Abstract
This thesis is concerned with a number of constructions featuring u7 有 ‘have’ in Taiwanese Southern Min (henceforth TSM), including adjectives formed by u7 有 + bare N, simple habitual constructions as well as plurational middles (Lien 2006). It aims to tease out the common thread that links the various uses of u7 有 and to show that semantic extension is properly accounted for by taking into consideration construction types in addition to lexical properties, based on the assumptions of construction grammar (Fillmore et al. 1988, Goldberg 1995, 2003, Jackendoff 1997, and Lien 2002). The diverse senses of u7 有 are also examined from the perspective of grammaticalization and shown to represent different stages of one and the same grammaticalization chain (Hopper and Traugott 1993, Bybee, Perkins, and Pagliuca 1994 and Heine 1997). The conceptual structure of u7 有 in TSM is established as coding the relation where the existence of an object bearing the thematic role of content concerns the subject referent bearing the thematic role of experiencer or location. It is defined in terms of a finite set of semantic features, stativeness and atelicity in particular. The notions of genericity and unbounded plurality enable us to capture the commonality among three unique constructions featuring u7 有, viz. adjectives formed by u7 有 + bare N, simple habitual constructions and plurational middles, exemplified in Tiunn1-e chin1 u7 keng1-giam7 張个真有經驗 ‘John is very experienced’, Tiunn1-e u7 (ti7) chiah8 hun1 張个有(佇)食薰 ‘John smokes’, and Chit4 khoann2 sann1 chin1 u7-chheng7 此款衫真有穿 ‘These clothes are quite durable’ respectively. In addition, we have made clear that the two sentence types, exemplified by Tiunn1-e tsau2 u7 sann1-kang1 a 張个走有三工阿 ‘It’s been three days since John left’ and Tiunn1-e kin1-ninn5 chiah4 than3-u7 chinn5 張个今年才趁有錢 ‘John hasn’t made a profit until this year’, instantiate separate construction templates, i.e. XP, [u7 有 + Measure Phrase] and NP + Vt + u7 有 + (complement), but have long been mistaken as close counterparts. Moreover, the semantic extensions of u7 有 are reconsidered from a grammaticalization perspective. They are shown to be intimately related and in fact represent different stages of one and the same grammaticalization chain from possession to modality (and to affix). The discussion of a wide range of constructions featuring u7 有 supports the view that semantic extension goes along with the ways in which lexical properties of a given word interact with the construction templates it takes on and that a construction-based approach to semantic analysis helps to attain a simplified lexical description as well as a unified account of lexical polysemy.