysis)

2.

Objectives and goals of the study:
· to determine the usage frequency of modals
and auxiliaries used in pop lyrics in the USA and
Russia.
· to assess most widely used modals
· to evaluate correlation between the use of
Modals in English and Russian Pop Lyrics

3.

The concept of modality, which was
used in relation to the logic of
judgment by Aristotle and was
further investigated in the works of
I. Kant, later became used in
linguistics. In linguistics, modality
refers to the most essential,
mandatory characteristics of a
sentence and is interpreted as a
category that expresses the
relationship of an utterance with
real reality.

4.

The modern linguistic concepts of modality are based on the theory
proposed by the French linguist Sh. Bally. In his opinion, "Modality is a
mandatory, unavoidable quality of speech. The speaker cannot
formalize and address the utterance without its modal qualification”
(16) In "Linguistic encyclopedic dictionary" modality (from the Latin.
Modus-measure, method) is considered as "a functional-semantic
category that expresses different types of relation of the utterance to
reality, as well as different types of subjective qualification of the
message (17)

5.

1. The relation that the speaker establishes between the content of the
utterance and reality from the point of view of reality / unreality –
objective modality;
2. The speaker's attitude to the content of the utterance is a subjective
modality;
Objective modality is a mandatory feature of any utterance and one of
the categories that forms a predicative unit-a sentence. It is expressed
in the language with the help of a special category of verb-mood
(indicative, imperative, and subjunctive). The forms of the indicative
mood refer the utterance to the category of real, while the subjunctive
(conditional, desirable, incentive, ought) mood refers the utterance to
the plan of the desired, required or necessary. (5)

6.

To express subjective modality, different languages have a number of
lexical and grammatical means-first of all, a set of modal verbs, but also
other words. According to F. Palmer «any word expressing an
assessment with the surrounding reality should be defined as a modal"
(5) Subjective modality covers a number of assessments, on the basis
of which scientists distinguish the following types of subjective
modality

7.

1. The aletic modality (from the gr. aletheia – "truth") defines the
content of the utterance as possible / impossible. O. Romanova gives a
wide spectrum of acetic modals (9)
Finally
Presumably
Eventually
After all
Thereafter
Subsequently
Accordingly
Obviously
Evidently
Apparently
Actually
Basically
Really
Generally
In fact
Exactly
Seriously
Literally
Primarily
Normally

8.

2. Deontic modality (from gr. deon – "duty") characterizes the content
of the statement from the point of view of necessity / permissiveness /
prohibition of existing laws and moral norms. The language markers of
deontic modality include, first of all, modal verbs with the meaning (6)
To be obliged to To be forced to
Ought to
Shall
To be bound to
To be doomed
to
To be to
Would
To be tied to
To be apt to

9.

3. Epistemic modality (from the gr. episteme – "knowledge")
distinguishes the probable / improbable from the point of view of the
knowledge available to the speaker. In English, epistemic modality is
expressed, for example, by using the modal verbs might-may – should –
must-cannot to express an assumption with a greater or lesser degree
of confidence. (6)
Can
Could
May
Might
Should
Must
Have to
Have got to
Be supposed to Be

10.

4. Optative modality denotes desirable / undesirable actions. The
language markers of the optative modality include words with the
meaning "desirable": it would not hurt, I would like, it would be nice,
etc. (3)
JANE EYRE: You have hitherto been my adopted brother—I, your adopted sister: let
us continue as such: you and I had better not marry.
MRS. PEARCE: I think you'd better let me speak to the girl properly in private. (Pigm)

11.

Thus, modality is a complex multidimensional functionalsemantic category that reflects the speaker's attitude to the
content of the utterance and his assessment of the attitude to
objective reality. The content of a statement can be
considered as real / unreal, possible / impossible, probable /
improbable, necessary, desirable, and so on.

12.

1.2.2 Means of expressing modality in English
As noted above, linguists have different views on how modality is
expressed in language. In this paper, we adhere to the broadest
approach, which consists in the fact that modality can be expressed by
a complex of language means of different levels: grammatical, lexical,
syntactic and compositional, as well as intonation means. The specific
ways of expressing modality depend on the structure of the language.
In this section, we will discuss in detail the ways of expressing modality
that exist in the English language.

13.

Grammatical means of expressing modality
One of the special means of expressing modality – in particular, the
main one in the case of objective modality – is the grammatical
category of mood. It is defined as "a significant opposition of repeated
verb forms expressing modal meanings in a grammatical way"
The main means of expressing real objective modality are the temporal
forms of verbs of the indicative mood. Unreal objectively modal
meanings are expressed by the forms of the subjunctive mood of verbs.
The English subjunctive mood is usually considered in a complex,
although it has three varieties that differ in their typical constructions

14.

Syntactic means of expressing modality
Modality in English can also be expressed by syntactic means. First of
all, these are various introductory words and constructions (phrases
and sentences) that express the speaker's assessment of the content of
the message. (10)

15.

BRITHNEY SPEARS
American pop singer Britney Spears was born on December 2, 1981 in McComb, Mississippi. The artist spent
her childhood in Kentwood, Louisiana. Mom, Lynn Spears-a teacher, Dad James-was a builder and a cook.
Britney also has an older brother, Brian, and a younger sister, Jamie. While in school, the girl sang in the choir,
and was fond of rhythmic gymnastics. Britney's musical career began in the show "The New Mickey Mouse
Club". Year after year, she released albums and gained popularity. The huge popularity in the biography of
Britney Spears came after the song "Baby One More Time". Her album was released in 1999, and was in the
top 20 albums for 60 weeks. Britney's world tour kicked off after the release of her second album, «Oops! She
played in several cameo roles, hosted the television show "Saturday Night". Initially, Britney dated Justin
Timberlake for 4 years and broke off the relationship in 2001. In 2004, Spears married Kevin Federline, with
whom she gave birth to two sons. In 2007, Spears ' biography included a divorce from Kevin Federline.

16.

SHAINA TWAIN
Eileen Regina Edwards, now known as Shania Twain, was born on August 28, 1965 in
Windsor. Her mother, Sharon, and stepfather, Jerry Twain, were in the forestry trade. There
were five children in the family - Shania was the second oldest. The young star was able to
attract attention and, as a teenager, began to perform on radio and television. Her first
album was a failure, but a meeting with the famous producer who worked with Def
Leppard, AC/DC and Brian Adams, 6 Robert John "Matt" Langi, who soon became her
husband, allowed Shania to go her own way in music and she immediately achieved
success. Soon after that, a tragic event happened in the artist's family — her mother and
stepfather died. The girl had to take care of her younger brothers and sister, which almost
became the collapse of her career. But thanks to the contract with the Deerhurst Resort
hotel, the artist was able to continue to make music, performing in the show, and not be
separated from her family. Each of her next albums gained more momentum than the
previous one. In the summer of 2010, Shania and her producer husband Robert John
"Matt" Lang divorced. On January 1, 2011, Shania Twain married Swiss businessman
Frederic Thibault.

17.

SHAKIRA ISABEL MEBARAK RIPOLL
Shakira Isabel Merabak Ripoll was born on February 2, 1977 in Barranquilla, Colombia. Her
father owned a large jewelry store. In early childhood, Shakira showed the abilities of an
artist, singer, musician, writer, ballerina and dancer. At the age of 8, Shakira has already
written her first song - "Your dark glasses", dedicated to the death of one of her brothers. At
the age of 14, with the release of her first album, the charming and talented Colombian
found fame. In 1996, Shakira was named "Woman of the Year" and "Person of the Year" –
she became the first Colombian woman to conquer overseas countries. In 1999, the singer
received her first Grammy nomination for "Best Latin Rock / Alternative Album", and in
2001 released a recording of the live version of the songs "MTV Unplugged". This album
made her popular in the United States, and the success was confirmed by the Grammy
Award in the same year. Her singles conquered the American charts. In 2007, the singer
moved even further, receiving together with Beyonce for the duet "Beautiful Liar" an MTV
VMA award and a Grammy nomination. From that moment on, she began her constant
collaborations with other pop stars-she sang with Annie Lennox, Steve Wonder and Usher.
She had an affair first with Oswald Rees, and then with the son of the President of
Argentina, Fernando de la Rua Antonio, but all of them did not last long. On the set of the
video "Waka Waka", the girl met the defender of "Barcelona" Gerard Pique, whom she
married.

18.

Britney Spears
1. Dream me to life – we can
meet in our minds.
2. What if we could float here
forever
3. I know it might seem crazy
4. But I need you and I can
take you
5. I can’t compete with the
stars in the sky
6. Must be a hole in the
atmosphere
7. What role should I take
fading to gray
8. You pray me not to go, but I
would
9. You’d better go off now
10. I might have guessed I need
you baby
Swimming in the stars
Swimming in the stars
Invitation
Make me…
Man on the Moon
Man on the Moon
Mood ring
Pretty Girls
Passenger
Everytime

19.

Shania Twain
1. I wish our lives could be more
simple
2. Can’t wait till the end of the day!
Honey, I’m home
3. I need to relax and watch TV
Honey, I’m home
4. I gotta have to hold you to myself
I’m jealous
5. Love’s about to get good1.
Life’s about to get
good
To say no
6. I’d rather spend my day doing
something
7. I don’t need a shrink to tell me
what to think
8. He shall not quit, but you can bet
Amneris’ letter
To save my life
I ain’t no quitter
9. Ought to love, try to find
Hate to love
10. You’ll be able to hurt me!
Crime of the
century

20.

Shakira
1. Those new mistakes can torture Try everything
me
2. I must confess making coffee Inevitable
I’m a mess
3. Cannot even win at dice
Inevitable
4. But shouldn’t waste anymore Get it started
time
5. I couldn’t find eyes like yours
Eyes like yours
6. You can laugh, only if you laugh Rules
with me
7. I should see a doctor
Rules
8. You’d better put your feet on Objection
the ground
9. If I could know the things you Hey you
thought
10. I don’t have to leave anymore Islands

21.

Polina GAGARINA
Polina was born in 1987 in the family of a prominent doctor Sergei Gagarin and ballerina Ekaterina Muchkaeva. She spent
almost all her childhood in Greece, sometimes coming to Russia due to certain circumstances. Along with general classes,
she attended a music school and practiced singing since childhood. Later, she entered the State Music College of Pop and
Jazz Arts. The victory in the contest of young performers was the start of her independent creative career. Since 2006, the
singer has been actively touring. She collaborates with the company of Igor Krutoy, Konstantin Meladze, Irina Dubtsova, Ani
Lorak, takes part in the show "The Voice", also in 2011, the singer takes part in the Ukrainian TV show "People's Star". In
2015, at the Eurovision Song Contest with the English-language song "Million Voices" Polina takes the second place. The
singer was married for the first time to the famous theater and film actor Peter Kislov. However, their marriage did not last
long. In 2014, Polina Gagarina married for the second time.

22.

ELENA VAENGA
Elena Khruleva, now known to everyone as Elena Vaenga, who took a pseudonym that resembles the name of her favorite
city and river, was born in January 1977 in the Murmansk region. Khruleva's mother, Irina Vasilyevna, was a chemist by
training, and her father, Vladimir Borisovich – was an engineer. Already at the age of nine, Vaenga performed her own
song at a music competition, and since the age of 12, she has been giving concerts and touring. After school, Lena decided
to move to St. Petersburg. There, she had to finish another year of school in order to get a GCSE. After that, in 1994,
Khruleva entered the prestigious Rimsky-Korsakov Music School for the piano department. But the real popularity came to
Vaenga after the release of the album White Bird, which received Golden Gramophone awards. Her first husband was
Ivan Matvienko. After the divorce Elena soon gave birth to a son from Roman Sadyrbayev, with whom she is married up
till now.

23.

ZARA
Zarifa Mgoyan Pashaeva was born in 1983. Her family comes from Armenia. The father of Zara – Pasha Mgoyan is a PhD in
physics, her mother Nadi Mgoian is a housewife. Zarif attended secondary school №2 in the city of Otradnoye. In the early years,
she collaborated with Oleg Kvasha. The most successful for the singer Zara were performances at the festivals «The Hopes of
Siberia "(Omsk), "Smash Hits of the Year" (St. Petersburg), as well as at the Sochi competitions "Hopes of Europe" and "Voices99". She played roles in the plays "Idiot", "Voices of a bygone age", "Heavenly Swallows". She signed a contract with the
production center of Viktor Drobysh and collaborated with Dmitry Pevtsov. Zara's first husband was a prominent businessman,
the son of the ex-governor of St. Petersburg Valentina Matvienko, Sergey Matvienko. In 2008, Zara remarried. This time her new
husband was the Head of the Department of Health Sergey Ivanov.

24.

Полина Гагарина
Я понимаю, словами всё не
расскажешь, одним письмом и парой
фраз навряд ли всё исправишь!
Наверняка всё это было бы возможно,
но в жизни просто не бывает, а бывает
сложно!
Плачь,
может быть, будет легче,
когда вот так
Я буду такою, как ты не хотел, сделаю с
другими, что ты не сумел.
Но такие разные, что, пожалуй,
интересней,
Вместе нам на Земле.
Если бы ты мог что-то сказать, ты бы
нас легко спас
Ты мне необходим
Моя Звезда
Моя Звезда
Полюшка
Спектакль окончен
Все мы Вселенная
Голос
Обезоружена
Что я могу сказать то слово
Где ты
Ты мне, конечно, не пара! Ты - камень
а я - бриллиант.
Я открою и наконец-то обниму
Не пара
На расстоянии
Точно так же, как и вы.
ESTRADARADA

25.

Елена Ваенга
Но так и не смог найти по-пути
любовь
Ледяное сердце, я же не сумела
Гоните рублички, да поскорей
Я сама для себя не могу дать
ответ.
Вернусь, коль сумею
И должен, но сможет…
И я знаю точно, что ты больше не
придёшь
Говорить слова, которые не
нужно
В смущенье буду вряд ли.
А, хотя, конечно - жаль.
И как я могла так жить
С которым равняться осмелится
только луна
И ты меня, ты меня не смей
винить
Я смогу, я всё сумею
Может быть, и получишь
Я знаю точно, что меня ты
позовёшь
Уходи, уходи поскорее
Цыган
Пиковая дама
Бублички
Жаль
Тайга
Екатеринбург
Закрываю дверь
Внутри
Романс
Жаль
Аэропорт
Жираф
Радуйся
Слякоть
Наливай
Любимый
Скучаю

26.

Зара
Это все зря, и видимо это пустяк.
И видимо, это все не так.
Я за тобой наперекор законам
моего разума
Но ты на них сыграть не смог
Эта любовь могла бы мимо нас
пролететь
Но ты найди решение непременно.
Я тебе расскажу даже то, что себе
не смею
Я без тебя не сумею жить
Я теперь, наконец, сама своя
Больше так не могу
Я не могу без тебя жить
Оставь меня, ты должен мне
помочь.
Мы должны были отпустить
Может быть, нам всё вернуть?
Может быть сейчас забудем мы
Ты поверь мне, я это знаю, точно...
Но точно знаю я
Когда часы не укажут точно
Глазам любви не нужно слёз...
Видимо
Негордая
Ожог
Эта любовь
Школьный вальс
Человек влюблен
Спящая красавица
Я лечу
За тебя, любимый
Я не могу без тебя жить
Цвет ночи
Миллиметры
Одиночество
Оттепель
Без многоточий
Грусть
Упустила
Глаза любви

27.

Conclusion
We do understand that the subtexts and lyrics for both American and
Russian singers is a jont production of professional poets and producers
such as Noel Nackerman and Martin Derbishire in the USA or Konstantin
Meladze and Intars Busulis in Russia. However a lot of words were
originally written by the singers themselves.
As a result of the study, we found that the setting of modal verbs in song
lyrics is influenced by three factors:
* The size of a musical phrase;
* Accessibility of vocabulary perception by the audience;
* Contextual tasks of each individual piece of music;

28.

In American song lyrics, the authors avoid complex constructions and use
mainly epistemitic and optative modal verbs.
In Russian song lyrics, the authors use almost all modality variants with an
emphasis on epistemitic and aletic modal verbs and do not avoid the
subjunctive mood.
The diameter of a musical phrase naturally affects the construction of the
text, so in some cases American authors use a perfect modality. At the same
time, American texts are characterized by modal neologisms, which are
increasingly used in popular songs, while Russian popular song lyrics tends
more towards traditional grammatical and syntactic forms.