Middles in Taiwanese Southern Min: The interface of lexical meaning and event structure

This paper explores two kinds of middles in Taiwanese Southern Min (TSM): (1) pluractional middles featuring the converter u7 ‘have’ or its negative counterpart bo5 ‘not have’, and (2) evaluative middles featuring the converter ho2 ‘good’ or phai2 ‘bad’. It discusses the semantic properties of pluractional middles and compares them with evaluative middles. What the two kinds of middles share is the construction NP + DA + [stative[CONVERTER + V]], the only differences being the choice of converter as well as six other small points of divergence. A striking feature of TSM middles, which necessitate the presence of a degree adverb (DA), is that the generic reading they denote results from converting activity to stativity by explicit converters. Middles have in common the overarching generic reading in marked contrast to unaccusatives, pseudo-passives, and true passives. Genericity in pluractional middles is shown to tie in with the specific types of associated DPs. Finally, I spell out the binding conditions of the implicit agent/experiencer in middles in terms of Θ-identification, and I postulate epistemological and evaluative phrases in higher hierarchical positions to underscore the involvement of sentient minds for pluractional and evaluative middles.