Abstract

My thesis mainly explores the multifunction of polysemous Kong2 in Taiwanese Southern Min in syntactic, semantic and even pragmatic dimensions. In this paper, Kong2 function as verbs, complementizers, adverbs, and particles in syntax and even a discourse marker in different pragmatic context. Besides, each part of speech will derive its own meanings from the original verbal meaning ‘to say’.

I use construction grammar and grammaticalization to analyze my data which ties in with investigating its meaning and pragmatics. Kong2 originally a verb of saying generates the use of being a complementizer, an adverb and a particle. Kong2, as a verb, can function as an intransitive verb, transitive verb or ditransitive verb which means telling, mentioning, criticizing/blaming, advising or quoting. As a sentence-initial adverb Kong2, it is not a VP adverb, but a proposional adverb ranging over the whole sentence. If Kong2 shows up in the sentence-final position and takes on the value of high-level tone, it is a sentence-final particle which is gradually grammaticalized into a discourse marker.

The complementizer Kong2 is the most important part in my thesis that it functions the same as the English complementizer ‘that’ or ‘if/whether’ in the declarative sentence or in the interrogative sentence. Semantically, kong2 can co-occur with many predicates including ‘psych’ predicates, ‘cognition’ predicates, ‘say’ predicates, ‘speech act’ predicates, ‘change of state’ predicates, among others. Syntactically, the complementizer Kong2 fits the constructions such as S + VK +CComp, S + Obl + OblO+ VK+ CComp, and S + VK + O + XComp. Moreover, it also expresses the evidentiality in the construction of the complementizer, such as tiann1 Kong2 ‘to hearsay’, siunn3 Kong2 ‘to infer,’ and so on. In a cross-linguistic research of verbs of saying, I find that TSM Kong2 and Hakka Kong3 are more productive complementizers than their counterparts Shuo1 and Waa6 in Mandarin and Cantonese in that they can co-occur with a greater number of predicates.

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