The status of the particle -der (-dyr) as an indicator of the modal evidential system of the Tatar language

The interaction of the epistemic modality category (assessment of the reliability of statements) with grammatically expressed evidential meaning systems (for example, the Tatar language) is of particular interest. Our task is to determine the status of particle - der, with its variant - ter, in the Tatar language as a means of expressing the morphological categories of modality and evidentiality. There are different points of view on the relationship between modality and evidentiality - from full recognition of their differentiation to the adjacency of the two categories or their intersection. The markers of the reportive access to information do not always express modality. According to the concept of the two categories adjacency, epistemic modality is associated with the inference way of getting information. Certain evidential meanings show the modal nature. The indicators of indirect access to information often get the value of epistemic uncertainty, which is one of the most common strategies to use modal evidential indicators. According to the traditional view, written in The Grammar of the Tatar Language, it is believed that the Tatar language has a special present tense which is formed by particle - der and expresses a certain degree of information reliability. Most modern scientists also qualify this particle as modal. However, this evidential marker does not always express the modal meaning. In this paper the following provisions are used: 1. Particle - der has the epistemic modality meaning. 2. Particle - der can be attached to any part of speech. 3. Particle - der can express only evidential meaning in appropriate contexts. Examples are taken from texts of the spiritual content published in calendars. They show that particle - der can function as non-modal. Thus, we prove the possibility of the "purely" evidential use of the given particle. The possibility of its modal functioning permits to recognize the modal evidential system of the Tatar language as moralized. Supporting V.A. Plungian's concept, the authors characterize the evidential system of the Tatar language as follows: 1) the indicator of indirect access to information receives secondary meanings of epistemic modality; 2) the indicator of indirect access to information acquires the meaning of epistemic unreliability - epistemic modality; 3) the unmarked form is contrasted with a form which has a wide range of evidential and modal meanings of epistemic modality due to particle - der (- dyr).

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