Cover not available
Article published In:
International Journal of Chinese Linguistics
Vol. 10:2 (2023) ► pp.181–219

The ho-V construction in Taiwanese Southern Min and the degree-introducing morpheme ho and u

| National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University

In this study, I first provide an in-depth study on the TSM ho-V construction with a monosyllabic V, especially on the morpho-syntactic function and the degree-introducing function of the morpheme ho ‘hoVD’. Then, based on Liu’s (2020) study on the TSM u-V construction, I comprehensively compare these two constructions, which reaches two major points. First, the ho-V sequence and the u-V sequence are intransitive compound verb. The V that u ‘uVD’ merges with can be a lexical verb or an aspectual verb; however, the V that ho ‘hoVD’ merges with must be a lexical verb. When forming a compound verb with a lexical verb, u ‘uVD’ has the same morpho-syntactic function as ho ‘hoVD’. Second, these two morphemes differ in how to introduce the degree meaning for their corresponding construction. Namely, the dimension of measurement carried by the measure function introduced by u ‘uVD’ is determined by what is measured; however, the morpheme ho ‘hoVD’ intrinsically carries a dimension of measurement. Depending on what the morpheme ho ‘hoVD’ modifies is the entity denoted by the subject in question or the eventuality argument of V, the dimension of measurement carried by it can be interpreted as ‘be good for one to V’ or ‘it is easy for one to V’.

Keywords: compound verb, degree-introducing function, dimension of measurement, measure function, monotonicity, morpho-syntactic function
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.A revisit to the Taiwanese Southern Min ho-V construction
    • 2.1The syntactic and semantic properties of the ho-V construction
    • 2.2Previous studies: Lien (2010) and Lien (2019)
  • 3.A proposal for the Taiwanese Southern Min ho-V construction
    • 3.1A nutshell of the analysis
    • 3.2The exemplification of the analysis
  • 4.Two degree-introducing morphemes in Taiwanese Southern Min
    • 4.1The Taiwanese Southern Min u-V construction: Liu (2020)
    • 4.2The similarities and differences between ho and u
      • 4.2.1The similarities
      • 4.2.2The differences
  • 5.Concluding remarks
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 15 December 2023
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/ijchl.00014.liu
References (21)
Ackema, P., & Schoorlemmer, M.
(2006) Middles. In M. Everaert, H. van Riemsdijk, R. Goedemans & B. Hollerbrandse (Eds.), The Blackwell companion to syntax, volume III1 (pp. 131–203). Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Beck, S.
(2005) There and back again: A semantic analysis. Journal of Semantics 22(1), 3–51. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Bohnemeyer, J., & Swift, M.
(2001) Default aspect: The semantic interaction of aspectual viewpoint and telicity. Proceedings of Perspectives on Aspect, Utrecht Institute of Linguistics. [URL]
Bowers, J.
(2018) Deriving syntactic relations. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Chappell, H. M.
(1989) The grammatical category of aspect in Southern Min: Preverbal coding of aspect in Min-Xiamen. In K. Burridge & S. Graham (Eds.), La Trobe Working Papers in Linguistics 21, 113–127.Google Scholar
Chierchia, G.
(1989) A semantics for unaccusatives and its syntactic consequences. Unpublished manuscript, Cornell University. [URL]
Dayal, V.
(2011) Bare noun phrases. In K. von Heusinger, C. Maienborn & P. Portner (Eds.), Semantics: An international handbook of natural language meaning. Volume 21 (pp. 1088–1108). Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton.Google Scholar
Dowty, D.
(1991) Thematic proto-roles and argument selection. Language 67(4), 547–619. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Huang, C.-T. J.
(2007) Hànyŭ dòngcí de tíyuán jiégòu yŭ qí jùfă biăoxiàn (Thematic structures of verbs in Chinese and their syntactic projections). Yŭyán Kexué 2007(4), 3–21.Google Scholar
Lai, C.-H.
(2007) On the predicative use of Taiwanese u-V adjectives. MA. Thesis, National Chiao Tung University.
Li, H.-C.
(1950) Fújiànhuà xùshuō (A grammar of the Ho-lo dialect of the Chinese language]. Taipei: Nan-Fang Book Store.Google Scholar
Lien, C.-F.
(2010) Middles in Taiwanese Southern Min: The interface of lexical meaning and event structure. Lingua 120(5), 1273–1287. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2019) Formation and constraints of scalar structure in TSM. Paper presented at the 27th Annual Conference of International Association of Chinese Linguistics. Kobe City University of Foreign Studies, Kobe, Japan.
Lin, J.-W.
(2003) Temporal reference in Mandarin Chinese. Journal of East Asian Linguistics 12(3), 259–311. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Liu, C.-S. L.
(2020) A morpheme introducing degrees and its impact on argument structure: The Taiwanese Southern Min u . Glossa 371.1–40.Google Scholar
Reinhart, T.
(1996) Syntactic effects of lexical operations: Reflexives and unaccusatives. OTS Working papers in Linguistics, University of Utrecht. [URL]
Schwarzschild, R.
(2002) The grammar of measurement. In B. Jackson (Ed.), Proceedings of SALT XII1 (pp. 225–245). Ithaca, NY. Ithaca, NY: CLC Publications. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Tsao, F.-F.
(1998) Táiwān mĭnnányŭ zhōng yŭ shímào yŏuguān de yŭcí ‘Yŏu, ∅, a’ shìxī (On three aspect–related morphemes “U” “∅” “A”). Tsing Hua Journal of Chinese Studies. New Series 28(3), 299–334.Google Scholar
Wellwood, A.
(2015) On the semantics of comparison across categories. Linguistics and Philosophy 38(1), 67–101. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Yang, H.-F.
(1991) Táiwān mĭnnán yúfá găo (Taiwanese Southern Min grammar). Taipei: Ta-An Chubanshe.Google Scholar
Yoshimura, K., & Taylor, J. R.
(2004) What makes a good middle? The role of qualia in the interpretation and acceptability of middle expressions in English. English Language and Linguistics 8(2), 293–321. DOI logoGoogle Scholar