Abstract
The paper examines verbs of saying ( serh 4 ,tann 3 and kong 2 )in Li Jing Ji a sixteenth century Southern Min play script, in terms of construction types. We draw a distinction between four major construction types and the use of verbs of saying in set expressions. The major concern is to study how the semantic roles of Speaker, Addressee and Message are selectively realized in each construction type. We argue that a great measure of simplicity can be attained in the representation of a speech event by distinguishing compositional construction types and set expressions. © 2011 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden.