泰語比較句之句法語意研究

On the Syntax and Semantics of Thai Comparatives

吳承勳(Cheng-Shiun Wu)

指導教授 ： 謝易達

國立清華大學/人文社會學院/語言學研究所/碩士(2020年)

摘要

本論文探討一類帶有程度引介詞(standard marker)語素「kwàa」的泰語比較句。這類比較句可以進一步細分成兩種子類，兩種子類的差別在於句子當中是否出現另一個語素「thîi」：無「thîi」的子類稱作「kwàa-比較句」，在此類比較句中，出現在kwàa後的成分類似於限定詞詞組(DP)；有「thîi」的的子類稱作「kwàa-thîi-比較句」，在此類比較句中，出現在kwàa-thîi後面的結構成分則類似子句。

本研究的第一部分討論kwàa-比較句的結構。在約束現象(binding effect)以及與量化詞的轄域關係的證據支持下，本文主張在泰語kwàa-比較句中，kwàa後面的結構成分實際上類似子句，因此大過於其表層形式的限定詞詞組。據此，本文提出以傳統比較句研究的「刪略分析」之法來分析此類句型的結構相對合適。此外，本文指出這一類比較句當中缺乏「次比較刪略(sub-deletion)」的現象可以從Hsieh (2017)對於中文比較句刪略的分析來解釋。

本研究的第二部分討論kwàa-thîi-比較句的結構和語意。本文指出類似於thîi出現在其他關係子句的用法，kwàa後面的結構成分可以當作是一個帶有隱藏的中心語的關係子句。本文採取Jenks (2014)的分析，將thîi視為標句詞(complementizer)，其在語意上功能為述語抽象化(predicate abstraction)。因此，程度引介詞kwàa的補語可能是完整的標句詞詞組，或者是限定詞/名詞詞組帶有一個隱藏的代表程度的中心語。

關鍵字

泰語 ； 比較句 ； 比較句刪略 ； 次比較刪略 ； 縮減分析

並列摘要

In this thesis, I investigate Thai comparative sentences with the morpheme kwàa, which has been seen as a standard marker. There are two types of such comparative sentences depending the presence of another morpheme thîi. In this study, the one without the presence of thîi is termed kwàa-comparative, as the constituent that follows kwàa appears as a DP on the surface; on the other hand, the one with thîi is termed kwàa-thîi-comparative, and the constituent that follows kwàa thîi may be clause-like.

The first part concerns structure of Thai kwàa-comparatives; Given the evidence from binding effects and scope interactions between quantifiers, I suggest that in a Thai kwàa-comparative, the post-kwàa constituent in fact is clause-like and hence is larger than a DP. Therefore, a deletion-based account of comparatives (e.g., Bhatt and Takahashi 2011; Merchant 2009) fares better in characterizing the structure of this type of comparative sentences. Furthermore, I show that the lack of sub-deletion in this type of comparative may be accounted for with Hsieh’s (2017) feature-based analysis of comparative deletion in Mandarin, which is built on the idea that the unvalued T-feature carried by the embedded adjective cannot be elided at PF (Hsieh 2017).

The second part of this thesis concerns the kwàa-thîi-comparative. I first show that given the presence of thîi, which also appears in a relative clause, the post-kwàa constituent in this type of comparative may be seen as a relative clause with a covert nominal head. Following Jenks (2014), I see thîi as a complementizer, which semantically functions as a predicate abstractor. The complement of the standard marker kwàa hence can be a full-fledged CP or a DP/NP with a covert degree-denoting nominal head.

並列關鍵字

Thai ； Comparative construction ； Comparative deletion ； Sub-deletion ； Reduction Analysis

參考文獻

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