The ho-V construction in Taiwanese Southern Min and the degree-introducing morpheme ho and u

Abstract

In this study, I first provide an in-depth study on the TSM ho-V construction with a monosyllabic V, especially on the morpho-syntactic function and the degree-introducing function of the morpheme ho ‘hoVD’. Then, based on Liu’s (2020) study on the TSM u-V construction, I comprehensively compare these two constructions, which reaches two major points. First, the ho-V sequence and the u-V sequence are intransitive compound verb. The V that u ‘uVD’ merges with can be a lexical verb or an aspectual verb; however, the V that ho ‘hoVD’ merges with must be a lexical verb. When forming a compound verb with a lexical verb, u ‘uVD’ has the same morpho-syntactic function as ho ‘hoVD’. Second, these two morphemes differ in how to introduce the degree meaning for their corresponding construction. Namely, the dimension of measurement carried by the measure function introduced by u ‘uVD’ is determined by what is measured; however, the morpheme ho ‘hoVD’ intrinsically carries a dimension of measurement. Depending on what the morpheme ho ‘hoVD’ modifies is the entity denoted by the subject in question or the eventuality argument of V, the dimension of measurement carried by it can be interpreted as ‘be good for one to V’ or ‘it is easy for one to V’.