‘Good’ Is ‘Possible’: A Case Study of the Modal Uses of ‘Good’ in Shaoxing

Abstract

This paper sets out to investigate the modal uses of the lexeme hɒ3 ‘good’ in the Jidong Shaoxing variety of Wu and to reconstruct its grammaticalization pathway. Modal meanings of hɒ3 include circumstantial possibility, deontic possibility and necessity, and epistemic possibility. These meanings can be summarized as ‘can’, ‘may’, and ‘should’, respectively. The modal meanings of hɒ3 are derived from its meaning of ‘fit to’ rather than ‘good’. We propose here that hɒ3 first extended to express circumstantial possibility, and then further extended to denote deontic modality and participant-internal possibility in two separate directions: (i) circumstantial possibility > deontic modality, and (ii) circumstantial possibility > participant-internal possibility. The epistemic use of hɒ3 is proposed as the final stage of the lexeme’s modal extension.