Recent quantitative changes in the use of modals and quasi-modals in the Hong Kong, British and American printed press: Exploring the potential of Factiva® for the diachronic investigation of World Englishes

Abstract

This chapter uses Factiva® to examine recent evolution in the occurrence of verbal modal expressions in the Hong Kong newspaper South China Morning Post, in contrast with American and British newspapers. Previous research established that the frequency of the modals is decreasing in both British and American English generally, but increasing within the pages of TIME Magazine. The present research found that American newspaper data on the recent quantitative evolution of the modals parallel the TIME data to a degree, while British newspaper data correspond with data considered to be representative of British English in its entirety. The quantitative evolutions of both the modals and the quasi-modals in the Hong Kong newspaper resemble the ones in the British newspapers.