POSTVERBAL SECONDARY PREDICATE IN TAIWANESE
Huei-Ling Lin
Resultative, descriptive, and extent constructions are three postverbal secondary predicates in Taiwanese. They all involve the use of -kah and appear similar on the surface. However, this paper proposes that the underlying structures of each of the three types of predicate show marked differences in terms of scope of modification, passivization, and word order. Resultative constructions are proposed to be complements subcategorized for by V-kah, and they are predicated of either the subject or object of the main clause. Descriptive constructions are adverbial phrases attached to V', and they modify the head verb. As for extent constructions, not exactly modifying any particular element, they denote ‘pure’ extent reading and have the structure of a clause attached to VP.
