Verb Complexes in Thai: A Syntactic-Semantic Investigation of Thai Complex Verb Phrases [PhD Thesis]

277 Pages·2002·1.21 MB·English

by  Nuttanart Muansuwan

VERB COMPLEXES IN THAI
by
Nuttanart Muansuwan
February 1, 2002
Major Professor: Jean-Pierre Koenig Ph.D.
A dissertation submitted to the
Faculty of the Graduate School of
University at Buffalo, The State University of New York
in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the
degree of
Doctor of Philosophy
Department of Linguistics
VERB COMPLEXES IN THAI
Abstract
This dissertation is a comprehensive study of Thai verb complexes which are not semantic
arguments of the main predicate of a clause. These non-argument verb complexes are
classified into three groups: 1) Directional Serial Verb Constructions, 2) Aspectual
Constructions, and 3) Adjoining Constructions. Verb complexes in Directional Serial Verb
Constructions encode motion-related situations. Since Thai lacks morphology Thai marks
aspect by using distinct aspectual words in either pre-verbal or post-verbal positions. I
call the constructions which contain aspect-marking elements, Aspectual Constructions.
Adjoining Constructions are composed of verb complexes linked by causal chains and are
similar to Resultative Constructions found in English and other languages. However, the
result of the causal event in a Thai Adjoining Construction is unique in the sense that it is
merely an expectation.
Using Head-Driven Phrase Structure Grammar and Minimal Recursion Semantics
as theoretical frameworks, I present analyses of the three types of verb complexes. I
illustrate how these three types of verb complexes are syntactically manifested and how
their semantic compositions proceed. Traditionally, these three groups of non-argument
verb complexes in Thai have been considered instances of serialization. However, I argue
that there is no uniformly defined notion of so-called serialization, from either a syntactic
or semantic point of view, that can apply to all of the three types of Thai verb complexes.
To illustrate this, I show that Directional Serial Verb Constructions include both a
recursive VP-over-VP structure, with fixed positions of certain verb classes, or a
complementation structure. Aspectual Constructions include both a head-complement and a
head-adjunct structure. Adjoining Constructions are formulated via a type of
complementation. This non-uniformity between the syntactic structures and the semantic
sub-groupings of the Thai verb complexes indicates that if we want to apply the notion of
serialization to these Thai verb complexes, we cannot define it on the basis of either the
positions of verb complexes in the construct, the syntactic structures involved, or the
semantic domains it expresses.
VERB COMPLEXES IN THAI
by
Nuttanart Muansuwan
February 1, 2002
A dissertation submitted to the
Faculty of the Graduate School of
University at Buffalo, The State University of New York
in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the
degree of
Doctor of Philosophy
Department of Linguistics
Dedication
To my family, for their everlasting love, and to Sidi, for being there for me.
ii
Acknowledgments
I would like to express my gratitude to my advisor, Dr. Jean-Pierre Koenig for having
taught me linguistics, how to do linguistic analyses and how to think like a linguist, for the
past five years. I would like to thank also Dr. Robert D. Van Valin Jr. and Dr. Matthew
Dryer for reading my dissertation and giving me insightful comments, which makes my
dissertation better than it would otherwise have been. I am also grateful to Dr. Shoichi
Iwasaki, who read my dissertation and provided feedback from another perspective. I
would like to thank also all professors at the Linguistics Department at UB, who have
taught me various aspects of linguistics.
I am indebted to the Royal Thai Government. My education in the USA would not
have been possible without their funding throughout my studies. I am grateful to my family
back in Thailand and to Sidi for their love, care and support. Many thanks go to my Thai
and international friends whom I know at UB: Waraporn Chaiyawat, Jennifer Cornish,
Sung-Chool Im, Atsuko Nishiyama, Hidematsu Miura, Luis Paris, the Polyium Family, Tipa
Prangrat, Suda Rangkupan, Sirirat Sinprajakpol, Kiyoko Toratani, and many others.
Several of them were my informants. All of them have shared with me various discussions
and have given me encouragement. I would like to thank also Bonnie and Carole. They are
the people who make me feel warm inside despite the harsh Buffalo winter.
Finally, I would like to express my gratitude to my father, who taught me to do my
best in whatever I do, and to my mother, who let me search for my own way of life. I am
grateful for their love, which has always been present in my heart and has given me
strength in carrying out this dissertation and completing my studies.
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Table of Contents
Page
Dedication................................................................................................................ ii
Acknowledgments................................................................................................... iii
List of Tables........................................................................................................... ix
List of Figures.......................................................................................................... x
List of Abbreviations............................................................................................... xi
Abstract.....................................................................................................................xii
Chapter 1: Introduction.......................................................................................... 1
1.1 Background.................................................................................................... 1
1.2 Data, Scope and Purpose............................................................................... 2
1.3 Overview of Thai Syntax............................................................................... 5
1.4 Theoretical Framework and Tools.................................................................7
1.4.1 Head-Driven Phrase Structure Grammar: Introduction........................ 7
1.4.1.1 Lexicon........................................................................................ 13
1.4.1.2 Principles.....................................................................................15
1.4.1.3 Schemata......................................................................................17
1.4.2 Minimal Recursion Semantics.............................................................. 22
1.4.3 Constituency Tests................................................................................ 24
1.5 Organization and Overview of Results.......................................................... 32
1.6 Thai Phonemes...............................................................................................33
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Chapter 2: Directional Serial Verb Constructions............................................... 35
2.1 Introduction................................................................................................... 35
2.2 Serial Verb Constructions in Thai................................................................. 36
2.2.1 Definition of Serial Verb Constructions............................................... 36
2.2.2 Thai Serial Verb Constructions............................................................ 37
2.3 Previous analyses of Directional SVCs......................................................... 39
2.4 Constituent and Argument Structures of Thai Directional Serial Verbs....... 45
2.4.1 Constituent Structure............................................................................ 45
2.4.2 Argument Structures of Verbs in Directional SVCs............................. 51
2.5 Ordering constraints.......................................................................................54
2.6 Analysis of Thai Directional Serial Verb Constructions............................... 60
2.6.1 Syntactic Analysis of Thai Directional Serial Verb Constructions...... 60
2.6.2 Semantic Composition in Thai Directional Serial Verb Constructions..87
2.7 Conclusion..................................................................................................... 95
Chapter 3: Aspect morphemes in Thai.................................................................. 97
3.1 Introduction................................................................................................... 97
3.2 Thai Aspect Morphemes................................................................................ 98
3.2.1 Semantic Properties.............................................................................. 102
3.2.1.1 Morphemes from Slot 1............................................................... 102
3.2.1.1.1 Aspect Morphemes............................................................. 102
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3.2.1.1.2 Modal Morphemes..............................................................113
3.2.1.1.3 Possible Combinations of Morphemes from Slot 1............ 113
3.2.1.2 Morphemes from Slot 3............................................................... 115
3.2.1.2.1 Modal Morpheme............................................................... 115
3.2.1.2.2 Aspect Morphemes with Predicative Meaning................... 116
3.2.1.2.3 Aspect Morphemes with Non-predicative Meaning........... 120
3.2.1.2.4 Possible Combinations of Morphemes from Slot 3............ 133
3.2.1.3 Morpheme from Slot 4................................................................. 134
3.2.1.4 Possible Combinations of Aspect Morphemes from Slots 1 and 3
with the Perfect Morpheme......................................................... 135
3.2.2 Positional Properties of Thai Aspect Morphemes................................ 136
3.2.3 Combinatorial Properties of Thai Aspect Morphemes......................... 139
3.3 Restrictions in Combining Thai Aspect Morphemes.................................... 142
3.4 Conclusion..................................................................................................... 145
Chapter 4: Parts of Speech and Structures of Thai Aspect Morphemes............ 147
4.1 Introduction....................................................................................................147
4.2 Parts of Speech of Thai Aspect Morphemes.................................................. 148
4.3 Structures of Thai Aspectual Constructions.................................................. 164
4.3.1 Syntactic Structure of Thai Aspectual Constructions........................... 164
4.3.1.1 Head-Complement Structure...................................................... 166
4.3.1.2 Head-Modifier Structure............................................................. 173
4.3.2 Scope Relations in Thai Aspectual Constructions................................ 177
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