Abstract
Fuzhou Negatives：Morphosyntactic and Semantic AnalysisSzu-I Sylvia YuGraduate Institute of LinguisticsNational Tsing Hua UniversityAbstract The thesis studies the Negatives in Fuzhou Dialect, the major dialect in Min-Dong area. The morphological phenomenon, the relation between forms and grammatical functions, and the unique semantic categories are the foci. In general, there are five negatives in Fuzhou Dialect: 唔[iN55], 袂[ma242], 無[mo53], 未[mui242] and 莫[m??24]. Each of them displays unique features in constructions and encodes peculiar meanings in lexicalization. First of all, 唔 is the most often-seen negative in this dialect. When occurring with verbs, as in唔去[No31](not go), it negates the subjective intentions, whereas, when lexicalized, as in 唔是[ne242](be not)/唔是形[ni44 hiN53](ill-mannered), the expressions denote judgments or comments. Second, 袂, a portmanteau morph, fuses a negative marker and a modal verb 會[a242] (means “capable/possible”). It indicates the impossibility of doing something (epistemic or deontic modal), e.g.袂來[li53](not come) shows the impossibility of coming, and denies properties in objects, e.g.袂開車[khui33 tshia33](cannot drive) means the incapability of driving, 袂像樣[tshuoN53 NuoN242] (ill-mannered) indicates the judgment of improper behaviors, and袂中意 [tyN53 Ei31] (not desirable) describes a mental state. Third, 無 negates the occurrence of the events (perfective aspect) and the possession or the existence, as in 我無行李[Nuai33 mo31 hiN33 li33 ](I have no luggage), 無味[Ei242](tasteless). 無also shows the habitual aspectual meaning, as in 無食薰 [sie24 hoN44](do not smoke). Fourth, 未negates the state-changing, such as未熟[sy24](not ripe yet), or expresses the irrealis events (viz., the event that has not been realized yet), as in未看[khaN31](have not seen yet). Last, 莫is used exclusively in the imperative, e.g.莫啼[thiE53](Do not cry). Aside from occurring alone, 唔and 袂 can combine with verbs to form the complex-negatives, as in唔通(should not/may not), and 袂使(should not/may not). They are used as deontic modal verbs showing an inhibition. First of all, in the thesis, we start the discussion by explaining the different functions of negatives in Logic and Linguistics, and the brief introduction of the characteristic phonological phenomena in Fuzhou Dialect as the background knowledge. Then, the body of the thesis is divided into two parts. The first part deals mainly with the morphosyntactic properties and the semantic features of each negative in question. The distinction between “word-formation” and “phrasal-formation” is the core issue in this part. Moreover, the combinations of negatives and three verbal constructions are also analyzed in order to ascertain the status of the negative as an independent word or an insertion or an affix in different construction combinations. The second part deals with the meanings that negatives contribute (or encode) when they interact with other elements in the sentences. The discussion includes the aspectual meanings, the difference between epistemic / deontic modality and the mood.