Đặc trưng ngữ nghĩa dựa vào sự đoán định của những kết ngôn giữa động từ phi thực hữu tri nhận và phó từ tình thái nhận thức

 I am quite 
sure about the truth or likelihood of P 
Minh Giang Thi Tran / Tạp chí Khoa học và Công nghệ Đại học Duy Tân 02(39) (2020) 96-105 101
speaker has to use inferential evidentials 
through a process of inference that bases on 
some information he has direct access before. 
With inferential modals, we often have a sub-
set of modals that refer to something ‘past-
oriented’ in that the situation referred to by the 
complement which is anterior (logically or 
temporally) to the judgement of modal 
expression. On the other hand, according to 
Hayakawa [5, 490] “An inference is the 
movement from premises to conclusion. 
Consequently, reasoning may be said to be the 
attempt to make valid inferences.” 
Inference seems to involve in not only 
knowledge reasoning but also perception. In 
fact, inference implies a transition from 
perception to knowledge. In inference, one 
arrives at some presumed knowledge by way of 
reasoning which takes as a point of departure of 
some empirical observation. The most 
commonly-used modal expressions showing 
this semantic feature are I think probably, I 
think maybe, I think perhaps, I guess maybe,  
in English. Let us take the following examples 
into consideration. 
(17) “I guess maybe directors see a face that 
seems to have been lived in. I know that my 
face has been lived in, yeah.” [26] 
(18) “Let's have another drink. I think 
perhaps Catherine's had enough,” [31, 139] 
(19) “I think probably the one trait that 
would concern me about brother Bing would be 
his lack of responsibility.” [14] 
(20)“How many crossroads are you allowed 
to have in life? I seem to have a lot of 
crossroads. I think maybe I crossed back across 
the same road too often.” [29] 
In (17) – (20), the speaker did not bother to 
specify the source of the presumed knowledge, 
leading the addressee to the thinking that there 
may be many things which underlie this 
knowledge. In (17), the speaker inferred 
directors’ decision of choosing him to play an 
important role in the film because they see his 
face has been lived in, which is quite dogmatic 
with only his thought. In (18), the speaker gave 
suggestion for another drink without Catherine 
because he realized Catherine’s being drunk 
with his/ her inference expressed by the pattern 
I think perhaps. In (19), with the pattern “I 
think probably”, the speaker showed the hearer 
his/ her anxiety about his/ her brother’s bad 
behavior, “his lack of responsibly” which the 
speaker found in Bing’s personality in the past. 
In (20), the speaker showed his deduction from 
his real life with a lot of crossroads each person 
is allowed to have and his inference with the 
pattern “I think maybe” displays that he guesses 
he crossed back across the same road too often 
thanks to his empirical observation. It means 
that he hasn’t found his way yet and maybe he 
hasn’t obtained anything new in his life. 
Thus, the semantic mechanism of the 
structure I + CNFV and EA collocations of 
inference can be stated in the following 
Figure 2. 
Minh Giang Thi Tran / Tạp chí Khoa học và Công nghệ Đại học Duy Tân 02(39) (2020) 96-105 102 
Figure 2. Formula of the structure I + CNFV and EA collocations expressing Inference 
In brief, in inference, the speaker mostly 
bases on his feelings or subjective induction in 
order to give the commitment to the proposition 
because he/she didn’t have enough foundation 
to assert the truth or falsity of the proposition. 
4.1.3. The Structure I + CNFV and EA 
Collocations Expressing Prediction 
Predictions are based on a certain premise, 
which may be a given situation, a general 
principle or even a hypothetical condition. 
Predictions are typically about the future and 
are seldom or never about the present or the 
past. On the other hand, with predictive modals 
we have a sub-set of modals that are ‘future – 
oriented’, in which the situation referred to by 
the complement is temporarily posterior or a 
posteriori verifiable. In fact, a posteriori 
verifiable can also be considered as the future 
likelihood of P. We have modal expressions to 
serve the semantic feature such as I suppose 
really, I just assume, I just hope . in English. 
(21) “...She made a great point of being so 
near the river, in case of a conflagration; I 
suppose really did find some satisfaction in that 
circumstance.” [19, 475] 
(22) “I think half the time I just assume I 
don't really know what I'm doing - you have to 
do that to a certain extent, but you don't have to 
think you're an idiot savant.” [21] 
(23)“I have searched all over school and I 
still hadn’t seen Mina! She’s also been avoiding 
my calls I just hope she isn’t skipping school 
again to work.” [23] 
In (21) and (22), the speaker gave the 
premises which would be perhaps true in the 
sense of the speaker’s prediction. Especially, 
some modes of the structure I + CNFV and EA 
collocations such as I suppose really, I just 
assume in English refer to the speaker’s 
possible judgements. Besides, these 
collocations also express the speaker’s tentative 
commitment based on his deduction like in 
(23). The expression “I just hope” shows that 
the speaker’s prediction that Mina is skipping 
school again. In addition to his prediction, there 
were no responses from her although the 
speaker tried to make contact with her. 
From the interpretation of these examples 
we can have the semantic formula of the 
cognitive members of prediction group like the 
Figure 3. 
By saying I + CNFV and EA inference 
collocations [P] 
I want you to know that I assume P is true 
P is likely to be true at some point in the past 
Evidence about P is related to the state-of-
affairs in the past 
Minh Giang Thi Tran / Tạp chí Khoa học và Công nghệ Đại học Duy Tân 02(39) (2020) 96-105 103 
Figure 3. Formula of the structure I + CNFV and EA collocations expressing Prediction 
Here is the summary of semantic features of the pattern I + CNFV and EA collocations (see 
Table 1 below). 
Table 1. Semantics features of the structure I + CNFV and EA collocations in English based on 
deduction 
Semantics features of I + CNFV and EA collocations based on 
deduction 
I + CNFV and EA 
collocations 
B
el
ie
f 
I say I + CNFV and EA collocations belief P 
1. Low certainty: 
 I want you to know that I am not sure of the 
likelihood of P. 
 P is just my own assumption. 
 P is less likely to be true. 
2. High certainty: 
 I want you to know that I am pretty sure of the 
likelihood of P 
 P is more likely to be true 
 P is self-evidence 
I just think, I rather think, I 
just believe, I rather 
believe 
I actually think 
I really think, I definitely 
think, I really believe, 
indeed I think, I certainly 
think 
In
fe
re
n
ce
 I say I + CNFV and EA collocations inference P 
 I want you to know that I assume P is true. 
 P is likely to be true at some point in the past. 
 evidence about P is related to the state-of-affairs in 
the past. 
I think perhaps, I think 
maybe, I guess maybe, I 
think probably, I guess 
really, I just guess 
By saying I + CNFV and EA prediction collocations [P] 
I perceive that the state of affair in the proposition may true 
at some point in the future time 
I think that if my perception is true then my saying has to be 
true 
I assume I can say that I know the content in the proposition 
is true because of my prediction 
I say this because I want to say what I think I have come to 
know 
Minh Giang Thi Tran / Tạp chí Khoa học và Công nghệ Đại học Duy Tân 02(39) (2020) 96-105 104 
Semantics features of I + CNFV and EA collocations based on 
deduction 
I + CNFV and EA 
collocations 
P
re
d
ic
ti
o
n
I say I + CNFV and EA collocations prediction P 
 I want you to know that I assume P is true. 
 P is likely to be true at some point in the future. 
 Evidence about P is related to the state-of-affairs in 
the future. 
 If P is true, P can be pleasant/ desirable. 
 If P is true, P can be unpleasant/undesirable. 
I suppose really, I just 
assume, I just hope, I think 
possibly 
4.2. Frequency of the Structure I + CNFV and 
EA Collocations Showing in Belief, Inference 
and Prediction 
In the study of semantics of the structure I + 
CNFV and EA collocations based on deduction, 
we carried out an investigation of 715 English 
samples collected from English short stories, 
novels and online materials like e-books, as 
well as online utterances spoken by English 
people were collected by accessing the websites 
Brainy Quotes. In spite of containing the same 
CNFV and EA collocations, some English 
utterances have different meanings based on the 
contexts that make these collocations change 
from perception to cognition. Therefore, 
semantics of the pattern I + CNFV and EA 
collocations based on deduction is an 
interesting illustration. Look at Table 2, we can 
see the different frequencies of three elements: 
belief, inference, and prediction. 
Table 2. Frequency of the structure I + CNFV and EA collocations in Belief, Inference, and 
Prediction 
Deduction Occurrence % 
Belief 435 60.83 
Inference 98 13.7 
Prediction 182 25.45 
Total 715 100 
With the frequency of 60.83%, belief occurs 
most in communication by English people. The 
collocations such as I really think, I definitely 
think, I really believe, I just believe, I just 
think appear more often than others because 
of language users’ habit. On the contrary, the 
elements inference and prediction are in use 
with lower rates at only 13,7% and 25.45%, 
which indicate that English people seldom use 
the pattern I + CNFV and EA collocations to 
express inference and prediction in 
communication. 
5. Conclusion 
With the semantic features based on 
deduction of the structure I + CNFV and EA 
collocations mentioned above, we can see the 
importance of the structure in communication. 
It is impossible to use the English structure 
effectively without mastering its semantic 
features based on deduction which are used for 
specific communication purposes such as 
belief, inference, and prediction. In addition, 
from the results on the frequency of the 
structure I + CNFV and EA collocations in 
three above-mentioned semantic features, we 
can see that the structure I + CNFV and EA 
collocations expressing belief is used the most. 
In brief, good knowledge of the semantic 
features of the structure I + CNFV and EA 
collocations will help learners of English and 
Minh Giang Thi Tran / Tạp chí Khoa học và Công nghệ Đại học Duy Tân 02(39) (2020) 96-105 105 
even native speakers of English use them more 
effectively in communication. I hope this paper 
will give readers some new findings on the 
structure I + CNFV and EA collocations in 
semantics and the study will open many 
interesting questions on modality to next 
researchers. 
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