Abstract
This paper presents a lexical and constructional perspective of bong2 'might as well' in Taiwanese Southern Min (TSM). It captures semantic and pragmatic dimensions evoked by bong2 in terms of a contrast of text proposition and context proposition as well as a scalar model (Fillmore et al, and Kay 1990 & 1997). There are two major types of complex constructions carrying concessive meaning: (1) bong2 in the main clause, and (2) X - bong2 -X in the subordinate clause, each with specific meanings of its own. Besides its concessive reading bong2 is used as a downtoner in understatement. The co-occurrence restriction of bong2 with verbs exhibits the features of its construction as a pairing of meaning and form. The concessive function of bong2 is foreshadowed in Li Jing Ji (1566 A.D.), a sixteenth century Southern Min script of a play.