Multiple modality is spread across the wider Atlantic region, both within individual varieties and across variety types. Based on corpus-based evidence, it is argued that first and second tiers of multiple modals carry high diagnostic value and that regionally separated Anglophone areas differ in their preference for first- and second-tier components in modal constructions. Semantics is a diagnostic typologically as there exists a continuum, the “Multiple Modal Belt,” which consists of three main clusters that are primarily differentiated by their respective compositional preferences: North American varieties favor epistemic ‘weak probability’ elements (~might) as first-tier modals, Caribbean varieties ‘high probability’ or ‘certainty’ (~must). Multiple causation and contact-induced change are offered as explanations for supra- and sub-regional variation in the Atlantic region, and there is strong evidence that the preference for second-tier components originally represented Scottish origin and subsequent diffusion with locally differing contact scenarios. Locally distinct preferences for semantic compositionality – particularly based on preference for first-tier ‘high-probability’ modals – are used to model a geo-typological clustering of varieties throughout the wider Atlantic region.

中文翻译：

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泛大西洋的“多模式带”？

多种模式分布在更广泛的大西洋地区，包括单个品种和品种类型。基于基于语料库的证据，有人认为多模态的第一层和第二层具有很高的诊断价值，并且区域分离的英语地区在模态结构中对第一层和第二层组件的偏好不同。语义学上是一种诊断类型，因为存在一个连续统一体，即“多模态带”，它由三个主要集群组成，主要通过各自的成分偏好进行区分：北美品种首先偏好认知“弱概率”元素（~可能） -tier modals，加勒比海品种“高概率”或“确定性”（~必须）。多重因果关系和接触引起的变化被用来解释大西洋地区的超区域和次区域变化，并且有强有力的证据表明，对第二层成分的偏好最初代表了苏格兰起源，随后随着当地不同接触情景的扩散。局部不同的语义组合偏好——特别是基于对第一层“高概率”模态的偏好——被用来模拟整个大西洋地区的品种的地理类型聚类。