Investigating the Syntax of Postverbal Modals in Hakka

Abstract

客語動後模態詞，tet「得」，有別於典型模態句式呈現獨特的動後語序，造成語言內部分歧；同時也引起理論層次的問題，即超乎普遍基底假說(Universal Base Hypothesis, Cinque 1997)的預測。再者就模態性(modality)而論，動後模態句展現了「模態光譜」(the spectrum of modality)，下從辭彙層的能願情態、上致曲折層的義務情態。本文利用製圖理論(Cartographic Approach, Rizzi 1997, Cinque 1999) 探討其句法語義特質，並從比較語法的角度切入，以廣泛了解動後模態現象。動後模態結構一如典型模態句，模態詞組居於動詞組之上，表層的動後語序則是肇因於詞法要求，驅動動詞移位或者輕動詞架接，而這兩者都可以從被動式、處置式和副詞修飾範域等現象得到驗證。本文藉由客語動後模態詞研究配合跨語言比較，補捉模態詞句法語義的對應關係，以及功能詞之間的互動現象。

This paper presents a syntactic account for the odd distribution of the postverbal modal element, tet, in Sixian Hakka, an SVO language in which a modal auxiliary precedes the main verb. Inspired by the cartographic approach (Cinque 1999, Rizzi 1997), I propose that the modal element tet patterns with regular modals in being syntactically higher than the VP, and the surface form is derived to satisfy the morphonological requirement of tet via either Move (of V-raising) or Merge (with the light verb zo ‘do’). Three types of tet sentences show the spectrum of modality across functional projections (Tsai 2010). Furthermore, the present analysis can explain the asymmetries of the three types of tet in the passivization and disposal construals as well as the interaction with certain adverbials. Finally, I compare tet with Cantonese dak (Cheng and Sybesma 2004), to achieve a broader cross-dialectal perspective. This analysis provides a better understanding of the mapping between syntax and semantics.