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Part of
New Explorations in Chinese Theoretical Syntax: Studies in honor of Yen-Hui Audrey Li
Edited by Andrew Simpson
[Linguistik Aktuell/Linguistics Today 272] 2022
► pp. 479–508

Non-veridical kaN in Taiwanese Southern Min

| National Sun Yat-sen University
| Academia Sinica

In the study of kaN (敢gan3 in Mandarin Chinese written form) in Taiwanese Southern Min, previous studies have largely focused on the interrogative kám sentences. This paper, however, shows a comprehensive picture when taking into consideration of the allomorph kánn in declarative sentences, and the diachronic development of kaN. Specifically, we propose that kaN functions as a non-veridical operator, whose clause type feature needs to be valued in IntP, thus deriving either a [+Q] (kám) or [-Q] (kánn) sentence. Moreover, various kaN sentence types are derived contingent on the interface criteria: (i) syntax (clause type feature valuation), (ii) inquisitive semantics of kaN: the epistemic use of kánn and sī ‘be’, and (iii) speaker’s intentionality/supposition in the speech act domain.

Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.KaN
    • 2.1The development of kaN
    • 2.2KaN as a non-veridical operator
      • 2.2.1Island sensitivity
      • 2.2.2Intervention effect
  • 3.A modal analysis of sī
    • 3.1Assertion of a proposition vs. assertion of a proposition’s truth
    • 3.2Nonveridical equilibrium
  • 4.Syntax-pragmatics interface
  • 5.Summary
  • Acknowledgments
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 13 April 2022
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/la.272.17shy
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