On the Apparent Complementizer Use of Postverbal khuann in Taiwanese Southern Min

Abstract

This paper looks at sentences involving the apparent complementizer use of khuann in Taiwanese Southern Min from a generative perspective. I show that, unlike typical complementizers, postverbal khuann does not display selectional restrictions with its preceding predicate and is not constrained in terms of ordering among complementizers. I further suggest khuann is not a complementizer but a lexical verb that resides in a conjunct of the conjunction structure.

本研究從生成語法的角度探討台灣閩南語中 khuann 字具貌似補語連詞用法的句型。文中指出此種動後 khuann 與典型補語連詞不同，除與其前謂語不具選擇限制外，亦不遵守補語連詞常見之排序約束。本研究進一步論證此類 khuann 並非是補語連詞，而是處於並列結構內之詞彙動詞。