Abstract
This thesis investigates the semantic ambiguity and syntax of the predicate [V u/bo NP] configuration in Taiwanese Southern Min. Semantically the sentence involving the [V u/bo NP] construction is ambiguous between a generic reading and an episodic reading, and we propose that its being generic or episodic is determined by the referential/non-referential interpretation of the associated postverbal noun phrase: the sentence is generic if and only if the postverbal noun phrase is interpreted as non-referential, and the sentence is episodic if and only if the postverbal noun phrase is interpreted as referential. We further provide five principles to pin down the referentiality of the postverbal noun phrase with respect to the predicate [V u/bo NP] construction. Syntactically we will show that the predicate [V u/bo NP] is not a resultative verbal compound (Huang 2003, Wang 2008). Instead, based on Lin (2001), we argue that the predicate [V u/bo NP] is a phrasal structure composed of two VP layers, where the higher V is headed by the light verb DO and that the lower V is headed by the light verb GET.
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