Modality markers: are the Basque modal particles really modal particles?

This work critically analyses the particles that are usually considered modal in Bascology, considering their separate behaviour in comparison to the elements that typologically have received the same denomination. For this, two morphosyntactic properties have been analysed: a) if they must merge with another component and b) if they can appear in embedded contexts. As for Basque, I have concluded that traditional modal particles (ahal, bide, ei, omen and ote) behave as enclitic modal markers. However, others function in a similar way to the prototypical modal particles, specifically morphologically independent speech act operators: bada, baina, berriz, gero, ordea and eastern ote.