Deontic Modals and Context in J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter

Abstract

The present study aims at investigating the effect of context on the use of deontic modals within the first part of J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter series, that is 'Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone'. Modal auxiliary verbs, that have an important role in the processes of interaction like improving the relationship among speakers in everyday communication and expressing their attitudes and stances, will be the focus of the present study for their large representation of deontic modality. In addition, from a pragmatic perspective, investigating context means taking into consideration the intention of the characters, their relationships, positions, social ranks, setting of the utterances and other conditions that have to be determined, so as to identify the influences, desires, and goals which have been achieved in the situations. The study comes up with the understanding that there is a firm relationship between context and the use of deontic modals, and that most of the modals are 'directives' and 'commissives' in their use towards the addressees