Re-Assessing Modalising Expressions

The modal system of English in its development provides an ideal perspective on language variation and change. Since the sociocultural and socio-historical situation in specific postcolonial communities promotes diversity among New Englishes, it is likely to also affect their modal systems. In this paper, we seek to identify patterns in the use of modalising expressions in Hong Kong English in relation to topic, genre and the larger socio-historical context. Our diachronic study of the frequency