Interpreting 都 to ¹ TO in earlier Southern Min texts

Abstract

The paper explores the polyfunctional word 都 to ¹ TO in early Southern Min texts dating back to the sixteenth century or even earlier. Unlike 都 dou ¹ in Mandarin, which mainly functions as a maximality operator, 都 to ¹ in Southern Min is chiefly used as a modal particle expressing a concessive meaning or meaning of unexpectedness as a type of conventional implicature rather than pragmatic inference. However, it can be identified as expressing maximality and exhaustivity in construction with wh-words and negation. In a nutshell, the concessive sense is taken as the default sense unless it is overridden by the interpretation of 都 to ¹ as a maximality operator. I will examine the syntactic and semantic properties of 都 to ¹ based on these texts. Its interpretation hinges on the structural position it occupies and the collocates it interacts with.

1 Introduction

As attested in early Southern Min texts,¹ 都 to ¹ TO is mainly subject to two interpretations: (1) a concessive interpretation and (2) an interpretation of maximality and exhaustivity. The two interpretations are structure-driven. The concessive meaning is obtained by the conflict between the at-issue meaning of the sentence marked by 都 to ¹ and the presupposition or inferred meaning driven by the linguistic context.² The universal and distributive meaning induced by 都 to ¹ is only compatible with the plural meaning carried by noun phrases. Since the construction featuring 都 to ¹ is ambiguous between concessive and distributive meaning, we need some linguistic cues to disambiguate it. Let us assume that the concessive meaning is the default, unless the noun phrase constrained by 都 to ¹ is a determiner phrases with a plural quantifier. In this particular situation, 都 to ¹ would take on the distributive function and become a universal operator. The concessive meaning would be overridden if there was no linguistic cue to bring about a conflict between presuppositions of the word meaning and the at-issue expression. Since 都 to ¹ alone is potentially ambiguous between the concessive meaning and the interpretation of maximality and exhaustivity, my focus will be to pin down its exact meaning by examining the structural position it occupies in sentences. In addition to structural cues inside sentences, there is a need to draw on cross-sentential elements for pinning down the interpretation of 都 to ¹. Our strategy is to first identify the sentence-internal elements that 都 to ¹ co-occurs with. If there is a restrictor that 都 to ¹ binds, then it takes on the function of a maximality operator (Giannakidou and Cheng 2006; Cheng 2009). If there is a contradiction or incompatibility between the at-issue expression and a certain assumption or the presupposition inferable from a preceding proposition over and above the sense of exhaustivity and maximality, then 都 to ¹ will be construed as a modal particle featuring the concessive meaning. According to König (1988), concessive clauses involve incompatibility of two eventualities. Concessivity denotes conventional implicature arrived at based on the contradictory relation between the asserted part and presupposition in sentences.³ Cross-linguistic evidence points to five types of origins of concessives: (1) elements expressing emotions such as spite, obstinacy, and contempt, (2) free-choice quantifiers, (3) temporal or conditional connectives, (4) elements emphasizing truth, and (5) elements implying the coexistence of two facts. 都 to ¹ seems to belong to the second type of origin, as it features both a maximality operator and a concessive indicator. As will be argued in the following discussion, the interpretation of 都 to ¹ will rest on the interface between sentence-internal and cross-sentential elements especially when the concessive sense is involved.

The structure of the paper is organized as follows. We will first explore the sequence of 都 to ¹ + X (Section 2) where X may be the copula 是 si ⁷ (2.1), negatives (2.2), modals (2.3), agentive marker in passives (2.4), the aspect marker (2.5) or verbs (2.6). Then we will look into the sequence of X + 都 to ¹ in Section 3 where X may be 盡 tsin ⁷ (3.1), 不 m ⁷ (3.2), or 是 si ⁷ (3.3).⁴ Section 4 concludes the paper.

2 都 to ¹ + X

The structural position that 都 to ¹ occupies with respect to other functional words bears on the issue of its interpretation. 都 to ¹ either (1) precedes or (2) follows other functional elements. Let’s consider the first type. 都 to ¹ occurs before the focus marker 是 si ⁷, negative elements like 不 m ⁷, 無 bo ⁵, 未 be ⁷, and 袂 bue ⁷,⁵ and modal verbs like 卜 berh ⁴, 著 tioh ⁸, 通 thang ¹, 會 ue ⁷ , and 敢 kann ². In this position, 都 to ¹ is ambiguous between both the concessive and distributive interpretation.

2.1 都 to ¹ + the focus marker 是 si ⁷

都 to ¹ can be taken as an operator that binds its restrictor, whereas the copula 是 si ⁷ can be regarded as the focus marker that covers its nucleus scope based on the theory of tripartite structure (Partee 1991; Hajičová et al. 1998). While the nucleus scope always immediately follows the focus marker 是 si ⁷, the restrictor can precede or follow the maximality operator 都 to ¹.⁶ For example, the restrictor, indicated by being underlined below, precedes the operator in 1 and 2 and follows it in 3. The restrictor may remain implicit, as in 4.⁷

2.1.1 都是 to ¹ si ⁷

• (1) 伊百般苦痛,都是為我 (26.074 嘉靖 Jiajing)

  i¹__pah ⁴ puann ¹__khoo ² thiann ³__to¹__si⁷__ui⁷__gua²

  he__hundred.kind__hard.ache__TO__COP__for__I

  The suffering she has gone through are all for me.

• (2) 姻緣早晚,都是月老推付 (2.027 萬曆 Wanli)

  in ¹ ien ⁵__tsa ² buan ²__to¹__si⁷__geh⁸lo² __tui¹hu³

  predestined.marrage__early.late__TO-COP__old.man.under.the.moon__arrange

  Predestined marriage sooner or later is arranged by the legendary go-between.

• (3) 街上都是公子、王孫 (6.036 嘉靖Jiajing)

  kue¹tsiunn⁷__to¹__si⁷__kong ¹ tsu ²__ong ⁵ sun ¹

  street__on__TO__COP__princeling__noble

  Streets are all thronged with princelings and nobles.

• (4) 我想起來都是五百年前註定 (9.017道光 Daoguang)

  gua²__siunn⁷__khi²lai⁵__to¹__si⁷__goo⁷__pah⁴__ni⁵__tsing⁵__tsu³tiann⁷

  I__think INCH__TO__COP__five__hundred__ago__predestine

  It dawns on me that it was predestined five hundred years ago.

2.2 都 to ¹ + negatives

都 to ¹ may occur before negatives such as 不 m ⁷ ‘not’, 未 ber ⁷ ‘not yet’, 無 bo ⁵ ‘not have’, and 袂 bue ⁷ ‘cannot, may not’. Let us take a short detour on diachronic aspects of negatives before embarking on discussing the collocation of 都 to ¹ and the negatives. 不 m ⁷ is a negative element featuring a syllabic nasal, and the character 不 or its graph variant 伓 or 毌 adopted to represent the word is a semantic loan in Southern Min. In other words, m ⁷ and 不 *pK have their separate etymological origin. The pronunciation m ⁷ evolves from negatives featuring *m- initial, whereas不 comes from negatives featuring *p- initials shared by negatives such as 不 and 弗.⁸ Depending on the kinds of predicates that it occurs with, 不 m ⁷ can function as a plain negative word or a negative coupled with a silent boulomaic modal, as in 伊不捌我 i ¹ m ⁷ pat ⁴ gua ² he not know I ‘he doesn’t know me’ and 伊不來 i ¹ m ⁷ lai ⁵ he not come ‘He doesn’t want to come’. 未 ber ⁷ ‘not yet’ is a negative counterpart of the perfective aspect marker 了 liau ² or the inchoative aspect marker 囉 loo ⁰ /啦 lah /啊 a⁰.⁹ 無 bo ⁴ is indisputably taken to be a fusion of a negative m- and the verb 有 you ³ ‘have’. Old Chinese as a synthetic language boasts negatives with rich lexicalized sense of grammatical categories such as mood, conditionality, and aspect, among others. 無 bo ⁴ may be ambiguous between negation of existence and negation of deontic modality in Old Chinese. (Dobson 1966; Pulleyblank 1995: 84) 無 bo ⁴ in modern Southern Min features only negation of existence, but not the function of deontic modality, even though it develops a newly rising pluractional function, as in 伊有食薰 i ¹ u ⁷ tsiah ⁸ hun ¹ he have eat cigarette ‘he smokes’ taking on a habitual sense.¹⁰ 袂bue ⁷ ‘cannot’, a phonetic loan character, is also a fusional word comprising a negative m- and a modal 解 ue ⁷ (often written as 會, a semantic loan character) ‘can’ denoting capability or possibility, as in 狗解吠 kau ² ue ⁷ pui ⁷ dog can bark ‘Dogs can bark’ and 明仔載解落雨 bin ⁵ -a ² -tsai ⁷ ue ⁷ loh ⁸ hoo ⁷ tomorrow can fall rain ‘It will rain tomorrow’.

Let us turn now to the collocation of 都 to ¹ and negatives. 都 to ¹ in this configuration carries a concessive meaning in that 都 to ¹ as a modal particle can be used to mark the following at-issue expression in its scope which conflicts with the presupposition as the inferred meaning from what is expressed in a previous utterance.

2.2.1 都不 to¹ m⁷

Take 都 to ¹ followed by 不 m ⁷. For example, example 5 with the use of 都 to ¹ yields the conventional implicature that the speaker dares not to make complaints, which is in conflict with what one is expected to do.

• (5) 辛苦在心內,都不敢呾 (22.07 嘉靖 Jiajing)

  sin¹khoo²__ti⁷__sim¹lai⁷__to¹__m⁷__kann²__tann³

  hardship__at__heart__in__TO__not__dare__speak

  Even though hardship is in my mind, I dare not air it.

不 m ⁷ when immediately followed by activity verbs like 來 lai ⁵ ‘come’ will evoke a silent volitional modal WANT, as in 6.

• (6) 伊心向痛,都不來見阮 (27.032萬曆 Wanli)

  i¹__sim¹__hiunn³__tiann³__to¹__m⁷__lai⁵__kinn³__gua²

  he__heart__so__ache __TO__not__come__meet__I.PL

  Even though he is sad, he won’t come to see me

The meaning of WANT as a silent element is preempted by another modal like 願 guan ⁷ ‘be willing’ (7), or 畏 ui ³ ‘fear’ (8, 9) as well as 敢 kann ² ‘dare’ (5) occupying the same position. 都 to ¹ immediately followed by 不 m ⁷ is however construed to be preceded by a null subject recoverable based on the exophoric or endophoric contexts, as in 8 and 9. We can see that the inferred meaning from the expression before the comma is in conflict with the at-issue clause headed by 都 to ¹ in 7, 8, and 9.

• (7) 多少郎君卜求,我只心中都不願 (11.017 嘉靖 Jiajing)

  to¹siau²__long⁵__kun¹__berh⁴__kiu⁵__gua²__tsi²__sim¹__tiong¹__m⁷__guan⁷

  many.few__man__want__beg__I__this__heart__in__TO__not__willing

  Though there are so many suitors, I will not accept their proposal.

• (8) 潑伊人,都不畏了冷伊人 (22.111 嘉靖 Jiajing)

  phuah⁴__i¹__lang⁵__to¹__m⁷__ui³__liau²__ling²__i¹__lang⁵

  splash__he__person__TO__not__fear__PERF__cold__he__person

  Though I splash water on him, I don’t fear that it will make him catch cold.

• (9) 瓜田李下,都不畏人疑 (30.065 道光 Daoguang)

  kua¹__tien⁵__li²__ha⁷__to¹__m⁷__ui³__lang⁵ __gi⁵

  melon__field__plum__under__TO__not__fear__people__doubt

  Even though you are in the melon patch and under the plum tree, you do not fear being open to suspicion’

Following the suggestions made by an anonymous reviewer, we can motivate the concessive meaning conveyed by 都 to ¹ as a kind of conventional implicature rather than conversational implicature. The concessive meaning conveyed by 都 to ¹ in each of the above complex sentences is derivable due to the existence of background sentence. The meaning of the main clause in each of the above sentences is in conflict with the inference obtained from the antecedent clause featuring a silent concessive marker such as 著算 tioh ⁸ -sng ³ right count ‘even though’. For example, splashing water on someone will cause him to feel cold, as in 8. This is expressed in the subordinate clause, and its meaning conflicts with what is expressed in the main clause. The apparent noun phrase such as 瓜田李下 kua ¹ tien ⁵ li ² ha ⁷ in the melon plots and under the plum tree, a juxtaposition of two noun phrases, as in 9, may stand for a whole proposition when the missing predicate is restored.

2.2.2 都無 to¹ bo⁵

都 to ¹ followed by 無 bo ⁵ may yield a concessive meaning. As shown in 10, it is commonsensical that one will be displeased when scolded, but the sentence implies that it does not matter. When a man is getting old, he is expected to marry a woman. Contrary to this expectation, the speaker (v.i., 小七 sio ² tshit ⁴ little seven ‘Little Seven’) has no wife at the mature and marriageable age, let alone at the old age, as in 11. Example 12 shows that aside from the concessive meaning, there is in addition a scalar sense in that there is a comparison between the lower and high caliber in a scale. That is, men’s capacity is higher than women’s capacity in the scale of decision-making. All of these sentences involve the scalar model where the two elements on a certain scale are compared. We can add, as insightfully suggested by an anonymous reviewer, the marker 連 lien ⁵ ‘even’ in the slot to signal the underlined explicit element being compared. There is an explicit underlined element compared with an implicit element in 10, and 11, whereas both compared elements are present in 12, namely the contrast between men and women in the capacity of offering an idea.

• (10) []罵簡都無打緊 (11.27 順治 Shunzhi)

  ma⁷__kan²__to¹__bo⁵__tann²kin²

  scold__maid__TO__not.have__urgent

  Even (you) scolding me will be okay.

• (11) 小七[]老了都無厶 (30.124 順治 Shunzhi)

  sio²tshit⁴__lau⁷__liau⁰__to¹__bo⁵__boo²

  little.seven__old__INCH__TO__not.have__wife

  I (Little Seven) am getting on in age, and yet I have no wife.

• (12) []恁乾埔人都無主意,阮姿娘人有乜主意? (34.009 道光 Daoguang)

  lin²__ta¹poo¹__lang⁵__to¹ __bo⁵__tsu²i³__gun²__tsu¹niu⁵__lang⁵__u⁷__mih⁴__tsu²i³

  you__man__person__TO__have.not__idea__we__woman__person__have__what__idea

  You men don’t even have any idea, let alone we women, what idea can we women have?

Thus, both 都不 to ¹ m ⁷ and 都無 to ¹ bo ⁵ express a concessive meaning, but they differ at least on two counts. First, 都無 to ¹ bo ⁵ rather than 都不 to ¹ m ⁷ involves a scalar model. Second, the restrictor of 都 to ¹ is the predicate that it precedes in the first case, whereas its restrictor in the latter case is the underlined element in the subject position.

2.2.3 都未 to ⁷ be ⁷

都 to ⁷ followed by 未 be ⁷ brings about a sense of unexpectedness. For example, it is a common practice to eat when one gets up in the morning, but 13 is just the opposite, viz., contrary to his routine practice, the speaker has not had his breakfast yet. Likewise, as shown in 14, 五娘 wu ³ niang ² five lady ‘Wuniang’ (the female lead) expects 陳三chen ² san ¹ Chen three ‘Chen San’ (the male lead) to show concern for her, and yet he does not do so, contrary to her expectation.

• (13) 我早起都未食 (22.371 嘉靖 Jiajing)

  gua²__tsa²khi²__to⁷__ber⁷__tsiah⁸

  I__morning__TO__not.yet__eat

  I haven’t even eaten yet since I got up in the morning.

• (14) 三哥自來寒舍都未八相動問 (23.317 光緒 Guangxu)

  sann¹ko¹__tsu⁷__lai⁵__han⁵sia³__to¹__ber⁷__pat⁴__sann¹__tang⁷__mng⁷

  third.brother__since__come__humble.house__TO__not.yet__EXP__mutually__move__ask

  You (i.e.,Third Brother) haven’t even asked after me yet since you came here.

2.2.4 都袂 to¹ bue⁷

都 to ¹ followed by 袂 bue ⁷ yields a concessive meaning. In a traditional male chauvinistic society, a man can scold his wife with impunity. Thus, what the speaker is driving at in 15 with the particle 都 to ¹ is that the speaker cannot scold his wife given that he is the addressee’s wife, and this is in conflict with the assumed male chauvinistic belief. When the second clause is taken as a rhetoric question, the ultimate interpretation is that he cannot scold his wife. Likewise, in 16 the addressee (Chen San)’s reluctance to talk to the speaker (益春 yi ⁴ chun ¹ benefit spring ‘Yichun’, the maid) runs counter to her expectation. In 17, the speaker (Yichun again) complains to Chen San that once his match with the lady Wuniang is secured he will forget all her contributions. This does not jibe well with her expectations. Example 18 shows that the tree even with its huge size cannot withstand the gold hatchet; similarly humans cannot either.

• (15) 我是你翁仔,都袂罵得你? (11.65 順治 Shunzhi)

  gua²__si⁷__li²__ang¹kann²__to¹__bue⁷__ma⁷__tit⁴__li²

  I__COP__you__husband__SUF__TO__cannot__scold__MOD__you

  I am your husband; couldn’t I even scold you?

• (16) 你都袂割捨得共小妹呾一聲 (26.007 道光 Daoguang)

  li²__to¹__bue⁷__kuah⁸__sia²__tit⁴__kang⁷__sio²be⁷__tann³__tsit⁸__siann¹

  you__TO__cannot__ungrudging__MOD__with__little.sister__say__one__CLF

  You are even reluctant to talk to me.

• (17) 姻緣成就,許時都袂記得小妹 (21.039 道光 Daoguang)

  In¹en⁵__sing⁵tsiu⁷__hu⁵__si⁵__to¹__bue⁷__ki³tit⁸__sio²be⁷

  marriage__accomplish__that__time__TO__cannot__remember__little.sister

  If the marriage is fulfilled, you will not even remember me then.

• (18) 大樹都袂受金刀斧,人都袂受得人千聲嘮嘈。 (21.038 道光 Daoguang)

  tua⁷ tshiu⁷__to¹__bue⁷__siu⁷__kim¹__to¹poo²__lang⁵__to¹__bue⁷__siu⁷__tit⁴__lang⁵ tshien¹siann¹__lo¹tso¹

  big__tree__TO__cannot__receive__gold__knife.hatchet__poeple__TO__cannot__bear__MOD__

  people__thausand.sound__din

  Even huge trees cannot bear the gold hatchet. People cannot even tolerate the sheer human din.

2.3 都 to ¹ + modals

都 to ¹ may occur before a range of modals such as the volitional modal 卜 berh ⁴ ‘want’, deontic modals like 著 tioh ⁸ ‘must’ and 通 thang ¹ ‘can, may’, and dynamic modals like 會 ue ⁷ ‘can, be able to’ and 敢 kann ² ‘dare’. 卜 berh ⁴ ( cf. 要 yao ⁴ ‘want’ M.) might be a modal verb indigenous to Min; seeing as its etymological origin is unknown, and the character used to identify it, 卜, was adopted based on its sound rather than meaning. 著 tioh ⁸ (cf. 得 dei ³ or 應該 ying ¹ gai ¹ ‘should’ M.) may be a result of grammaticalizing the causative verb 著 tioh ⁸ ‘have, ask, get (sb. to do sth.)’ (Hsu 2013). Whereas ue ⁷ written as a semantic loan character 會 (cf. 能 neng ² ‘can’ or 會 hui ⁴ ‘can/may’ M.) can be traced back to 解 xie ⁴ ‘know, understand’ with confidence, the etymological origin of 通 thang ¹ (cf. 可以 ke ³ yi ³ ‘can/be allowed to’ M.) remains still unsettled. There is no question about the etymology of 敢 kann ².

All examples featuring this constructional type will take on the default concessive sense unless there are quantifier noun phrases as the restrictors bound by the maximality operator 都 to ¹.

2.3.1 都卜 to ¹ berh ⁴

Examples 19, 20, and 21 with the particle 都 to ¹ coupled with the volitional modal卜berh ⁴ ‘want’ all show the stubborn propensity or behavior on the part of the subject in resistance to some common code of conduct or social mores. Thus, all the three examples show the unexpected behavior of the protagonist as well as a concessive sense. Such an interpretation is justified against the backdrop of the knowledge background provided for each case.

Chen San once eloped with his mistress Wuniang and her maid Yichun. Yichun accidentally tripped on the way. With no one lending her a hand she refused to go along. Wuniang uttered 19 to reproach her.

• (19) 賊婢都卜來賴人 (29.074 光緒 Guangxu)

  tshat⁸pi⁷__to¹__berh⁴__lai⁷__lua⁷__lang⁵

  wicked.maid__TO__want__come__blame__person

  You wretched maid nevertheless have the nerve to blame others.

Chen San asked the maid Yichun to persuade her mistress Wuniang to stop crying. The maid replied, uttering 20 with the hint that despite her pleading to the contrary, her mistress still cannot help crying.

• (20) 伊都卜啼,罔乞伊啼 (34.067 道光 Daoguang)

  i¹ to¹ berh⁴ thi⁵ bong² khit⁴ i¹ thi⁵

  she__TO__want__cry__might__let__he__cry

  She wants to weep. We might just as well let her cry.

It is a routine practice befitting a decent lady to comb her hair every morning. Stubborn as she is, Wuniang is reluctant to do it even at the risk of being found out by her parents.

• (21) 亞娘都卜不梳,亞公亞媽知了,不句愛罵 (22.003 道光 Daoguang)

  a¹niu⁵__to¹__berh⁴ __m⁷__sue¹__a¹kong¹__a¹ma²__tsai¹__liau²__m⁷__ku³__ai³__ma⁷

  lady__TO__want__not__comb__grandpa__grandma__know__INCH__not__again__love__scold

  If you are not willing to have your hair combed, won’t grandpa and grandma scold you again when they get to know it?

2.3.2 都著 to ¹ tioh ⁸

都 to ¹, when followed by the deontic modal 著 tioh ⁸ ‘should’, may take on the function of the maximality operator, as in 22 with the quantifier noun phrase, or involve the comparison of two loci in a scale, as in 23.

• (22) 三人手都著搥 (23.115 光緒 Guangxu)

  sann¹lang⁵__to¹__tioh⁸__tui⁵

  three.person__hand__TO__should__pound

  All three persons’ hands should be pounded.

• (23) 我都著叫伊官,你夭不叫? (31.050 道光 Daoguang)k

  ¹¹Immediately after 官 kuann ¹ ‘official’ there may be a missing morpheme 儂 lang ⁵ ‘person, humans’. So 官儂 kuann ¹ lang ⁵ means ‘master’ as opposed to 官儂 kuann ¹ lang ⁰ ‘Mandarin’

  gua²__to¹__tioh⁸__kio³__i¹__kuann¹__li²__iau²__m⁷__kio³

  I__TO__should__call__he__master__you__still__not.willing__call

  Even if I call him master. How can you not call (him)?

2.3.3 都會 to ¹ e ⁷

都 to ¹ combined with the dynamic modal 會 ue ⁷ ‘can’ is conducive to the quantificational interpretation of exhaustivity and maximality given the presence of the noun phrase denoting a list of things, as in 24, and the implicit universal time adverb such as 逐擺 tak ⁸ -pai ² every time ‘every time, whenever’, as in 25.

• (24) 琴、棋、書、畫我都會 (25.089 嘉靖 Jiajing)

  khim⁵__ki⁵__su¹__ui⁷__gua²__to¹__ue⁷

  zither__chess__calligraphy__painting__I__TO__be.skilfful at

  I excel at zither, chess, calligraphy and painting.

• (25) 恁師父磨鏡,都會唱歌 (9.136 順治 Shunzhi)

  lin²__su¹hu⁷__bua⁵__kiann³__to¹__ue⁷__tshiunn³__kua

  you__master__polish__mirror__TO__can__sing__song

  Whenever your master polished mirrors, he would sing.

One may wonder whether the absence of a concessive meaning of 都會 to ¹ e ⁷ may have to do with the sense of 會 ue ⁷ ‘can’. What we can observe at the present stage is that the concessive and quantitative senses of 都 to ¹ are in competition. Whenever no inferential meaning is obtainable to be in conflict with the meaning of the main clause, then another meaning of 都 to ¹ emerges. So its quantitative interpretation comes about by default.

2.3.4 都通 to ¹ tang ¹

都 to ¹ in construction with the deontic modal 通 tang ¹ ‘can, may’ yield the concessive meaning, as in 26 and 27. The male lead Chen San indented himself as a long-termed hired hand to redeem the cost of purposefully breaking a mirror. As a male servant, he still thinks that Yichun, the maid, does not enjoy the equal social status, as he is from a family of officials. In uttering 26, Chen San is disapproving of Yichun calling out his name. Both Chen San and Little Seven are male servants. They vie for currying favor with their master. So Little Seven teases at his workmate uttering 27. In his mind, both he and Chen San are equals. They are both in a scalar model competing with each other. Little Seven believes that if the addressee (viz. Chen San), as a less likely candidate for a certain task, can be allowed to do something, he surely can get the permission to do so.

• (26) 只一簡仔,都通叫我名 (28.115 嘉靖 Jiajing)

  tsi²__tsit⁸__kan²kann²__to¹__thang¹__kio³__gua²__mia⁵

  this__one__maid__TO__may__call__I__name

  This maid can even call my name.

• (27) 你都通磨鏡,我不通補鼎? (19.221 道光 Daoguang)

  li²__to¹__tang¹__gua⁵__kiann³__gua²__m⁷__tang¹__poo²__tiann²

  you__TO__may__polish__mirror__not__may__mend__wok

  If you can even polish mirrors, can’t I mend the wok?

2.3.5 都敢 to ¹ kann ²

The same can be said of 28, 29, and 30 where the sequence of 都敢 to ¹ kann ² TO dare ‘even dare’ takes on the concessive meaning. As shown in 28, scolding is less desirable and therefore more unexpected than name calling in the scale of interpersonal verbal interaction. This scalar discrepancy justifies the use of 都 to ¹. As shown in 28, Wuniang is indignant at Chen San (the male servant, a socially inferior person) taking the liberty of scolding her, an unexpected breach of the code of conduct. As in 28, the use of 都 to ¹ is motivated in 30 since beating is less expected than scolding.

• (28) 叫你名啞,你無正經,罵你都敢。 (17.1636-64 順治 Shunzhi)

  kio³__lir²__mia⁵__a⁰__Lir²__bo⁵__tsing³king¹__ma⁷__lir²__TO__kann²

  call__you__name__SFP__you__not.have__decency__scold__you__TO__dare

  I call your name. Since you are not decent, I can even scold you without a qualm.

• (29) 只賊奴乜大膽都敢罵我 (26.163 嘉靖 Jiajing)

  tsi²__tshat⁸loo⁵__mih⁴__tua⁷tann²__to¹ kann²__ma⁷__gua²

  this__wicked__slave__what__big__gall__TO__dare__scold__I

  The rascal is so bold and even dares to scold me.

• (30) 罵啞?打都敢 (4.05 順治 Shunzhi)

  ma⁷__a⁰__phah⁴__to¹__kann²

  scold__SFP__bet__TO__dare

  Scold you? I even dare beat you.

2.4 都 to ¹ + the agentive marker 乞 khit ⁴ in passives

乞 khit ⁴ is a preposition heading a preposition (DP) in passives. It occurs both after 都 to ¹ and the subject. We can see that 都 to ¹ occupies a syntactic position higher than voice. It conveys a sense of unexpectedness over the propositional content denoted by the sentence, as in 31, 32, and 33.

• (31) 亞娘,咱只處呾話,都乞陳三聽見勞 (22.081 道光 Daoguang)

  a¹niu⁵__lan²__tsi²__te³__tann³__ue⁷__to¹__khit⁴__tan⁵sann¹__thiann¹__khinn³__loo⁰

  lady__we.INCL__this__place__speak__word__TO__let__Chen.San__listen__hear__SFP

  Our talks here have been overheard by Chen San, Madam.

• (32) 汝心都乞狗食去 (8.014 光緒 Guangxu)

  lir²__sim¹__to¹__khit⁴__kau²__tsiah⁸__khi³

  you__heart__TO-let__dog__eat__go

  Your heart has been eaten by dogs.

• (33) 亞娘都乞小八攃去到泉州了 (32.055 光緒 Guangxu)

  a¹niu⁵__to¹__khit⁴__sio²pat⁴__tshua⁷__khi³__kau³__tsuan⁵tsiu¹__liau⁰

  lady__TO__let__Little.Eight__take__go__to__Quanzhou__SFP

  The lady has been taken by Little Eight to Quanzhou.

Following Bowers (2010), I postulate a layer of VoiceP (VoiP for short) to account for the presence of the agent marker in passives. VoiP has the feature of [+/− act]. If the feature is positive, the agent (ag) selects DP in an active sentence. If the feature is negative, the ag selects a prepositional phrase headed by the preposition 乞 khit ⁴ in a passive.¹²

2.5 都 to ¹ + the aspect marker 在只 ti ⁷ tsi ²

都 to ¹ occurs before a locative phrase 在只 ti ⁷ tsi ² at-here ‘here’, which later developed into the progressive marker. Example 34 takes on the interpretation of maximality and exhaustiveness.

2.5.1 都在只 to ¹ ti ⁷ tsi ²

• (34) 簡都在只聽候啞娘 (15.095 順治 Shunzhi)

  kan¹__to¹__ti⁷ __tsi² __thiann³hau⁷__a¹-niu⁵

  maid__TO__at__here__listen.wait__lady

  I have all along been here waiting for you.

2.6 都 to ¹ + verbs

都 to ¹ may be immediately followed by verbs without being mediated by modals or other elements. Since verbs are an open class grammatical category, I will only focus on 有 u ⁷ ‘have’ as an example. The presence of 都 to ¹ in 35 as a yes-no question casts into doubt the very proposition that men have periods, a totally impossible situation. Example 36 occurs in a situation in which Wuniang reminds Chen San that the lychee as a token of love is still in his place in response to his request for a keepsake. Chen San utters 37 complaining that Wuniang would not hold his hand. Yichun, the maid, says 38 calling her lady Wuniang’s attention to the situation that someone made a sound outside the wall. All these examples exhibit a concessive meaning and some measure of unexpectedness.

2.6.1 都有 to ¹ u ⁷

• (35) 乾埔人都有月經? (5.099 道光 Daoguang)

  ta¹poo¹__lang⁵__to¹__u⁷ __geh⁸king¹

  man__person__TO__have__period

  Do men even have periods?

• (36) 阮都有荔枝值恁處 (23.400/401光緒 Guangxu)

  gun²__to¹__u⁷__nai⁷tsi ¹__ti⁷__lin²__ter³

  we.EXCL__TO__have__lychee__at__you__place

  Why is the lychee that belongs to me at your place.

• (37) 爾都有手不來牽 (23.303 光緒 Guangxu)

  lir²__to¹__u⁷__tshiu²__m⁷__lai⁵__khan¹

  you__TO__have__hand__not__come__hold

  You have hands, and you don’t even want to hold me.

• (38) 牆外都有人做聲 (13.037 順治 Shunzhi)

  tshiunn⁵__gua⁷__to¹__u⁷__lang⁵__tsoh⁴__siann¹

  wall__outside__TO__have__perosn__make__sound

  There is someone making a sound outside the wall, though.

All the cases of 都 to ¹ featuring the sense of concession, preceding negatives (2.2), modals (2.3), the VoiP (2.4), the aspect marker (2.5) or verbs (2.6), occupy the specifier of the concessive project in complementizer CP in line with Rizzi’s fine structure of the left periphery. Negation, modality, voice, and aspect are the functional projection in TP.

3 X + 都 to ¹

The second type of the structural position of 都 to ¹ is its occurrence after other functional elements such as 盡 tsin ⁷, 不 m ⁷, and 是 si ¹. Various types of constructions result from such combinations. 都 to ¹, along with a preceding synonym, 盡 tsin ⁷, yields a compound maximality operator. When preceded by 不 m ⁷, 都 to ¹ occurs in a tag question. 都 to ¹ functions as an intensifier when followed by the focus marker 是 si ¹.

3.1 盡都 tsin ⁷ to ¹

盡都 tsin ⁷ to ¹ entirely TO ‘all’ is a case of juxtaposed synonyms or rather hypercharacterization.¹³ The compound is good for disambiguating the potential uncertain meaning of the monosyllable 都 to ¹ and narrowing it down to the function of a maximality operator. There is either a quantifier noun phrase like 百姓人 peh ⁴ -sinn ³ lang ⁵ hundred name person ‘the folks’, as in 39, or a plural determiner noun phrase like 許賞燈人 hu ² siunn ² ting ¹ lang ⁵ that enjoy lantern person ‘those lantern-viewing people’, as in 40, which serves as a restrictor bound by 都 to ¹.

• (39) 百姓人盡都歡喜 (38.015嘉靖 Jiajing)

  peh⁴sinn³__lang⁵__tsin⁷__to¹__huann¹hi²

  hundred.surname__person__all__TO__happy

  The folks are all in a merry mood.

• (40) 看許賞燈人盡都歡喜 (7.029嘉靖 Jiajing)

  khuann³__hir²__siunn²__ting¹__lang⁵__tsin⁷__to¹__huann¹hi²

  look__that__view__lantern__person__TSIN__TO__happy

  We can see those lantern-viewing throngs are all quite in a merry mood.

The juxtaposition of 盡都 tsin ⁷ to ¹ is useful to disambiguate 都 to ¹ and narrows down its meaning to ‘all’, as in 伊人琴棋書畫盡都曉通 i ¹ lang ⁵ khim ⁵ ki ⁵ su ¹ ui ⁷ tsin ⁷ to ¹ hiau ² thong ¹ he person chess zither calligraphy painting exhaustively TO know through ‘He excels at all of the skills of music, chess, calligraphy and painting’ (26.010 嘉靖 Jiajing) where 盡都 tsin ⁷ to ¹ functions as a maximality operator. Still another way to narrow down its meaning is for 都 to ¹ to co-occur with a wh-word, as in 趁我興, 乜都度你 than ³ gua ² hing ³ mih ⁴ to ¹ thoo ⁷ li ² follow I fancy what TO give you ‘Everything will be given to you if you suit my fancy’ where the universal quantifier ‘whatever, everything’ is built on the combination of the wh-word 乜 mih ⁴ ‘what’ and the operator 都 to ¹ (16.061 順治 Shunzhi).

3.2 不都 m ⁷ to ¹

According to the functional architecture of the languages proposed in Rizzi (1997, 2004), there are three layers: the VP layer (viz. the lexical layer headed by the verb), the IP (or rather TP) layer (viz. inflectional layers headed by functional categories such as agreement, modality, voice, tense, aspect, among others), and the CP layer (the complementizer layer hosting kinds of force such as interrogative, imperative, and exclamative mood).¹⁴ There may be recursive topics but only a single focus between Force P and FinP. Later version of this approach entertains the idea of split-up Force. The function of 不 m ⁷ in the construction featuring 不都 m ⁷ to ¹ not TO can be given an explicit and motivated account in terms of this theoretical framework.

When the negative word 不 m ⁷ occurs before 都 to ¹, the sentence changes its mood from the indicative to the interrogative mood, realized as a tag question in this construction. 不 m ⁷ is higher than 都 to ¹ in the hierarchy of functional categories as proposed in Rizzi (1997, 2004). That may be the reason why the sentence takes on the interrogative mood. 不都 m ⁷ to ¹ seems to be similar to a negative tag question ‘isn’t it?, right?’, as in 41, each of which is interpretable given the cross-sentential elements as shown in previous or following sentences. What follows are three dialogs: (a) 41a–b, (b) 42a–b, and (c) 43a–d. This clause-initial 不 m ⁷ is on a par with one type of the tag question particle eh in Canadian English.¹⁵ The common implication of these four dialogs conveyed by 都 to ¹ involves the subjectivity on the speaker concerning the contradiction of two propositions.

In the first dialog, most probably Chen San hopes that his singing will be listened to but worries that there will be no one listening. He uses 41 as a tag question to convey his worry in the hope that the addressee will confirm it.

• (41) a. 生:不都無人聽 (9.167 順治 Shunzhi)

  Sing¹: m⁷__to¹__bo⁵__lang⁵__thiann¹

  ML: not__TO__not.have__person__listen

  Male lead: Nobody will listen, right?

  b. 貼:唱那好,伊便有人聽 (9.168 順治 Shunzhi)

  Thiap⁴: tshiunn³__na⁷__ho²__i¹__pien⁷__u⁷__lang⁵__thiann¹

  SFC: sing__if__good__he__then__have__person__listen

  If you sing well, you will be listened to.

In the second dialog, the speaker takes for granted the proposition that the landlord has returned from a trip to collect rents, a proposition contradicting the latter’s pretension that he has not returned yet. He uses 42b as a tag question to secure confirmation from the landlord for his supposition.

• (42) a. 外:你去共伊說,叫: 我收租未返來 (37.025 道光 Daoguang)

  ¹⁶叫 kio ³ is a quotative marker showing what follows is a direct quote. See Lien (2013) This quotative function of 叫 kio ³ is to some extent similar to like in English, except that the former only occurs alone immediately preceding the quoted speech. See, for example, Barbieri (2005) for the use of like as a colloquial quotative marker.

  Gua⁷: Lir²__khi³__kang¹__i¹__serh⁴__kio³__gua²__siu¹__tsoo¹__ber⁷__tng²__lai⁵

  SECMC:You__go__with__he__speak__quoth__I__collect__not.yet__return__come

  Go and tell him, “ I have not returned from a trip to collect rents.”

  b. 淨:你不都返來勞? (37.026 道光 Daoguang)¹⁷

  Loo ⁰勞 as well as liau ⁰了as a SFP denotes inchoative aspect.

  Tsing⁷: Lir²__m⁷__to¹__tng^2__lai⁵__loo⁰

  COM: you__not__TO__return__come__SFP

  Haven’t you return home?

In the third dialog, as in 43a–d, a buffoon (BFN) asks the maid Yichun whether Emperor Ming of Tang is a man or woman. She replies, ‘The emperor is a man. Him a woman?’ The original sentence for Him a woman? is 乜孜娘人? mih ⁴ tsu ¹ niu ⁵ lang ⁵ what woman person, where 乜 mih ⁴ what is a wh_word functioning as a rhetoric marker. The sentence, therefore, can be taken to mean, what reasons can there be for the emperor to be a woman? The inference will be that surely enough, the emperor is not a woman. Based on the textual evidence of other versions of the Romance of the Lychee Mirror, such as in the 道光 Daoguang and 光緒 Guangxu editions, the missing link for 不都有月宮 pu ⁴ dou ¹ you ³ yue ⁴ gong ¹ not TO have moon.palace ‘Isn’t there Moon Palace?’ is the given fact that the emperor is a man. So we can rephrase it as follows: Granting that the emperor is a man, there should be a moon palace, right? This reading is made possible or plausible by the legend of the Emperor Ming of Tang’s visit to the moon palace, a common shared knowledge among the Chinese. 不都有月宮 can also be taken as a pun exploiting the homophony of 月宮 geh ⁸ -king ¹ Moon Palace ‘Moon Palace’ and 月經 geh ⁸ -king ¹ moon menstruation ‘periods’. Again, this interpretation is corroborated by the appearance of月經 geh ⁸ -king ¹ in lieu of 月宮 geh ⁸ -king ¹ in parallel passages in other versions. It befits the role of the BFN to make such a jocular utterance with double entendre. On the one hand, it is perfectly logical that the legend of the Emperor Ming of Tang is associated with the moon palace. On the other hand, one runs into an absurd assumption: 不都有月經? ‘Should the emperor be a male, could he be expected to have periods, eh?’ The speaker is concerned with the confirmation of his assumption that can be elicited from his addressee.

• (43) a. 丑:唐明皇是乾埔人啞是孜娘人? (4.392-3順治 Shunzhi)r¹⁸

  乾 ta ¹ ‘dry’ in 43b is adopted in place of 幹 kan ³ ‘do’, an obvious typo, in the text. 乾 is admittedly not an etymologically viable character, in that 乾 kuann ¹, as in 牛肉乾 gu ⁵ bah ⁴ kuann ¹ cattle meat dry ‘beef jerky’, is a semantic loan character for 焦 ta ¹ ‘dry’ in Southern Min. But the sense of dry is totally unrelated to the sense in the disyllabic word 乾埔 ta ¹ poo ¹ dry plain ‘male (person)’.

  Thiu²: tong⁵bing⁵__hong⁵__si⁷__ta¹poo¹__ang⁵__a⁷ si⁷__tsu¹niu⁵__lang⁵

  BFN: Tang.ming__emperor __COP__man__person__or__woman__person

  Is Emperor Ming of Tang a man or a woman?

  b. 貼:唐明皇是乾埔人¸乜孜娘人? (4.394-5順治 Shunzhi)

  Thiap⁴: tong⁵bing⁵__hong⁵__si⁷__ta¹poo¹lang⁵__mih⁴__tsu¹niu⁵__lang⁵

  SFC: Tang.ming__emperor__COP__male__person__what__woman__person

  Emperor Ming of Tang is a man. Is he a woman?

  c. 丑:不都有月宮 (4.396 順治 Shunzhi)

  Thiu²: m⁷__to¹__u⁷__geh⁴king¹

  BFN: not__TO__have__moon.palace/period

  There is a moon palace (periods), eh?

  d. 旦:正是月宮 (4.397 順治 Shunzhi)

  Tuann³:tsiann³ si⁷ geh⁴-king¹

  FM: exactly__COP__moon.palace

  Exactly. There is a moon palace.

不都 m ⁷ to ¹ in this section merits a comparison with 都不 to ¹ m ⁷ in Section 2.2. The interpretation of each sequence can be arrived at by putting together the pieces and following the manner in which they are built into a whole. The former functions in a tag question, whereas the latter participates in a concessive sentence. The occurrences of 都 to ¹ in both sequences are related. 都 to ¹ in 不都 m ⁷ to ¹ still retains its sense of exhaustivity and maximality in that 都 to ¹ in 41a evokes the interpretation that the singer is worried that whenever he sings nobody will listen. He relies on 不 m ⁷ functioning as a tag question particle to ask his addressee to tell him whether his worry is valid. The latter gives a positive response to dispel his worry. Likewise, an interpretation prompted by 都 to ¹ emerges in 43c that whenever Emperor Ming of Tang is mentioned, it inevitably conjures up an image of his visitation to the moon palace. The negative element 不 m ⁷ heading the clause functions as a tag question particle and is used by the speaker to seek confirmation of his supposition with the addressee. As shown in 43d, the addressee gives an emphatic positive answer where the copula 是 si ⁷ is preceded by tsiann ³ 正 ‘exactly’.

3.3 是都 si⁷ to¹

As shown in 44, 45, and 46, 是 si ⁷, when coupled with 都 to ¹, functions as a focus marker making salient the truth of what has been stated in a previous sentence. The function of intensification of 都 to ¹ seems to be derived from its original function of maximality and exhaustivity.

• (44) a. 貼:只牆外都親像乜人做聲 (24.079嘉靖 Jiajing)

  Thiap⁴:tsi²__tshiunn⁵__gua⁷__to¹__tshin¹tshiunn⁷__mih⁴__lang⁵__tsue³__siann¹

  SFC: this__wall__outside__TO__look.like__what__person__make__sound

  Someone seems to make a sound outside the wall.

  b. 旦:益春,是都親像人做聲 (24.081嘉靖 Jiajing)

  Tuann³: Iah⁴ tshun¹, si⁷ to¹ tshin¹-tshiunn⁷ lang⁵ tsoh⁴ siann¹

  FL: Yichun__COP__TO__look.like__person__make__sound

  Indeed someone seems to make a sound, Yichun.

• (45) 是都聽見了 (24.272嘉靖 Jiajing)

  si⁷__to¹__thiann¹__kinn³__liau⁰

  COP__TO__listen__see__SFP

  You indeed heard it.

• (46) 是都不打婆仔了 (5.343順治 Shunzhi)

  si⁷__to¹__m⁷__phah⁴__po⁵kann²__liau

  COP__TO__not__beat__old.woman__SFP

  You sure don’t want to beat me.

4 Conclusions

In this paper, I propose that 都 to ¹ as attested in earlier Southern Min texts features two basic functions, either as a maximality operator or a modal particle carrying concessive meaning or both. The maximality operator 都 to ¹ binds its restrictor vis-à-vis the nucleus scope. The concessive meaning of the modal particle 都 to ¹ is arrived at by asserting an at-issue proposition induced by the particle 都 to ¹ in conflict with a presupposition. The sense of unexpectedness conveys the surprise on the part of the speaker at the occurrence of a situation. It can be viewed as resulting from incompatibility of two eventualities or a comparison of two propositions or two properties in a scalar situation. This is a case of conventional implicature rather than pragmatic inference. The paper also shows the relationship that the semantic functions of 都 to ¹ have with its structural position in the hierarchy of functional categories and tries to pin down the theoretical importance of such a relation (Cinque 1999). I take the concessive meaning as the default interpretation in the sentences featuring 都 to ¹, unless this interpretation is overridden by the interpretation of 都 to ¹ as a maximality operator. The latter interpretation is made possible by the presence of the quantifier noun phrase that 都 to ¹ binds as its restrictor vis-à-vis the nucleus scope, and no further additional conventional implicature such as concessivity is involved. A point worth mentioning is that the concessivity of 都 to ¹ takes on the default function due to its robust existence despite its being the further development of the original sense of maximality and exhaustivity.

5 Endnotes