| Summary: | 博士 === 國立清華大學 === 語言學研究所 === 101 === In this dissertation we aim to build a positive relationship between the emergence of deontic modal verbs and the effect of subjectification (Langacker 1990 and Traugott 1989) through the exploration of diachronic and synchronic materials of Southern Min. While researchers interested in the effect of subjectification in the process of modal emergence tend to emphasize on the evolution from deontic to epistemic modals (e.g. Sweetser 1990), we focus on the effect of subjectification, i.e. the subjective semantic-pragmatic factors, in the emergence of deontic modals.
Three deontic modals are discussed in this dissertation, and all of them are quite new compared to other deontic modals in the history in Southern Min. The three of them are obligative modal tioh8, obligative modal ai3, and permissive modal e7-sai2 (-tit4) or e7-ing7(-tit4). To emerge those deontic modals, the premodals must acquire the decisive semantic force, annotated as [FORCE], of the deontic modals. The [FORCE] of the former two modals tioh8 and ai3 is donated by verbs which allow three arguments in underlying semantics and sometimes in overt syntax; contrastively, the [FORCE] of the permissive modal construction is projected by the infixed base verb which is assumed to raise from the lower structural position to incorporate with the postverbal modal tit4.
Based on Talmy (2000), the [FORCE] of the premodals can be preserved in the later-developed deontic modals because premodal with [FORCE] and deontic modals are conceptually similar, and during the evolution what is changed is not the [FORCE] itself but the representation of the [FORCE]. For premodals the [FORCE] is expressed through the interaction between CAUSER and CAUSEE, while for deontic modals, the [FORCE] changes to show the interaction between the speaker and the grammatical subject. That is to say, where the [FORCE] applies changes from semantic domain to semantic-pragmatic domain. The change of application domain proves that emergence of deontic modals is motivated by the effect of subjectification.
There are two implications given from the findings above. First, deontic modals are not only the ‘objective’ counterpart of epistemic modals, but also the subjective counterparts of their premodals. The consequence of this assumption is that the whole modal system of a given language is built along a continuous cognitive continuum based on the degree of being subjectivized, and modals within the modal system are not discrete items, but are categorized with fuzzy boundaries and may interact with each other in feature composition or in evolution. Second, from the emergence of deontic modals in Southern Min it is proved that the application domains of the meaning components can extend from pure semantic to semantic-pragmatic without changing the original interactive relationship. In other words, the semantic contents of the premodals are not canceled during grammaticalization, but change in their ways of representation to enhance the acquired pragmatic expressivity (Lehmann 1985).
In this dissertation, we set out to explore the relationship between subjectivity and the emergence of deontic modal based on empirical datum. The result of this study shows that at least in Southern Min, the emergence of deontic modal verbs is positively related with the degree of subjectification. In other words, similar to the emergence of epistemic modals, the emergence of deontic modals is also motivated and influenced by semantic-pragmatic factors. This makes all modals within a modal system constitute a continuum, along which all modals can be motivated to change under the impact of similar subjective factors.
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