realis  (adj.)

In SEMANTICS, a term used in the study of EPISTEMIC MODALITY: in a realis (‘real’) assertion, a proposition is strongly asserted to be true, the speaker being ready to back up the assertion with evidence or argument. It is opposed to an irrealis (irr) (‘unreal’) assertion, where the proposition is weakly asserted to be true, but the speaker is not ready to support the assertion. Realis VERB forms include the past TENSE (‘X did Y’); irrealis forms include certain MODALS (‘X may do Y’). Realis ADVERBS include fortunately and sadly; irrealis adverbs include maybe and hopefully.