國
立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
3.5 Intonational Phrase
In this section, I will explore the domain in terms of the intonational phrase. I adopt Sense Unit Condition (Selkirk, 1984) to define the intonational phrase in Meinong Hakka. Sense Unit Condition is presented in (29).
(29) Sense Unit Condition (Selkirk, 1984:291)
Two constituents Ci, Cj form a sense unit if (a) or (b) is true of the semantic interpretation of the sentence:
a. Ci modifies Cj (a head)
b. Ci is an argument of Cj (a head)
Two constituents owning the argument-head or modifier-head relationship can form a sense unit. The Sense Unit Condition is important to the formation of an intonational phrase in Meinong Hakka. An intonational phrase is also a sense unit at the same time.
However, not every sense unit can form an intonational phrase. The formation of an IP is sensitive to the number of the syllables in a sense unit. It is observed that a sense unit inclusive of at least four syllables can form an IP when restructuring takes place.
The rule for the formation of an intonational phrase is stated in (30).
(30) The formation of an intonational phrase in Meinong Hakka (preliminary version)
a. Use Sense Unit Condition to define an intonational phrase.
b. A sense unit that contains four or more syllables takes priority over other sense units fewer than four syllables to form an IP when restructuring occurs.
‧ 國
立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
47
Now (30) is utilized to investigate how an intonational phrase is formed in Meinong Hakka. The data are presented in (31), (32), (33), and (34). ] represents the boundary of an IP.
(31) ‘The boss lays off the employees.’
S
NP VP N V’
V NP N tHew-ka tsHaj jen
boss lay off employees
ML M ML ML Base Tone ML MH ML ML ] Surface Tone
(31) reveals two important observations. First, (31) has only one reading. Secondly, the VP tsHaj jen holds the head-argument relationship, so the VP is a sense unit. The verb phrase composes an IP at first. Afterwards, the NP tHew-ka is restructured to be an IP. Theoretically, (31) includes two IPs. Nevertheless, (31) cannot be divided into two IPs, since both sense units consist of fewer than four syllables. As a result, the two IPs should be united to form a single IP according to (30b). If the two IPs are not combined into an IP, there will be two readings, depending on whether -ka undergoes tone sandhi. As a matter of fact, -ka changes its base tone. For this reason, just one tonal domain exists and ka undergoes tone sandhi.
‧ 國
立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
(32) ‘The teacher looks for a job.’
S
NP VP N V’
V NP N
sin - saN tsHim tHew - lu teacher look for job
M M ML ML H Base Tone M MH ML ML H ] Surface Tone
Compared to (31), there are five syllables in (32). It should be noted that (32) has one reading. As in (31), according to (30a), the VP tsHim tHew- lu satisfies the head- argument relationship, so the VP forms a sense unit and is an IP. Then the NP sin-saN is restructured to constitute an IP. (32) can be separated into two IPs according to (30a), but it encounters the same problem as in (31). Therefore, based on (30b), this criterion leads the NP and VP to be united to form one single IP. This formation accounts for why saN experiences tone sandhi in this sentence.
‧ 國
立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
49
(33) ‘The younger uncle often comes here.’
S
NP VP
N AdvP V’
Adv V NP N se a - kHiu sˆ - soN loj ja younger uncle often come here
H M M ML ML ML HM Base Tone H M MH ] ML ML ML HM ] Reading1 H M M ML ML ML HM ] Reading2
Apart from (31) and (32) above, there are two readings in (33). (33) has seven
syllables. It is observed that the VP satisfies the modifier-head relationship, so the VP forms a single IP and the NP is restructured to be an IP. According to (30a), it is found that the NP subject and the adverb cannot be combined to form a single sense unit on the account of the absence of a head-modifier or head-argument relationship between the two constituents. Consequently, the adverb must adjoin to the verb and form a sense unit with it. From this perspective, the VP in (33) should stands as an IP in the first stage. After the VP composes an IP, the NP is restructured to be an IP. However, compared to the VPs in (31) and (32), the VP in (33) could be an IP because it has four syllables, which satisfies (30b). This means that the NP and VP in (33) can be separate IPs; and, moreover, they can be grouped together to form a single IP. The outcome of the formation of separate IPs predicts that kHiu retains its base tone
because there is a tonal boundary between the NP and VP. The combination of two IPs
‧
into one IP reveals why kHiu undergoes tone sandhi. From the perspective of the different formation of an IP, the reason why (33) has two readings can be successfully explained.
(34) ‘The great-uncle often comes here to shop.’
CP
In (34), sense units may be combined in several different ways. The V’ maj tsHoj is a sense unit because the two syllables have a head-argument relationship. The longer V’
loj ja maj tsHoj is also a sense unit because maj tsHoj is an adjunct which modifies loj ja to indicate the goal. However, the subject kHiu-kuN and the adverb phrase sˆ-soN cannot form a sense unit because they satisfy neither (30a) nor (30b). It should be
‧ 國
立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
51
noticed that the single sentence is also a sense unit. After defining which constituents in (34) are sense units, I will use these sense units to define the IP boundary. Based on the sense units defined above, maj tsHoj, loj ja maj tsHoj, sˆ-soN loj ja maj tsHoj, and kHiu-kuN sˆ-soN loj ja maj tsHoj theoretically can form an IP, respectively. The sense unit, maj tsHoj, is irrelevant to Yinping tone sandhi because there is not only no trigger for tone sandhi, but this sense unit also includes fewer than four syllables. The V’ loj ja maj tsHoj is qualified to be an IP, but loj is not preceded by a Yinping syllable; thus, it can be disregarded. What should be noticed here is the VP sˆ-soN loj ja maj tsHoj and the sentence kHiu-kuN sˆ-soN loj ja maj tsHoj. The Yinping word -kuN undergoes tone sandhi when the whole sentence forms an IP; whereas it remains invariant when sˆ-soN loj ja maj tsHoj, which includes six syllables, is an isolated IP. After sˆ-soN loj ja maj tsHoj forms a single IP on its own, the subject kHiu-kuN is restructured to be an IP. Under this construction, -kuN retains its base tone. From the perspective of sense unit and restructuring, that how the two readings are derived is explained.