“We could scarce distinguish one from another” : Towards a phraseological perspective on modal auxiliaries in three categories of Late Modern English medical writing

The present study investigates the patterns of use of modal auxiliaries in three categories of medical writing in the eighteenth century. The data is drawn from the corpus of Late Modern English Medical Texts (LMEMT), and it is approached through phraseological register analysis. The study focuses on the distribution of modal auxiliaries in medical texts, per main verb, in active constructions, and on the division of auxiliaries between epistemic and root modalities (deontic and dynamic) in recipe texts, surgical texts, and medical periodicals. The study looks into certainty of knowledge and the normativity of medical writing as reflected in the use of modal auxiliaries. It is assumed that the three medical text categories attest to differing patterns of use of modal auxiliaries and that the variation is indicative of the communicative purpose of each category.