Is "wanna/want to" becoming a semi-modal?
wanna modal?
I don't think so. It is negated like a normal verb, by placing "don't" before it, not like a modal verb, for which you place "not" after it.
No, I would agree with MollyB - it would be classed as a quasimodal, like "have to", "be going to", "have got to", and so on....
I wanna go.
I wanna not go.
You wanna go?
You wana not go?
It works modally.
I wanna not go.
You wanna go?
You wana not go?
It works modally.
why there is no shorter form for NEED TO (needa?)
I needa go.
I don't needa go.
You needa go?
You don't needa go?
I needa go.
I don't needa go.
You needa go?
You don't needa go?
There is but it just isn't written so. It never came to the speakers in the whim.
Isn't wanna still conjugated in the third person singular:
I wanna go.
He ?wantsta? go.
Does this disqualify it as a modal?
I wanna go.
He ?wantsta? go.
Does this disqualify it as a modal?
The term is "quasimodal" - it is not a classical present-preterite modal, but it still has a modal-like grammaticalized function nonetheless.
<Does this disqualify it as a modal? >
Don't forget I said "is it becoming a semi-modal". I didn't say it was one.
Don't forget I said "is it becoming a semi-modal". I didn't say it was one.