An Optimality Theoretic Analysis of the Distribution of Hakka Prepositions DI, DO, BUN, LAU, TUNG, ZIONG

Abstract

This paper has three purposes. The first purpose is to examine the uses of the prepositions: di， do， bun， tau, tung, ziong, and generalize an overall structural pattern for the Hakka YP involving prepositional phrases. The second purpose is to distinguish between the PPs functioning as complements and adjuncts of the verb, and argues that the two types of PPs may occur in four different syntactic positions depending on their syntactic and semantic functions. The third purpose is to formulate an Optimality Theoretic analysis to account for the different positioning of PPs. The analysis is achieved through two rounds of aT evaluation. The first round is based on the semantic aT, by which each PP receives its complement or adjunct interpretation when appearing in the YP. The second round is syntactically oriented. By proposing various manifestations of Generalized Alignment Constraints for complement PPs associated with different semantic functions and adjunct PPs exhibiting a relatively more peripheral relation with the verb, this paper will show that the interaction of these alignment constraints provides an alternative account for the distribution of the four different kinds of PPs.