Abstract
This study is intended to discuss the semantic derivations and limitations of A-not-A questions in Taiwan Southern Min, focusing on the system of negative auxiliary verbs. In his study of the syntactic construction of A-not-A questions in Taiwan Southern Min, Lin (1975) has listed out types of affirmative and negative auxiliary verbs in this Taiwanese dialect. Between affirmative and negative auxiliary verbs in A-not-A questions in Taiwan Southern Min, there exists an interrogative scope, as in a0 li2 he1 cioh8 thau5 beh4 be7 bo0? “Will you sell those stones or not?” In our study, we have observed an asymmetry between affirmative and negative auxiliary verbs. More specifically, the negative auxiliary verb bo5 “not have” is not restricted to the affirmative auxiliary verb u7 “have.” It can also be used with other affirmative auxiliary verbs, such as e7 “be able to,” beh4 “will,” etc. Additionally, we have also found several negative compound words in our data, such as u7 bo5 “have or not,” si7 m7 “yes or no,” etc., which further indicate the releasing restrictions on the negative auxiliary verb bo5 “not have.” This study consists of six chapters. Chapter 1 is the introduction. Chapter 2 reviews previous studies on A-not-A questions. Chapter 3 discusses the construction and types of A-not-A questions in Taiwan Southern Min, particularly focusing on affirmative and negative auxiliary verbs. Chapter 4 discusses the interrogative scope and syntactic and semantic characteristics of A-not-A question in Taiwan Southern Min. We also adopt the construction grammar to analyze A-not-A questions in this dialect. Chapter 5 discusses the asymmetry between affirmative and negative auxiliary verbs. Finally, Chapter 6 concludes the findings in this study.