‘Good’ Is ‘Possible’: A Case Study of the Modal Uses of ‘Good’ in Shaoxing

Abstract

This paper sets out to investigate the modal uses of the lexeme hɒ³ ‘good’ in the Jidong Shaoxing variety of Wu and to reconstruct its grammaticalization pathway. Modal meanings of hɒ³ include circumstantial possibility, deontic possibility and necessity, and epistemic possibility. These meanings can be summarized as ‘can’, ‘may’, and ‘should’, respectively. The modal meanings of hɒ³ are derived from its meaning of ‘fit to’ rather than ‘good’. We propose here that hɒ³ first extended to express circumstantial possibility, and then further extended to denote deontic modality and participant-internal possibility in two separate directions: (i) circumstantial possibility > deontic modality, and (ii) circumstantial possibility > participant-internal possibility. The epistemic use of hɒ³ is proposed as the final stage of the lexeme’s modal extension.

1. Introduction

Modality is a semantic domain concerning how languages code possibility and necessity. Languages may adopt different strategies to express modality, such as auxiliary verbs, morphological devices of mood, modal affixes, lexical means, modal adverbs and adjectives, modal tags, modal particles, and modal case (de Hann 2006). While Sinitic languages are well known for lacking morphological mood, modality is expressed by auxiliary verbs, adverbs, and potential constructions, as well as particles. Among these devices, auxiliary verbs are the most common means of expressing possibility and necessity in Sinitic languages (Chappell and Peyraube 2016).

Modal auxiliaries in Standard Mandarin can be divided into necessity and possibility modal verbs. Possibility modal verbs include hui⁴ 会 ‘can < know, comprehend’, ke³yi³ 可以 ‘can, may < fit so as to’, and neng² 能 ‘can < capable’, while necessity modal verbs include dei³ 得 ‘must < obtain’, gai¹ 该 ‘should < owe’, and yao⁴ 要 ‘need, must’. According to a survey by Fan (2014, pp. 15–187), these are common modal verbs in Sinitic languages. Different Sinitic languages or dialects have developed various lexical sources into modal auxiliaries, for example, kuan⁴⁴ 管 ‘can < manage, supply’ in Fangcheng Central Plains Mandarin (L. Wang 2013), iəɯ²²fɐʔ⁵ 有法 ‘can < have methods’ and ua⁵¹ 话 ‘can < say’ in Liujiang Jinde Hakka (Y. Wang 2019), tɕʰieʔ⁵⁻³³teʔ⁵⁻³³loʔ²⁻⁵³ 吃得落 ‘can < can eat’ in Shaoxing Wu (Sheng 2021, p. 416), and hao 好 ‘can < good’ in Jieyang Min (Xu 2007, pp. 234–37) and Hakka (Huang 1995, p. 116; Yeh 2012; Zhuang and Huang 2014, pp. 223–24). In fact, hao ‘good’ has been adapted as a modal auxiliary in a contiguous area around the Yangtze River Delta. This phenomenon might be considered as a micro-areal phenomenon.

This paper will offer a case study on the modal uses of hɒ³ 好 ‘good’ in the Jidong variety of Shaoxing Wu. First, a detailed synchronic description of the modal uses of hɒ³ ‘good’ in Jidong Shaoxing is given. This is followed by a diachronic reconstruction of the pathway of grammaticalization from ‘good’ to ‘can, may, should’ of hɒ³. Observation of hɒ³′s distribution indicates that its modal uses are derived from the auxiliary use of its meaning ‘fit to’ rather than directly from its meaning ‘good’. We find that in a grammatical sentence containing hɒ³, the situation expressed by the matrix VP is often enabled by an external or an internal condition. It is from this circumstantial possibility that the participant-internal possibility of hɒ³ is derived. Our finding contributes some new evidence in support of Narrog’s (2012, pp. 187–90, 202–9) findings that circumstantial possibility may develop into participant-internal possibility and deontic possibility may extend to deontic necessity. The bidirectional developments ‘circumstantial ↔ participant-internal’ and ‘deontic possibility ↔ deontic necessity’ hold (Narrog 2012, pp. 185–221). We also propose that the epistemic use of hɒ³ is derived from the uses of both circumstantial and participant-internal possibility. The semantic connection between the deontic and epistemic uses of hɒ³ is not obvious in Jidong Shaoxing, unlike the well-known deontic–epistemic polysemy of English must (Traugott and Dasher 2001, pp. 120–21).

Section 2 discusses the modality types distinguished in this paper. Section 3 presents background information and basic linguistic features of the target language. Section 4 introduces the polysemy of the lexeme hɒ³. Section 5 sets out to illustrate the modal uses of hɒ³. Section 6 aims to reconstruct the grammaticalization pathway of hɒ³ and offers a comparison with the diachrony of hao³ ‘good’ in the history of Chinese. Section 7 is a general conclusion.

2. Modality Types and Terminology

The domain of modality can be organized in several ways. Deontic, dynamic, and epistemic are the most broadly accepted concepts. Coates (1983, p. 10) contrasts root modality, which comprises both dynamic and deontic, and epistemic modality. van der Auwera and Plungian (1998) oppose epistemic and non-epistemic (later revised as situational (van der Auwera and Ammann 2013a)), with the latter subdivided into participant-internal and participant-external. Palmer (2001) proposes an opposition of event modality (deontic and dynamic) and propositional modality (epistemic and evidential). Narrog (2012, p. 46) suggests volitive modal categories opposed to non-volitive modal categories. Given that a reorganization of our understandings of modality is not an aim of the current paper, here we adopt subcategories of modality solely on the basis of their relevance in describing the polysemy of hɒ³. Relevant modal concepts include:

• Circumstantial possibility
• Circumstantial possibility refers to a proposition enabled by certain external circumstances (Narrog 2012, p. 10). It can also be interpreted as a possibility allowed by external conditions, as in (1).

(1)

You can get to University City by taking subway line 9.

• Permission and weak obligation
• Both permission and obligation belong to deontic modality, also known as deontic possibility and necessity. Deontic modality refers to possibility or necessity determined by certain social norms, expectations, or a speaker’s desire or command (see Palmer 2001, p. 10; van der Auwera and Plungian 1998, p. 81). Permission denotes that a participant is allowed to complete an action (Bybee et al. 1994, p. 320), as in (2), while weak obligation means that a participant was advised to complete an action (Bybee et al. 1994, p. 320). In English, weak obligation is usually expressed by should and ought, as in (3).

(2)

You may leave now.

(3)

You should leave now.

• Participant-internal possibility
• Participant-internal possibility refers to “a kind of possibility […] internal to a participant engaged in the state of affairs” and it covers dynamic possibility, ability, and capacity (van der Auwera and Plungian 1998, pp. 80, 82), as in (4).

(4)

She can lift that heavy stone.

• Epistemic possibility
• Epistemic possibility refers to a speaker’s degree of certainty about a proposition (van der Auwera and Ammann 2013b); see (5). Epistemic modality is generally relevant to knowledge, belief, and related notions.

(5)

The bus may be late (due to the snow).

3. Jidong Shaoxing and Some Basic Features

3.1. Variety under Investigation

Shaoxing 绍兴话 is a Northern Wu dialect of Sinitic belonging to the Linshao subdivision 临绍小片 of the Taihu division 太湖片 (Wang and Cao 2012, p. 104). The variety under investigation, Jidong 稽东, is spoken in Jidong Town in the southern suburb of Shaoxing Prefecture and is classified as belonging to the Southern Suburb variety of Shaoxing (Tao et al. 2014).

The data presented in this paper were collected with four native speakers from 2022 to 2023. Our consultants represented three generations within the same family. They were Mr. Huang Tangfu 黄汤富 (born in 1955), Mrs. Huang Xingqin 黄杏琴 (born in 1957), Mr. Huang Yongjiang 黄永江 (born in 1977), and the second author Mr. Huang Xiao 黄骁 (born in 2002). Mr. Huang Yongjiang speaks an innovative variety of Jidong Shaoxing, while the other three speak a conservative variety.

Our corpus included both spontaneous and elicited data. Spontaneous data illustrated in this paper were either extracted from a corpus of six hours of audio material or taken from unrecorded daily conversations which were not part of the corpus. Elicited data comprised about 130 sentences. Elicited data presented in this paper will be indicated as ‘elicitation’, while the data with unmarked sources were either from our corpus or the unrecorded daily conversations. It is worth mentioning that when performing elicitation we did not simply ask for translations from Standard Mandarin to Jidong Shaoxing. Instead, taking semantic nuances of modals into consideration, we provided different contexts as stimuli for our consultants.

3.2. Basic Features

Shaoxing possesses eight tones: Tone 1/33/, Tone 2/13/, Tone 3/435/, Tone 4/213/, Tone 5/52/, Tone 6/231/, Tone 7/4/, and Tone 8/23/. Tones 7 and 8 are two checked tones. Any syllable bearing Tone 7 or 8 ends with a glottal stop/ʔ/. We will hereafter refer to the tones with a superscript of the number by which the tone is named. Note that tone sandhi is not represented in our transcription. Shaoxing is basically a VO language, especially in dependent clauses and when an object appears with a complex modifier, as shown in (6). Wu languages are characterized by topic prominence (Liu 2001) and constructions with topicalized objects are commonly observed in Shaoxing, as in (7). A topicalized object can occupy either a sentence initial position (7) or can follow the subject and precede the verb. As an analytic language, Shaoxing grammatical relations are realized by prepositions or word order. See example (6) for an example of a dative argument marked by the dative preposition pə⁷ ‘to’.

(6)

我拨侬讲讲□前头做生活种事体。

ŋo⁴

pə⁷

noŋ⁴

kɒŋ3kɒŋ3

ŋa⁴

ʑjᴇ̃2də2

tso⁵

saŋ1ɦwo⁸

tsoŋ3

zɿ⁶tʰi3.

1sg

dat

2sg

tell.dlm

1pl

beforetime

do

life

clf

thing

‘I’ll tell you something about how (I) made a living before.’

(7)

榧子摘落来要囥得好。

fi3tsɿ3

tsa⁷-lə⁸lᴇ2

ʔjɒ⁵

kʰɒŋ⁵-tə⁷-hɒ3.

Torreya

pick-fall.come

need

store-vcomp-good

‘After picking the Torreya nuts, (they) must be well stored.’

Sheng (2021) provides a detailed description of the Shaoxing grammatical system, though it focuses on the Keqiao 柯桥 variety, i.e., the Western Suburb variety, which is slightly different from the variety under investigation here.

3.3. Modal Auxiliaries and Potential Constructions

We summarize the distributional features of auxiliary verbs in Jidong Shaoxing following Heine (1993, pp. 20–24) and Zhu (1982, p. 122). In Jidong Shaoxing, auxiliary verbs form a closed class of words. They are free elements taking verbal or clausal complements in the form of [AUX VP] which feature reduced verbal behaviors. Auxiliary verbs in Jidong Shaoxing cannot take any aspectual marking as verbs do.

In an auxiliary construction, the strategy V (NEG) V is applied to the auxiliary verb to form a polar question. An auxiliary verb can stand alone to answer a polar question. See the example below for a polar question formed with the auxiliary ɦwᴇ⁶ 会 ‘can’ and a positive response.

(8)	侬游水会会游{个□}？会{个□}。
	noŋ⁴	ljɤ2sɿ3	ɦwᴇ⁶	ɦwᴇ⁶	ljɤ2	ɡɒ?	ɦwᴇ⁶	ɡo⁸.
	2sg	swim	can	can	swim	aff.prt	can	aff.prt
	‘Can you swim? (Yes, I) can.’ (Elicitation)

Some common Sinitic auxiliary verbs are used in Jidong Shaoxing. ɦwᴇ⁶ ‘can < know’ is used to express possibility, as in (8); ʔjɒ⁵ 要 ‘must, should < need’ is used to code necessity; and ɕjaŋ³ 想 ‘want’ and kʰiŋ³ 肯 ‘be willing’ are used to express willingness. While neng² and ke³yi³ are used to denote possibility and permission in Standard Mandarin, these meanings are expressed by potential constructions and hɒ³ ‘can < good’ in Jidong Shaoxing.1 For this, see

Table 1. Modal auxiliary verbs in Jidong Shaoxing.

Possibility	Necessity	Willingness
hɒ3 好 ‘can < good’	hɒ3 好 ‘should < good’	ɕjaŋ3 想 ‘want’
ɦwᴇ⁶ 会 ‘can < know’	ʔjɒ⁵ 要 ‘must, should < need’	kʰiŋ3 肯 ‘be willing’
	(ʔiŋ1)kᴇ1 （应）该 ‘should < owe’

and also Sheng (2021, pp. 413–31).

Sinitic languages often adopt potential constructions to express possibility in the form of [V-POT-COMP], with [V-NEG-COMP] as the negated form (Chappell and Peyraube 2016, pp. 312–15). In the negated form, the potential marker and the negator are considered as infixes (Chao 1968, pp. 437–38; Sun 2006, p. 60). In Jidong Shaoxing, potential constructions, V-tə⁷-COMP, are also commonly used to express possibility and are relevant to the modal uses of hɒ³ in Jidong Shaoxing. When denoting ‘cannot’, it is a negated potential construction that is used rather than the negated hɒ³ ‘can’, fə⁸ hɒ³ ‘not good’. The most generalized potential construction is V-tə⁷-lᴇ² ‘V-pot-come’, with V-və⁸-lᴇ² ‘V-neg-come’ as the negated form. Both (9a) and (9b) can denote ‘cannot run’, with dɒ²-və⁸-lᴇ² ‘run-neg-come’ having an additional meaning of prohibition.

(9)	a.	逃不动	b.	逃不来
		dɒ2-və⁸-doŋ⁴		dɒ2-və⁸-lᴇ2
		run-neg-move		run-neg-come
		‘cannot run’ (Elicitation)		‘cannot run’ (Elicitation)

See Section 5 for more details.

4. Polysemy of hɒ³ in Jidong Shaoxing

In Jidong Shaoxing, the lexeme hɒ³ 好 is a polysemous and multi-functional word. hɒ³ can serve as an adjective/adjectival verb ‘good, fitting, ready, done, ok’, as an auxiliary verb ‘fit to, easy to, can, may, should’, as a resultative verb complement denoting a completed action, as an adverb ‘quite’, and as a complementizer introducing a purposive clause. The mentioned uses of hɒ³ in Jidong Shaoxing are also attested in Standard Mandarin (Lü [1980] 1999, pp. 256–58), except that hɒ³ in Jidong Shaoxing possesses more modal uses than hao³ does in Standard Mandarin.

As an adjective, the basic meaning of hɒ³ is ‘good’. Adjectives in Jidong Shaoxing function like intransitive verbs in a way, a common feature for East and Southeast Asian languages. No copula is needed when forming an adjectival predicate, and some adjectives can bear aspectual marking as intransitives do. The two features that distinguish adjectives from intransitive verbs are that (i) adjectives can modify nouns directly and (ii) adverbs can be derived from them. Examples (10) and (11) illustrate the attributive and the predicative uses of hɒ³ ‘good’, respectively. Example (12) shows its derivational use as an adverb, achieved via reduplication and the use of the adverbializer tɕjɒ⁵.

(10)

破剪刀覅用哉，用个把好剪刀。

pʰa⁵

tɕjᴇ̃3tɒ¹

fjɒ3

ɦjoŋ⁶

dzᴇ,

ɦjoŋ⁶

ɡə⁸

po3

hɒ3

tɕjᴇ̃3tɒ¹.

broken

scissor

neg.imp

use

crs

use

s_prox

clf

good

scissor

‘Don’t use the broken scissors. Use this good pair.’ (Elicitation)

(11)

□个香榧是好{个□}。

ŋa⁴

ɡə⁸

ɕiaŋ¹fi3

zᴇ⁴

hɒ3

ɡo⁸.

1pl

poss

Torreya

indeed

good

aff.prt

‘Our Torreya nuts are indeed good.’

(12)

米好好□来□，侬弄渠作啥？

mi⁴

hɒ3hɒ3

tɕjɒ⁵

lᴇ2doŋ,

noŋ⁴

loŋ⁶

ɦi⁴

tsə⁵

so⁵?

rice

well

adv

be.at

2sg

do

3sg

do

what

‘The rice was fine there. How come you messed it up?’

The meaning ‘good’ can imply the meaning ‘suitable’. In (13), hɒ³ denotes ‘suitable’ or ‘better’.

(13)	渠脸盘大，还是留长头发好。
	ɦi⁴	ljᴇ̃⁴bə̃2	do⁶,	ɦwæ2zə⁸	ljə2	dzaŋ2	də2fa⁷	hɒ3.
	3sg	face	big	still	keep	long	hair	good
	‘She has a big face and long hair suits her.’

In (14), marked by the currently relevant state marker dzᴇ, hɒ³ denotes ‘ready, done’. hɒ³ in (15) serves as a resultative complement turning the verb tɕʰiə⁷ ‘eat’ into a telic verb phrase expressing a completed action.

(14)	饭好哉。
	væ⁶		hɒ3		dzᴇ.
	meal		good		crs
	‘The meal is ready.’
(15)	饭吃好哉。
	væ⁶	tɕʰjə⁷-hɒ3		dzᴇ.
	meal	eat-good		crs
	‘(I) finished (my) meal.’

As an auxiliary, hɒ³ takes verbal or clausal complements and can denote ‘fit to, be easy to, can, may, should’. hɒ³ in (16) denotes ‘be easy to’, while (17) is ambiguous and can be interpreted as either ‘fit to’ or as ‘can’. See Section 5 for more examples of the modal uses of hɒ³.

(16)

个道题□坐好做□。

ɡə⁸

dɒ⁴

di2

mə⁸

zo⁴

hɒ3

tso⁵

jə⁸.

s_prox

clf

question

top

sit/extremely

good

do

prt

‘This problem is extremely easy to solve.’

(17)

雄花粉埲拢过个半个月好打药水□。

ɦjoŋ2hwo1fɘŋ1

boŋ⁴-loŋ⁴

ku⁵

ɡə⁸

pə̃⁵

ɡə⁸

ɦjo⁸

hɒ3

male.flower.pollen

shake-gather

pass

clf

half

clf

month

good

taŋ3

ɦja⁸sɿ3

ɦa.

beat

pesticide

prt

‘A half month after (female Torreya trees) are pollinated manually (with) male pollen, i. it’s the right time for spraying pesticide.’ ii. one can spray pesticide.’

In terms of syntactic position, the auxiliary hɒ³ might sometimes be considered as an adverb. This is especially true in an example like (16) where the meaning ‘be easy to’ could be interpreted as ‘easily’ modifying the verb tso⁵ ‘do’. However, auxiliaries and adverbs are characterized by different syntactic behaviors. As mentioned in Section 3.3, when transforming a declarative sentence with an auxiliary into a polar question, the strategy V (NEG) V is applied to the auxiliary instead of to the main verb, as in (18).

(18)	个道题好（不）好做□？
	ɡə⁸	dɒ⁴	di2	hɒ3	(və⁸)	hɒ3	tso⁵	ɦa?
	s_prox	clf	question	good	neg	good	do	prt
	‘Is this problem easy to solve?’ (Elicitation)

Compare (19) with (16) and (18). The adverb ŋᴇ² ‘very’ in (19a) occupies the same preverbal position as hɒ³ does in (16). To transform (19a) into a polar question, one must apply the strategy V (NEG) V to the predicative adjective næ² ‘difficult’, as in (19b). Yet, this strategy can never be used with an adverb. The form ŋᴇ² (və⁸) ŋᴇ² ‘lit: very not very’ in (19c) is ungrammatical.

(19)	a.	个道题呆难□。
		ɡə⁸	dɒ⁴	di2	ŋᴇ2	næ2	da.
		s_prox	clf	question	very	difficult	prt
		‘This problem is very difficult.’ (Elicitation)
	b.	个道题难（不）难□？
		ɡə⁸	dɒ⁴	di2	næ2	(və⁸)	næ2	ɦa?
		s_prox	clf	question	difficult	neg	difficult	prt
		‘Is this problem difficult?’ (Elicitation)
	c.	*个道题呆（不）呆难□？
		*ɡə⁸	dɒ⁴	di2	ŋᴇ2	(və⁸)	ŋᴇ2	næ2	ɦa?
		s_prox	clf	question	very	neg	very	difficult	prt
		Attempted: ‘Is this problem very difficult?’ (Elicitation)

Beyond its uses as an auxiliary, hɒ³ also has more grammaticalized uses. Namely, hɒ³ is used as a complementizer to introduce a purposive clause equivalent to the English counterpart ‘so as to’. This function may be closely related to the auxiliary use of hɒ³. In the example below, the first clause ‘take away the quilt’ is uttered in a context in which this action will allow the speaker to put a sheet on the bed. The two clauses are linked by hɒ³.

(20)	棉被驮还，好让我铺床单方便些。
	mjᴇ̃2bi⁴	do2-ɦwæ2,	hɒ3	ȵjaŋ⁶	ŋo⁴	pʰu1	dzɒŋ2tæ1	fɒŋ1bjᴇ̃⁶	sə⁷.
	quilt	take-away	good	let	1sg	lay	sheet	convenient	a.bit
	‘Take away the quilt so as to let me easily put the sheet on.’ (Elicitation)

Finally, like Standard Mandarin, hɒ³ in Jidong Shaoxing can serve as an adverb meaning ‘quite’, i.e., a degree intensifier. This use of hɒ³ is quite limited. The most common case is that hɒ³ modifies the adjective ljaŋ⁴ ‘several’, as in the following example.

(21)	头歇儿车路里有好两个人轧死哉□。
	də⁴ɕjᴇ̃	tɕʰjo1lu⁶	li⁴	ɦjə⁴	hɒ3	ljaŋ⁴	ɡə⁸	ȵiŋ2	za⁸-sa⁷
	just.now	road	inside	there.be	good	several	clf	person	crush-die
	dzᴇ	mə⁸.
	crs	prt
	‘There were easily several people that were crushed to death on the road.’

As can be observed from the examples given above, the modal uses of hɒ³ ‘good’ account for a number of its auxiliary uses. The nuances of its modal meanings will be elaborated in the next section.

5. Modal Uses of hɒ³

Like English can and may or Standard Mandarin neng² ‘can’ and ke³yi³ ‘may’, the modal meaning of hɒ³ in Jidong Shaoxing is largely dependent on context. This section presents the different types of modality that hɒ³ can express. In a nutshell, hɒ³ can denote circumstantial and physical possibility, permission, weak obligation, and epistemic possibility, but cannot denote mental ability or learned skills.

5.1. Circumstantial Possibility

Circumstantial possibility is the most common modal use of hɒ³ in Jidong Shaoxing and denotes that an action is enabled under certain conditions external to the participant. This use can be easily observed in narratives involving production or treatment processes. Example (22) is one such case. This example concerns how to process Torreya nuts. The procedure of cleaning, expressed with the modal hɒ³ in (22i), can only be carried out after the peels of the Torreya nuts completely rot off, i.e., the peel’s rotting off is the enabling condition for cleaning. Cleaning is, in turn, the enabling condition for the drying process (22ii), which is also realized with the modal hɒ³. Both hɒ³ in (22) denote circumstantial possibility and can be interpreted as ‘can’. Note that ɦwᴇ⁶ in (22), used along with hɒ³, is an adverbial use denoting ‘only then’ and corresponding to the adverb cai² 才 ‘only then’ in Standard Mandarin. This adverbial use of ɦwᴇ⁶ differs from its auxiliary use in (24). See also (29) for another instance of the adverbial use.

(22)	烂□过十日会好戽，戽过会好晒。
	(i)	læ⁶	doŋ	ku⁵	zə⁸	ȵjə⁸	ɦwᴇ⁶	hɒ3	ɸu⁵,
		rot	dur	pass	ten	day	only.then	good	wash
	(ii)	ɸu⁵-ku⁵	ɦwᴇ⁶	hɒ3	sa⁵.
		wash-pass	only.then	good	dry.in.the.sun
	‘(Let the peels of the Torreya nuts) rot for ten days and only then (you) can wash (the Torreya nuts). Only after washing (them), can (you) dry them in the sun.’

We have mentioned above that hɒ³ cannot be used to express mental or learned ability. Thus, the clause (23ii) ‘I can speak French’ does not express the ability of speaking French but denotes that it is possible to speak French under circumstances in which speaking English is unnecessary. To express mental ability or learned skills, one must use the modal verb ɦwᴇ⁶ ‘can’, as in Standard Mandarin. See examples (24) and (8).

(23)

□听不懂英语有啥要紧□，我好话法语个□。

(i)

ɦja⁴

tʰiŋ⁵-və⁸-toŋ3

ʔiŋ1ȵy⁴

ɦjə⁴

so⁵

ʔjɒ⁵tɕiŋ3

nə⁸,

3pl

listen-neg-understand

English

have

what

importance

prt

(ii)

ŋo⁴

hɒ3

ɦwo⁶

fa⁷ȵy⁴

ɡə⁸

jæ.

1sg

good

speak

French

aff

prt

‘It doesn’t matter if they can’t understand English. I can speak French.’

(24)

我会话法语个□。

ŋo⁴

ɦwᴇ⁶

ɦwo⁶

fa⁷ȵy⁴

ɡə⁸

jæ.

1sg

can

speak

French

aff

prt

‘I can speak French.’ (Elicitation)

In (25), a circumstantial condition is not overtly mentioned, but the sentence implies that there are several ways to get to University City. Taking Line 9 is one possible option.

(25)	侬□大学城好坐9号线{个□}。
	noŋ⁴	ta⁵	da⁶ɦjo⁸dzɘŋ2	hɒ3	zo⁴	tɕjə3ɦɒ⁶ɕjᴇ̃⁵	ɡo.
	2sg	all	university.city	good	sit	number.nine.line	aff.prt
	‘You can take Line 9 to go to University City.’

Example (26) is a topic–comment construction. The sentence-initial noun ka⁷ŋ² pᴇ⁵ ‘turtle shell’ is not the agent of the VP hɒ³ tso⁵ ɦja⁸ ‘can make medicine’ but the material. Therefore, even though the possibility expressed in (26) is related to the intrinsic property of turtle shells, we still consider this case to be one of circumstantial possibility, as it is the medicinal value of turtle shells that allows them to be made into medicine.

(26)	甲鱼背好做药个□。
	ka⁷ŋ2	pᴇ⁵	hɒ3	tso⁵	ɦja⁸	ɡə⁸	jæ.
	soft.shell.turtle	back	good	do	medicine	aff	prt
	‘Turtle shells can be made into (Chinese traditional) medicine.’

Interestingly, the have-construction, [ɦjə⁴_HAVE + NP_i + hɒ³_GOOD + VP + ∅_i], is often used to express possibility.2 In this construction, the VP should be a transitive verb with an absent object. The absent object is co-referential with the NP following the verb ɦjə⁴ ‘have’. See also (30a-ii) and (38) for the same construction denoting permission and dynamic possibility, respectively. The example below is semantically analogous to example (26). The quantity of raw rice determines how much steamed rice one can have.

(27)	三升米有五碗好烧。
	sæ1	sɘŋ1	mi⁴	ɦjə⁴	ŋ⁴	ʔwə̃3	hɒ3	sɒ1.
	three	cup	rice	have	five	bowl	good	cook
	‘Three cups of raw rice can be made into five bowls of steamed rice.’

It should be noted that hɒ³ demonstrates asymmetrical semantic extension in Jidong Shaoxing. The negated hɒ³ does not denote impossibility or prohibition but denotes ‘not suitable’ (see (31)–(33) and further discussion in Section 6). Rather, the opposite of a modal proposition formed by hɒ³ has to be expressed by a negated potential construction [V-NEG-COMP] in which lᴇ² ‘come’ is the most frequent lexeme occupying the complement position, as mentioned in Section 3.3. Compare the two clauses in (28). Both (28a) and (28b) can be produced after the clause ‘the shop is contaminated with the coronavirus’, with (28a) as a clause of contrast and (28b) as a clause of consequence. The impossibility of using the shared bicycles in (28b) cannot be realized by simply negating the modal hɒ³, but must be expressed by the negated potential construction dʑi²-və⁸-lᴇ² ‘cannot ride’.

(28)	后头爿店个个毛病惹牢□，
	ɦə⁴də2		bæ⁶	tjᴇ̃⁵	ɡə⁸	ɡə⁸	mɒ2biŋ⁶	ȵja⁴-lɒ2		lə⁸,
	back		clf	shop	s_prox	clf	illness	attract-tight		prt
	a.	前头个共享单车话道照样好用□。
		ʑjᴇ̃2də2		ɡə⁸	goŋ⁶ɕjaŋ3	tæ1tɕʰjo1	ɦwo⁶dɒ⁴	tsɒ⁵ɦjaŋ⁶	hɒ3	ɦjoŋ⁶	la.
		front		mod	shared	bicycle	unexpectedly	as.usual	good	use	prt
	‘Even though the shop is contaminated with the coronavirus, the shared bicycles in front of it are still available for use.’
	b.	前头个共享单车也骑不来哉。
		ʑjᴇ̃2də2		ɡə⁸	goŋ⁶ɕjaŋ3	tæ1tɕʰjo1	ɦa⁴	dʑi2-və⁸-lᴇ2		dzᴇ.
		front		mod	shared	bicycle	also	ride-neg-come		crs
	‘The shop is contaminated with the coronavirus, (so) the shared bicycles in front of (the shop) aren’t available for use any more.’ (Elicitation)

5.2. Permission and Weak Obligation

In Jidong Shaoxing, hɒ³ can express both permission and weak obligation, both of which belong to deontic modality. Semantically, these modal types correspond to ‘may’ and ‘should, ought to’, respectively. Like circumstantial possibility (van der Auwera and Plungian 1998), the enabling conditions of these two modality types are also participant-external except that permission and weak obligation are determined by speakers or social or ethical norms.

5.2.1. Permission

Example (29) demonstrates hɒ³ used to express legal marriage ages in China. (30q) is a polar question asking for one’s permission in which the reduplicated form hɒ³ hɒ³ is the contracted form of V (NEG) V when forming a polar question (see also (8) and (19)). A positive answer to (30q) is given in (30a-i). In (30a-ii), the possessive construction is used to denote permission. tɕjə⁵ is the contraction of the adverb tsə⁷ ‘only’ and the possessive verb ɦjə⁴ ‘have’.3

(29)

男个要廿二岁，女个廿岁会好结婚□。

nə̃2

ɡə⁸

ʔjɒ⁵

ȵjæ⁶ȵi⁶

sᴇ⁵,

ȵy⁴

ɡə⁸

ȵjæ⁶

sᴇ⁵

male

nmlz

need

twenty-two

year

female

nmlz

twenty

year

ɦwᴇ⁶

hɒ3

tɕjə⁷hwɘŋ1

lᴇ.

only.then

good

marry

prt

‘Men can only get married when they attain 22 years of age and the legal age of marriage for women is 20.’ (Elicitation)

(30)

q-

个颗糖我好好吃？

ɡə⁸

kʰo1

dɒŋ2

ŋo⁴

hɒ3

hɒ3

tɕʰjə⁷?

s_prox

clf

candy

1sg

good

good

eat

‘May I eat this candy?’

a-

吃是好吃，介{只有}一颗好吃。

(i)

tɕʰjə⁷

zə⁸

hɒ3

tɕʰjə⁷,

(ii)

ka⁷

tɕjə⁵

ʔjə⁷

kʰo1

hɒ3

tɕʰjə⁷.

eat

cop

good

eat

but

only.have

one

clf

good

eat

‘Yes, definitely you may, but you can only eat one.’

As mentioned in Section 3.3 and Section 5.1, the negated hɒ³ may not be used to denote ‘cannot, may not, should not’. To express prohibition, one must adopt the negated potential construction [V-NEG-lᴇ²] ‘cannot, may not’. Compare (31) with (29).

(31)	男个年龄不到廿二岁，婚结不来□。
	nə̃2	ɡə⁸	ȵjᴇ̃2liŋ2	fə⁷	tɒ⁵	ȵjæ⁶ȵi⁶	sᴇ⁵,	hwɘŋ1
	male	nmlz	age	neg	attain	twenty-two	year	marriage
	tɕjə⁷-və⁸-lᴇ2	lᴇ.
	marry-neg-come	prt
	‘Men cannot get married (legally), if they haven’t attained 22 years of age.’ (Elicitation)

Similarly, to deny the request in (30q), the negated potential construction tɕʰjə⁷-və⁸-lᴇ² ‘may not eat’ is used, as shown in (32).

(32)	a-	吃不来{个□}，看牙齿烂光。
		tɕʰjə⁷-və⁸-lᴇ2	ɡo⁸,	kʰə̃⁵	ŋo2tsʰɿ3	læ⁶-kwɒŋ1.
		eat-neg-come	aff.prt	look	tooth	rot-finish
		‘No, you may not. Beware of rotten teeth.’

The semantic asymmetry between hɒ³ ‘can’ and fə⁸ hɒ³ ‘not good, not suitable’ makes Jidong Shaoxing stand out among other Wu dialects in which not good is observed to denote ‘may not, cannot’, such as Shanghainese (B. Huang 1996, p. 295; Qian 1997, p. 132) and Xianju Wu 仙居话.4 Compare the two sentences from Jidong Shaoxing and Xianju given in (33). To express ‘one may not smoke indoors’, the negated potential construction tɕʰjə⁷-və⁸-lᴇ² ‘cannot eat’ is used in Jidong Shaoxing, while fao⁴² ‘cannot’, which is the fusion of the negator fəʔ² and hao³²⁴ ‘can < good’, is used in Xianju.

(33)	Jidong Shaoxing
	a.	里头香烟吃不来{个□}。
		li⁴də2	ɕjaŋ1ʔjᴇ̃1	tɕʰjə⁷-və⁸-lᴇ2	ɡo.
		inside	cigarette	eat-neg-come	aff.prt
		‘(One) may not smoke indoors.’ (Elicitation)
	Xianju Wu 仙居吴语
	b.	间里{不好}吃香烟。
		ka33⁴li32⁴	fao⁴2	tɕʰoʔ⁵	ɕia⁵⁵ie⁴2.
		room.inside	neg.good	eat	cigarette
		‘(One) may not smoke indoors.’ (Elicitation) (Pan Xueyuqing pers. comm.)

5.2.2. Weak Obligation

We have seen permission granted (either by a social norm or a speaker) with the modal hɒ³ ‘good’ in previous examples. When expressing weak obligation with hɒ³, it is often the case that a speaker offers his or her advice or imposes his or her desire in a delicate way on the participant. Example (34) is a case of giving advice or a command. In this sentence, the topicalized object ‘clutch’ precedes the verb and follows the subject.

(34)	侬只离合器好抬起来哉，再闹落去部车都要拨侬闹破哉。
	noŋ⁴	tsə⁷	li2ɦə⁸tɕʰi⁵	hɒ3	dᴇ2-tɕʰi3lᴇ2	dzᴇ,	tsᴇ⁵	nɒ⁶-lə⁸tɕʰi⁵	bu⁶	tɕʰjo1
	2sg	clf	clutch	good	lift-rise.come	crs	still	do-fall.down	clf	car
	tu1	ʔjɒ⁵	pə⁷	noŋ⁴	nɒ⁶-pʰa⁵	dzᴇ.
	all	prosp	pass	2sg	do-break	crs
	‘You should let go of the clutch. Otherwise, you’ll wreck the car.’

By way of contrast, the following two examples are more optative. However, if example (35) is a combination of the speaker’s advice and wish, the case of (36) certainly only involves the speaker’s wish, for a meteorological phenomenon is not an intervenable event.

(35)

侬头发好剪剪哉。

noŋ⁴

də2fa⁷

hɒ3

tɕjᴇ̃3tɕjᴇ̃3

dzᴇ.

2sg

hair

good

cut.dlm

crs

‘You should get a haircut.’

(36)

雨落□介许多日数哉，好停停哉□。

ɦy⁴

lo⁸

lə⁸

ka⁵

ɕy3to1

ȵjə⁸su⁵

dzᴇ,

hɒ3

diŋ2diŋ2

dzᴇ

jə⁸.

rain

fall

prf

so

many

day

crs

good

stop.dlm

crs

prt

‘It has been raining for so many days. It should stop.’

5.3. Participant-Internal Possibility

Participant-internal possibilities expressed by hɒ³ are basically restricted to dynamic abilities or possibilities. We reiterate that the domain of mental ability or learned skills excludes the use of hɒ³. Unlike the uses of hɒ³ illustrated in Section 5.1 and Section 5.2, the possibilities expressed by hɒ³ in (37) and (38) are not enabled by external or circumstantial factors but are determined by participants’ inherent physical strength.

(37)

我一只肩胛两百斤担好挑。

ŋo⁴

ʔjə⁷

tsə⁷

tɕjᴇ̃1ka⁷

ljaŋ⁴pa⁷

tɕiŋ1

tæ⁵

hɒ3

tʰjɒ1.

1sg

one

clf

shoulder

two.hundred

a.half.kilo

load

good

carry

‘I can carry a load of one hundred kilos on one shoulder.’

(38)

侬小辰光脚筋骨好□，我跟□爷爷柴山里走一埭，侬好走两三埭□。

noŋ⁴

ɕjɒ3

zɘŋ2kwɒŋ1

tɕja⁷tɕiŋ1kwə⁷

hɒ3

lᴇ,

ŋo⁴

kiŋ1

na⁴

2sg

small

moment

leg.muscles.bones

good

prt

1sg

and

2sg.poss.kin

ɦja2ɦja2

za2

sæ1

li⁴

tsə3

ʔjə⁷

da⁶,

noŋ⁴

grandfather

firewood

hill

inside

walk

one

vclf

2sg

hɒ3

tsə3

ljaŋ⁴

sæ1

da⁶

lᴇ.

good

walk

two

three

vclf

prt

‘You were of good leg strength when you were little. Within the time me and your grandfather managed to arrive at the hill (to fetch some firewood), you could make several trips.’

Example (39) shows the have-construction used to express physical ability.

(39)	□卯做苦力，介几十斤石头，背牢有好两十里路好走□。
	ɦæ2mɒ⁶	tso⁵	kʰu3ljə⁸,	ka⁵	tɕi3	zə⁸	tɕiŋ1	za⁸də2	pᴇ⁵-lɒ2
	before	do	labor	so	several	ten	a.half.kilo	stone	carry-tight
	ɦjə⁴	hɒ3	ljaŋ⁴	zə⁸	li⁴	lu⁶	hɒ3	tsə3	lᴇ.
	have	good	several	ten	a.half.kilometer	road	good	walk	prt
	‘I could walk quite a dozen kilometers with a dozen kilos of stones carried on my back, when I was doing hard labor long before.’

Nevertheless, we do observe some marginal examples beyond the domain of physical ability. In (40), the participants ‘leaves’ are also the subject and are inanimate and cannot initiate an action, but ‘floating on the surface (of the water)’ is relevant to their inherent physical property of being light.

(40)	树叶爿轻飘飘{个□}，水高顶好浮个□。
	zɿ⁶ɦjə⁸bæ⁶	tɕʰiŋ1-pʰjɒ1pʰjɒ1	ɡo⁸,	sɿ3	kɒ1tɘŋ3	hɒ3	və2	ɡə⁸	la.
	leaf	light-viv	aff.prt	water	surface	good	float	aff	prt
	‘Leaves are very light and can float on the surface of the water.’ (Elicitation)

Note that Sheng (2021, p. 416) claims that hɒ³ is only used in the modal have-construction to express dynamic possibility in Keqiao Shaoxing.

5.4. Epistemic Possibility

Finally, hɒ³ can also be used to express presumption in Jidong Shaoxing. Presumption also falls under epistemic possibility since a speaker often makes a presumption based on previous knowledge. As shown in (41), a proposition is made with the knowledge that cherry blossoms usually bloom in late March and early April.

(41)	辰山植物园个樱花好开□哉。
	dzɘŋ2sæ1	dzə⁸və⁸ɦjə̃2	ɡə⁸	ʔiŋ1hwo1	hɒ3	kʰᴇ1	doŋ	dzᴇ.
	ChenshanPLACENAME	botanical.garden	mod	cherry.blossom	good	bloom	prf	crs
	‘The cherry blossoms in the Botanical Garden of Chenshan may have bloomed.’

The proposition below in (42) can be produced in several contexts, such as a context based on daily routine or one’s experiential estimation. Certainly, this sentence possesses a deontic interpretation in certain contexts, such as if the speaker were giving an instruction or order.

(42)	车好来□哉。
	tɕʰjo1	hɒ3	lᴇ2	doŋ	dzᴇ.
	car	good	come	prf	crs
	‘The car/bus should be on the way.’

Example (43) is based on known information which is mentioned in the if-clause. The NP ɦjə⁴ (sə⁷) su⁵ ‘have (some) numbers’ in this sentence is metaphorically used to denote ‘be sure about something’ or ‘know something exactly’.

(43)	是话下卯再碰着介种事体，□个对付侬也好有些数哉{个□}。
	zᴇ⁴ɦwo⁶	ɦo⁴mɒ⁶	tsᴇ⁵	baŋ⁶-dza⁸	ka⁵	tsoŋ3	zɿ⁶tʰi3,	na⁸ɡə⁸	tᴇ⁵fu⁵
	if	next.time	again	run.into-attach	so	kind	thing	how	deal
	noŋ⁴	ɦa⁴	hɒ3	ɦjə⁴	sə⁷	su⁵	dzᴇ	ɡo⁸.
	2sg	also	good	have	some	number	crs	aff.prt
	‘Next time you encounter a similar situation, you may know how to handle it.’

In sum, the lexeme hɒ³ in Jidong Shaoxing has lost its lexical meaning of ‘good’ when used as a modal auxiliary, as can be seen in all the examples illustrated in Section 5. It can denote circumstantial possibility, deontic modality (permission and weak obligation), dynamic physical ability, and epistemic possibility. Like many modal auxiliaries across languages of the world (see Kuteva et al. 2019 for the entries ‘C-possibility’, ‘D-possibility’, ‘D-necessity’, Pi-possibility, and ‘E-possibility’), hɒ³ can be interpreted as ‘can’, ‘may’, or ‘should’ in different contexts. Despite its polysemy as a modal auxiliary, we do observe cases where hɒ³ cannot be used even within the modality types hɒ³ denotes. The restrictions on hɒ³ might be related to its source meaning ‘fit to’ and its circumstantial uses, which will be elaborated in the next section.

6. Reconstruction

We have shown in Section 4 the polysemy of the lexeme hɒ³ in Jidong Shaoxing, but from which meaning is the modal hɒ³ derived? We propose that the modal meaning of hɒ³ is basically derived from the meaning ‘fit to’ but not from the primary meaning ‘good’. To be exact, the hɒ³ of ‘fit to’ has extended to denote first circumstantial and then deontic possibility and necessity. It is from circumstantial possibility that hɒ³ has extended to express participant-internal possibility. Finally, hɒ³ has extended to denote epistemic possibility. For this, see Figure 1.

We propose that the extension of hɒ³ from a non-modal auxiliary to a modal auxiliary is motivated by contextual reanalysis and is a result of grammaticalization. Even though the ‘fit’ hɒ³ and the modal hɒ³ are both auxiliaries, the modal hɒ³ is more desemanticized than the ‘fit’ hɒ³, with desemanticization being one of the four parameters for identifying grammaticalization (Heine and Narrog 2010, p. 405).

The following subsections will explain the semantic extension of hɒ³ stage by stage.

6.1. ‘Fit to’ > Circumstantial Possibility > Deontic Modality

We identify the auxiliary use of hɒ³ ‘fit to’ as the source meaning of its modal uses, since the auxiliary uses of hɒ³ provide the primary syntactic context for its further extension, or grammaticalization, to modal auxiliaries, that is, [AUX VP]. Note that the meaning ‘fit to’ derives from the meaning ‘good’, as ‘good’ can imply the meaning ‘suitable, fit to’. See example (13).

Ambiguity between the meaning ‘fit to’ and the modal meaning ‘can, may, should’ can be easily observed in Jidong Shaoxing. This kind of ambiguous context is labelled “bridging context”5 by Heine (2002) and “critical context” by Diewald (2002). We adopt Heine’s (2002) context-induced grammaticalization model to illustrate the process from ‘fit to’ to ‘can, may, should’ for hɒ³ in Jidong Shaoxing. Ambiguous contexts play an important role in the process of semantic change and grammaticalization “giving rise to an inference in favor of a new meaning” (Heine 2002, p. 86). They are the environments where the mechanism of reanalysis takes effect. That is to say, a bridging context of ‘fit to’-‘can’ provides a breeding environment where the modal meaning of hɒ³ can be inferred. A complete process for the emergence of a new meaning is proposed to comprise four stages: (i) initial stage, (ii) bridging context, (iii) switch context, and (iv) conventionalization (Heine 2002).

In the initial stage, ‘fit to’ is the only reading of hɒ³. Although in most cases hɒ³ ‘fit to’ can also be interpreted as ‘can, may, should’, especially in positive sentences, the exclusive meaning of ‘fit to’ is well preserved in the negated form of hɒ³, i.e., [NEG hɒ³ VP]. As illustrated in (44), the VP fə⁷ da hɒ³ tsʰə̃¹ can only be interpreted as ‘not suitable to wear’. While a Mandarin native speaker or a speaker of other Wu dialects would probably not be convinced by our claim that the negated hɒ³ cannot be interpreted as ‘cannot, may not’, as we have mentioned above, the negated hɒ³ has not yet developed any modal meaning in Jidong Shaoxing. See (31)–(33) above. The meaning of ‘cannot, may not, should not’ can only be expressed by a negated potential construction.

Initial Stage
(44)	是话下卯十二月里哉，侬个双鞋介薄横不大好穿哉。
	zᴇ⁴ɦwo⁶	ɦo⁴mɒ⁶	zə⁸ȵi⁶ɦjo⁸	li⁴	dzᴇ,	noŋ⁴	ɡə⁸	ɕjɒŋ1
	if	later	December	inside	crs	2sg	poss	clf
	ɦa2	ka⁵	bo⁸	ʔwaŋ3	fə⁷	da	hɒ3	tsʰə̃1	dzᴇ.
	shoe	so	thin	after.all	neg	very	good	wear	crs
	‘Your shoes are so thin and by December they won’t be suitable to wear after all.’

The asymmetrical semantic extension of hɒ³ ‘can’ and fə⁷ hɒ³ ‘not suitable’ in Jidong Shaoxing helps us to locate the lexical source of the modal hɒ³. The asymmetry can be explained by the principle of persistence (Hopper 1991), which refers to lexical traces being retained in a grammaticalized form in the process of grammaticalization.

In a bridging context, hɒ³ is ambiguous and can be interpreted either as ‘fit to’ or as ‘can’. It is in such contexts that the lexeme hɒ³ ‘fit to’ is reanalyzed as ‘can’. This reanalysis can be seen in example (45), where the clause ‘he’s not here’ provides a suitable condition for the speaker to say something, and for hɒ³ to be reanalyzed as ‘can’.

Bridging Context
(45)	渠人{无有}□，我有两句说话好话哉。
	ɦi⁴	ȵiŋ2	ʔȵjə3	mə⁸,	ŋo⁴	ɦjə⁴	liaŋ⁴	tɕy⁵
	3sg	person	neg.have	prt	1sg	have	several	clf
	ɕjo⁷ɦwo⁶	hɒ3	ɦwo⁶	dzᴇ⁶.
	speech	good	say	crs
	‘Since he’s not here, I have something that is suitable to say.’ ‘Since he’s not here, I have something that can be uttered.’

In a switch context, the new modal meaning of hɒ³ is the only interpretation. However, as pointed out by Heine (2002, p. 85), in this stage the target meaning still needs to be supported by a context. In (46), in the context that ʔjɒ⁵ tso⁵ ɡə⁸ tu¹ tso⁵-hɒ³ dzᴇ⁶ ‘(I) finish all that should be done’, the hɒ³ in the following clause liŋ⁶ŋa⁶ zɿ⁶tʰi³ ʔȵjə³ so⁵ hɒ³ tso⁵ ɡo⁸ can only be interpreted as a modal verb and the clause denotes ‘there’s nothing else that (I) can do’. Without this context, the clause liŋ⁶ŋa⁶ zɿ⁶tʰi³ ʔȵjə³ so⁵ hɒ³ tso⁵ ɡo⁸ can also be interpreted as ‘there’s nothing else that fits (me) to do’. Undoubtedly, it is the specific context that helps to rule out the source meaning ‘fit to’.

Switch Context
(46)	要做个都做好哉，另外事体{无有}啥好做{个□}。
	ʔjɒ⁵	tso⁵	ɡə⁸	tu1	tso⁵-hɒ3	dzᴇ⁶,	liŋ⁶ŋa⁶	zɿ⁶tʰi3
	need	do	nmlz	all	do-good	crs	other	thing
	ʔȵjə3	so⁵	hɒ3	tso⁵	ɡo⁸.
	neg.have	what	good	do	nmlz.prt
	‘(I) finish all that should be done, there’s nothing else that (I) can do.’

At the stage of conventionalization, the modal meaning of hɒ³ becomes independent of the source meaning ‘fit to’ which means that its modal meaning does not need to be supported by a specific context. In (47), the ‘can’ meaning of hɒ³ is the only interpretation.

Conventionalization
(47)	□头卯好走另外埭路个□。
	ŋa⁴	də⁴mɒ⁶	hɒ3	tsə3	liŋ⁶ŋa⁶	da⁶	lu⁶	ɡə⁸	jæ.
	1pl	just.now	good	walk	other	clf	road	aff	prt
	‘We could take the other road just now.’

We must admit that, as a modal verb, hɒ³ has attained a certain degree of conventionalization, as demonstrated in (47). However, there are still constraints and restrictions closely related to the source uses of hɒ³ which can be explained by the principles of persistence and layering (Hopper 1991). Ambiguity between ‘fit to’ and ‘can’ emerges when hɒ³ denotes circumstantial possibility. In addition to contextual information, the syntactic units and semantic components of a sentence are also important in interpretating the meaning of hɒ³. Compare examples (48) and (49) of circumstantial possibility below. Each component of the sentence adds to its interpretation. In (48), the verb ti³tsa⁵ ‘pay a debt in kind’ implies that the items used to pay a debt are of a certain value, thereby implying that items of a certain value ‘fit to’ and ‘can’ be used to pay a debt. In contrast, (49) is a simple statement that lettuce, a common vegetable, can be served after a simple preparation. The meaning ‘fit to’ is not compatible with this particular sentence.

(48)

值铜钿个东西好抵债个□。

dzə⁸

doŋ2djᴇ̃2

ɡə⁸

toŋ1ɕi1

hɒ3

ti3tsa⁵

ɡə⁸

jə⁸.

worth

money

rel

thing

good

repay

aff

prt

’Anything of value is suitable for repaying the debt. ‘Anything of value can (be used to) repay my debt.’

(49)

生菜水里汆一记就好吃哉。

saŋ1tsʰᴇ⁵

sɿ3

li⁴

tsʰə̃1

ʔjə⁷

tɕi⁵

ʑjə⁶

hɒ3

tɕʰjə⁷

dzᴇ.

lettuce

water

inside

blanch

one

vclf

then

good

eat

crs

‘Just blanch in boiling water, and the lettuce can be eaten then.’

Unlike in cases of circumstantial possibility, when denoting deontic permission, weak obligation, participant-internal possibility, and epistemic possibility, hɒ³ can hardly be interpreted as ‘fit to’. One more example of permission (deontic possibility) is given below. Interpretating hɒ³ as ‘fit to’ in (50) is impossible. See (55) and (58) for examples of participant-internal possibility and epistemic possibility, respectively.

(50)	小人□个好不懂礼貌□？
	ɕjɒ3ȵiŋ2	na⁸ɡə⁸	hɒ3	fə⁷	toŋ3	li⁴mɒ⁶	ȵiŋ?
	child	how	good	neg	know	politeness	prt
	‘How could it be that children do not know about being polite?’

The ambiguity between ‘fit to’ and circumstantial ‘can’ is the major reason we have proposed in Figure 1 that, within the participant-external modality expressed by hɒ³, it is from circumstantial possibility that hɒ³ extends to express deontic modality. Our hypothesis conforms to general principles of grammaticalization. The fact that hɒ³ exhibits a high frequency of ambiguity when denoting circumstantial possibility suggests the hɒ³ of circumstantial possibility is less desemanticized and thus less grammaticalized. Cross-linguistically, it is also attested that circumstantial possibility can extend to express deontic possibility, such as ‘get to’ in English (Kuteva et al. 2019, p. 191) and Chinese de²/dei³ 得 ‘obtain’ (Narrog 2012, pp. 215–20). See also hao³ ‘good’ in the history of Chinese, as discussed in Section 6.5.

Like circumstantial possibility, permission is a kind of possibility determined by external conditions. The example below gives a case that can be understood either as circumstantial possibility or as permission. On the one hand, kids are usually thought to have fewer obligations and more leisure time than adults do. Under such circumstances, kids can have fun and hang out as they wish. On the other hand, (51) can also be read as giving permission, in that kids may play at will since they are free from many social obligations.

(51)	□大姑娘好随便搞{个□}，□大人随便搞不来个□。
	na⁴	do⁶ku1ȵjaŋ2	hɒ3	dzᴇ2bjᴇ̃⁶	kɒ3	ɡo⁸,	ŋa⁴	do⁶ȵiŋ2
	2pl	girl	good	at.will	play	aff.prt	1pl	adult
	dzᴇ2bjᴇ̃⁶	kɒ3-və⁸-lᴇ2	ɡə⁸	jæ.
	at.will	play-neg-come	aff	prt
	‘You little girls can/may hang out and have fun as you wish, but as adults we can’t play at will.’ (Elicitation)

The stage of permission is probably an intermediate stage in hɒ³′s extension from circumstantial possibility to weak obligation (see van der Auwera and Plungian 1998, p. 99 for English must and German müssen) since we do not observe any ambiguous contexts of circumstantial possibility and weak obligation. Yet, ambiguity between permission and weak obligation is readily attested. Example (52) can be interpreted in two ways. If doing chores is the agreed daily routine prior to homework, hɒ³ denotes permission. However, if doing chores is the choice of the participant and there is still homework to do, hɒ³ is interpretable as weak obligation.

(52)	是介{无有}事体哉，侬好做作业去哉。
	zᴇ⁴ka⁵	ʔȵjə3	zɿ⁶tʰi3	dzᴇ,	noŋ⁴	hɒ3	tso⁵
	apart.from.this	neg.have	thing	crs	2sg	good	do
	tso⁷ȵjə⁸	tɕʰi⁵	dzᴇ.
	homework	go	crs
	‘Apart from this, there are no chores. You may/should do your homework.’ (Elicitation)

In the example below, a father impatiently urges his child to do homework. The permission meaning of the clause hɒ³ tso⁵ tso⁷ȵjə⁸ is ruled out by the context and can only be understood as ‘(you) should do your homework’.

(53)	有有搞撑□□？好做作业哉□！
	ɦjə⁴	ɦjə⁴	kɒ3-tsʰaŋ⁵	lᴇ	ɒ?	hɒ3	tso⁵	tso⁷ȵjə⁸	dzᴇ	jə⁸!
	have	have	play-enough	prt	prt	good	do	homework	crs	prs
	‘Are you done with (the games)? (You) should do your homework.’

6.2. Circumstantial Possibility > Participant-Internal Possibility

Under the framework of context-induced grammaticalization, we propose that it is from circumstantial possibility that participant-internal possibility is derived. As claimed by Narrog (2012, p. 10), “circumstantial possibility with animate agents usually presupposes ability”. As in (54), the action of crossing the ditch is enabled by two conditions. One is the width of the ditch, and the other is the physical ability of the participant. The former is the enabling circumstantial condition, while the latter is a determining inherent ability.

(54)	□道沟{只有}一些末儿劳什，一记过之好跨过去个□。
	haŋ⁵	da⁶	kjə1	tɕjə⁵	ʔjə⁷sə⁷ma⁸-ŋ	lɒ2zə⁸,	ʔjə⁷
	dist	clf	ditch	only.have	a.little-dim	thing	one
	tɕi⁵-ku⁵tsɿ1	hɒ3	kʰo1-ku⁵tɕʰi⁵	ɡə⁸	la.
	vclf-dim	good	stride-pass.over	aff	prt
	‘That ditch is such a little thing. (I) can cross over by taking just one jump.’

Example (55) is a have-construction used to express possibility. The possibility of earning money is enabled by the condition that the participant, my father, does woodworking. In fact, the have-construction tsoŋ³ ɦjə⁴ ljaŋ⁴ kʰwᴇ⁵ hɒ³ tsʰɘŋ⁵ can denote circumstantial possibility even if the context is not considered. Namely, there’s always some money that one can earn. Given that it is the same referent who does woodworking and earns money, the meaning of circumstantial possibility can be ruled out. Example (56) offers a case where participant-internal possibility is the only interpretation.

(55)

□老爹做做木匠，总有两块钱好趁。

ŋa⁴

lɒ⁴tja1

tso⁵tso⁵

mə⁸ɦjaŋ⁶,

tsoŋ3

ɦjə⁴

ljaŋ⁴

1sg.poss.kin

dad

do.dlm

carpenter

somehow

have

several

kʰwᴇ⁵

hɒ3

tsʰɘŋ⁵.

clf

good

earn

‘My father does some woodworking on and off and (he) can somehow make some money (out of it).’

(56)

我眼睛是不好，介我好听个□。

ŋo⁴

ŋjæ⁴tɕiŋ1

zᴇ⁴

fə⁷

hɒ3,

ka⁷

ŋo⁴

hɒ3

tʰiŋ⁵

ɡə⁸

ja.

1sg

eye

indeed

neg

good

but

1sg

good

hear

aff

prt

‘My eyes aren’t good, but (even so) I can hear.’

When denoting participant-internal possibility, there exist restrictions for hɒ³ that may be related to both circumstantial possibility and its lexical meaning.

In Jidong Shaoxing, potential constructions are commonly used to express participant-internal possibility (see also Sheng 2021, p. 415). In this domain, the distribution of potential constructions and hɒ³ partially overlap. hɒ³ can be replaced by a potential construction in most cases, except for modal have-constructions, which exclusively use hɒ³. For example, the second clause of (56), reproduced below, can also be realized by a potential construction.

(57)	介我听得见个□。
	ka⁷	ŋo⁴	tʰiŋ⁵-tə⁷-ȵjᴇ̃⁶	ɡə⁸	ja.
	but	1sg	hear-pot-see	aff	prt
	‘but (even so) I can hear.’

When denoting participant-internal possibility, potential constructions are more generalized and neutral, while hɒ³ is most often observed in one of two specific contexts. The first often involves an enabling condition, external or internal, as in (54). In the second, hɒ³ expresses a possible option. This is the case in (56), a sentence produced in the context of a concert. Here, the ability to hear provides an option for enjoying a concert, even though one’s eyesight is not good. These two types of contexts contain traces of hɒ³′s use denoting circumstantial possibility, i.e., possibility enabled by external circumstances. The example below shows a case where hɒ³ cannot be used to express inherent ability. To answer the question ‘Can you hear (me)?’, only the potential construction can be used, as in (58a_i). hɒ³ can neither be used to form the question ‘Can you hear (me)?’ nor be used to answer the question, as in (58a_ii).

(58)

q-

侬耳朵好不好□？听不听得见□？

noŋ⁴

ȵi⁴to

hɒ3

və⁸

hɒ3

lᴇ?

tʰiŋ⁵

və⁸

tʰiŋ⁵-tə⁷-ȵjᴇ̃⁶

lᴇ?

2sg

ear

good

neg

good

prt

hear

neg

hear-pot-see

prt

‘Did you get your hearing back? Can you hear (me)?’

ai-

听得见{个□}。

tʰiŋ⁵-tə⁷-ȵjᴇ̃⁶

ɡo⁸.

hear-pot-see

aff.prt

‘(Yes, I) can.’

aii-

*好听{个□}。

*hɒ3

tʰiŋ⁵

ɡo⁸.

good

hear

aff.prt

Attempted: ‘Yes, I can.’ (Elicitation)

In addition, we observe that hɒ³ is not compatible with the [V-tə⁷-COMP] potential construction. A pair of contrastive sentences is given in (59) to better illustrate this restriction on the use of hɒ³. The context of (59a) entirely suits hɒ³ in that the possibility of seeing clearly is allowed or enabled by wearing glasses. However, since the possibility of seeing clearly is expressed by the potential construction kʰə̃⁵-tə⁷-ȵjᴇ̃⁶ ‘can see clearly’, using hɒ³ here is ungrammatical. To produce a grammatical sentence with hɒ³ in such a context, the potential construction cannot be used, as in (59b).

(59)	a.	渠近视，要戴眼镜会（*好）看得见。
		ɦi⁴	dʑiŋ⁴zɿ⁶,	ʔjɒ⁵	ta⁵	ŋjæ⁴tɕiŋ⁵	ɦwᴇ⁶	(*hɒ3)	kʰə̃⁵-tə⁷-ȵjᴇ̃⁶.
		3sg	short-sighted	need	wear	glasses	only.then	good	look-pot-see
		‘He’s short-sighted. (He) must wear glasses and only then he can see clearly.’ (Elicitation)
	b.	渠近视个□，要戴眼镜□，好看个□。
		ɦi⁴	dʑiŋ⁴zɿ⁶	ɡə⁸	jæ,	ʔjɒ⁵	ta⁵	ŋjæ⁴tɕiŋ⁵	mə⁸,
		3sg	short-sighted	aff	prt	need	wear	glasses	prt
		hɒ3	kʰə̃⁵	ɡə⁸	jə⁸.
		good	look	aff	prt
		‘He’s short-sighted and he can see only if he wears glasses.’

This restriction might be related to the source meaning of hɒ³, ‘fit to’. As the meaning ‘fit to’ implies possibility, a possible explanation is that hɒ³ does not co-occur with a potential construction to avoid semantic redundancy. An analogy would be an awkward and redundant English construction, ‘fit to be able to’. This trace persists when hɒ³ is used as a modal auxiliary.6

The development of circumstantial possibility into participant-internal possibility was neglected in the early literature on modality, with the reverse pathway, participant-internal possibility > circumstantial possibility, generally being accepted by scholars (Bybee et al. 1994, chp. 6; Traugott and Dasher 2001, chp. 3; van der Auwera and Plungian 1998). With the addition of linguistic evidence from Southeast Asian languages, the proposed diachronic development from participant-internal possibility to circumstantial possibility was then revised (van der Auwera et al. 2009, sct. 5). Narrog (2012, pp. 205–8) further confirms the pathway from circumstantial possibility to participant-internal possibility with the development of the Thai verb dây ‘emerge’ and the Japanese idek- ‘appear’. A view of bidirectional development between participant-internal and circumstantial possibility has now become mainstream (Kuteva et al. 2019, p. 344).

6.3. Circumstantial and Participant-Internal Possibility > Epistemic Possibility

We propose that in Jidong Shaoxing, the epistemic use of hɒ³ is the extension of both circumstantial and participant-internal possibility, contexts for both of which can be observed separately. Example (60) is understood as a case of epistemic possibility when the speaker makes a guess before fetching the clothes laid out in the sun. hɒ³ in this sentence can be interpreted as circumstantial ‘can’ if being in the sun long enough is considered as an enabling condition for drying the clothes.

Circumstantial–Epistemic
(60)	晒起□两件衣裳好燥□哉。
	sa⁵-tɕʰi3	doŋ	ljaŋ⁴	dʑjᴇ̃⁶	ʔi1ʑjɒŋ2	hɒ3	sɒ⁵	doŋ	dzᴇ.
	dry.in.the.sun-inc	dur	several	clf	clothes	good	dry	prf	crs
	‘The clothes in the sun may have dried.’

Example (61) is a case of participant-internal–epistemic polysemy. Example (62) gives an ambiguous case of circumstantial, participant-internal, as well as epistemic interpretations.

Participant-internal–Epistemic

(61)

渠一百斤都挑得来□，八十斤咸般也好挑个□。

ɦi⁴

ʔjə⁷pa⁷

tɕiŋ1

tu1

tʰjɒ1-tə⁷-lᴇ2

lᴇ,

pa⁷zə⁸

tɕiŋ1

3sg

one.hundred

a.half.kilo

all

carry-pot-come

prt

eighty

a.half.kilo

ɦæ2pæ1

ɦa⁴

hɒ3

tʰjɒ1

ɡə⁸

jə⁸.

certainly

also

good

carry

aff

prt

‘(Since) he can lift 50 kilos, he can/may certainly lift 40 kilos.’

Circumstantial–Participant-internal–Epistemic

(62)

毕业哉个说话，渠好做个老师{个□}。

pjə⁷ȵjə⁸

dzᴇ

ɡə⁸ɕjo⁷ɦwo⁶,

ɦi⁴

hɒ3

tso⁵

ɡə⁸

lɒ⁴sɿ1

ɡo⁸.

graduation

crs

if

3sg

good

do

clf

teacher

aff.prt

‘He can/may be a teacher after graduation.’

Cross-linguistically, deontic–epistemic polysemy is well attested and studied. English must is a well-known example (Traugott and Dasher 2001, pp. 120–21). Even though hɒ³ can be used to express both deontic and epistemic meanings, we do not posit an evolutional relation between the two meanings in Jidong Shaoxing, as polygrammaticalization (Craig 1991) may also be possible. The main reason for this conclusion is that a bridging context of deontic–epistemic polysemy is rarely observed among conservative speakers. The three conservative speakers in this study considered the sentence in (63) to suggest permission or weak obligation, while only the innovative speaker involved in this study claimed that the sentence can express both deontic and epistemic meanings.

(63)	五点钟哉，渠好去哉。
	ŋ⁴	tjᴇ̃3tɕjoŋ1	dzᴇ,	ɦi⁴	hɒ3	tɕʰi⁵	dzᴇ.
	five	o’clock	crs	3sg	good	go	crs
	‘It’s five o’clock (and time to get off). He may/should leave.’ ‘It’s five o’clock (and time to get off). #He may probably be gone.’

For this study, we also tested quite a few deontic expressions formed by hɒ³ in epistemic contexts. The tests turned out to be failures with the three conservative speakers. One of the examples is given below. The clause hɒ³ tɕjə⁷hwɘŋ¹ dzᴇ jə⁸ ‘(he) should get married’ expressed by hɒ³ in (64ii) is a speaker’s advice. Using it to answer the question ‘Is he married?’ in (65q) to express one’s presumption was ungrammatical for our conservative speakers but caused no problems for the innovative speaker, as shown in (65a_i). Instead, the conservative speakers used ʔiŋ¹kᴇ¹ ‘should’ to form a presumption as an answer to the question, as in (65a_ii).

(64)

渠年纪也不小□哉，好结婚哉□。

(i)

ɦi⁴

ȵjᴇ̃2tɕi⁵

ɦa⁴

fə⁷

ɕjɒ3

doŋ

dzᴇ.

3sg

age

also

neg

small

prf

crs

(ii)

hɒ3

tɕjə⁷hwɘŋ1

dzᴇ

jə⁸.

good

marry

crs

prt

‘He’s not young. (He) should get married.’

(65)

q-

渠婚有有结□□？

ɦi⁴

hwɘŋ1

ɦjə⁴

ɦjə⁴

tɕjə⁷

lᴇ

ɦa?

3sg

marriage

have

have

marry

prt

prt

‘Is he married?’

ai-

#渠好结婚□哉{个□}。

#ɦi⁴

hɒ3

tɕjə⁷hwɘŋ1

doŋ

dzᴇ

ɡo⁸.

3sg

good

marry

prf

crs

aff.prt

‘He may probably be married.’ (Elicitation)

aii-

渠应该结婚□哉{个□}。

ɦi⁴

ʔiŋ1kᴇ1

tɕjə⁷hwɘŋ1

doŋ

dzᴇ

ɡo⁸.

3sg

should

marry

prf

crs

aff.prt

‘He may probably be married.’

Epistemic possibility is probably the latest layer of the semantic and functional extension of hɒ³. There are two main pieces of evidence in support of this hypothesis.

First, when denoting epistemic possibility, the use of hɒ³ is still dependent not only on its circumstantial possibility use, but in many cases, on the source meaning ‘fit to’. This means that there needs to be a certain enabling condition for a grammatical proposition of epistemic possibility realized with hɒ³, whose surface meaning corresponds to ‘may’ but whose underlying meaning is ‘it is the right or proper moment for’. Example (66) is one such grammatical example where hɒ³ is used to express a presumption based on the speaker’s judgement and knowledge. Here, the sentence was produced during the airtime of a frequently watched television program. Similarly, example (60) can also be read ‘it’s the right time for the clothes to have dried’.

(66)	介光折电视好开始□哉。
	ka⁵kwɒŋ1	tsə⁷	djᴇ̃⁶zɿ⁶	hɒ3	kʰᴇ1sɿ3	doŋ	dzᴇ.
	now	clf	TV	good	begin	prf	crs
	‘The TV show may have been on.’

In comparison, although (67) is similarly an expression of probability based on one’s judgement, the use of hɒ³ would be ungrammatical. As mentioned above, hɒ³′s epistemic use is still restricted by its source uses. Looking awful is neither an enabling condition for falling ill, nor reflective of the moment for falling ill. Rather, it is a sign of being ill.

(67)	渠人介难看，*好生毛病□哉□。
	ɦi⁴	ȵiŋ2	ka⁵	næ2kʰə̃⁵,	*hɒ3	saŋ1	mɒ2biŋ⁶	doŋ	dzᴇ	ɒ.
	3sg	person	so	out.of.sorts	good	have	sickness	prf	crs	prt
	‘He looks awful and may be sick.’ (Elicitation)

Second, different speakers show different degrees of tolerance for using hɒ³ to express epistemic possibility. The cases of (63) and (65) have already provided a glimpse into this situation. Examples (68) and (69a) were only accepted by our innovative consultant. Sometimes it is difficult to determine whether or not the epistemic meaning of hɒ³ can be accepted. We reproduce example (42) in (69b) to highlight cases of arbitrariness. The only difference between (69a) and (69b) is the subject. Our conservative consultants could only accept (69b), and when replacing the subject ‘car’ with the third person pronoun the sentence turns out to be ungrammatical.

(68)

#渠今年好有五岁□哉。

#ɦi⁴

tɕi⁴ȵjᴇ̃2

hɒ3

ɦjə⁴

ŋ⁴

sᴇ⁵

doŋ

dzᴇ.

3sg

this.year

good

have

five

year

prf

crs

‘He may have been five years old this year.’ (Elicitation)

(69)

a.

#渠好来□哉。

#ɦi⁴

hɒ3

lᴇ2

doŋ

dzᴇ.

3sg

good

come

prf

crs

‘He is probably coming.’ (Elicitation)

b.

车好来□哉。

tɕʰjo1

hɒ3

lᴇ2

doŋ

dzᴇ.

car

good

come

prf

crs

‘The car/bus is probably coming.’

Restrictions on using the epistemic hɒ³ reflect the fact that hɒ³ is in the process of functional extension or grammaticalization. As can be observed from the examples above, the generalization of the epistemic hɒ³ varies among different speakers. Still, all of this information suggests that the epistemic use of hɒ³ is its latest layer of extension.

6.4. Accelerating Factors

We have identified the auxiliary hɒ³ ‘fit to’ as the source of its modal meanings including ‘can’, ‘may’, and ‘should’. Other factors may also accelerate or generalize the extension of hɒ³.

First, hɒ³ itself can be used independently to ask for agreement, which is probably an extension from the meaning ‘good’, as in (70). Since asking for agreement presupposes permission, this use of hɒ³ can definitely promote extension to permission.

(70)	介我前拨侬换个，好？
	ka⁷	ŋo⁴	ʑjᴇ̃2	pə⁷	noŋ⁴	ɦwə̃⁶	ɡə⁸,	hɒ3?
	so	1sg	first	ben	2sg	change	clf	good
	‘I’ll change it for another one for you, OK?’

Second, though rare, we do observe some contexts of ‘easy’-‘can’ polysemy, which means that ‘be easy to’ is also a possible source for ‘can’. Example (71) is a case where hɒ³ can either be interpreted as ‘be easy to’ or as the ‘can’ of circumstantial possibility, that is, either the thin and watery texture of corn porridge makes it easy to swallow, or one could drink the porridge (like drinking water). In addition, example (40) showed a case of ‘fit’-‘easy’-‘can’ polysemy, which can be interpreted as ‘(leaves) easily float on the surface of the water’.

(71)	□辰光六谷糊煞煞薄{个□}，□□好呷个□。
	haŋ⁵	zɘŋ2kwɒŋ1	lo⁸kwo⁷	ɦu2	sa⁷sa⁷bo⁸	ɡo,	do⁶do⁶	hɒ3	ha⁷
	dist	moment	corn	porridge	thin	aff.prt	ono	good	drink
	ɡə⁸	la.
	aff	prt
	‘The corn porridge (we used to eat before) was very thin. a. [hɒ⁴3 haʔ⁵]: It was easy to drink (like drinking water).’ Elicitation b. [hɒ⁴⁴ haʔ⁴]: (One) could drink (instead of chewing it, like drinking water).’

The reason the meaning ‘be easy to’ is not identified as the source for the modal hɒ³ is that contexts suggesting ‘easy’-‘can’ polysemy are less frequent than those suggesting ‘fit’-‘can’ polysemy. Moreover, the sandhi patterns of hɒ³ are different when denoting these two different meanings. As given in the translations of (71), hɒ⁴³ haʔ⁵ denotes ‘easy to drink’, a sandhi pattern of forming a compound word, while hɒ⁴⁴ haʔ⁴ signifies ‘can drink’.

Undoubtedly, these factors illustrated above contribute to the generalization of the modal uses of hɒ³. It is true that grammaticalization is unpredictable to a certain degree, but frequency of use still plays a role in expanding the possibilities a given form has for grammaticalization (Hopper and Traugott 2003, pp. 106, 126–30).

6.5. Hao³ 好 ‘Good’ in the History of Chinese

We have reconstructed the functional extension of hɒ³ in Jidong Shaoxing in Section 6.1, Section 6.2 and Section 6.3 by adopting the model of context-induced grammaticalization proposed by Heine (2002). Although our reconstruction of hɒ³ cannot be directly supported due to a lack of diachronic records of Jidong Shaoxing,7 it conforms to the evolution of hao³ 好 ‘good’ (the etymon of hɒ³) in the history of Chinese. Based on Li’s work (2017), and diachronic analyses proposed by J. Li (2005) and Jiang and Cui (2017), the evolution of hao³ in the history of Chinese is reorganized and adapted in

Table 2. Evolution of hao in the history of Chinese.

Periodization *	C-poss/‘Fit to’		D-nec		Pi-poss		‘Easy to’
Early Medieval
(3rd–6th century)
Late Medieval
(6th century-1250)
Pre-Modern
(1250–1400)
Modern
(15th–18th century)
Contemporary
(19th cent.-present)	zhi3hao3 ‘can only’

* The periodization of Chinese we follow in this paper is that proposed by Peyraube (1988).

.

According to J. Li (2005), M. Li (2017, p. 69), and Jiang and Cui (2017), modal uses of hao³ can be first observed in Early Medieval Chinese (3rd century–6th century).8 During this time, it was used to express circumstantial possibility and could be interpreted as ‘fit to’ or ‘can’, as shown in (72). Compare this example with the Jidong Shaoxing example (26), reproduced here in (73).

(72)

羔有死者，皮好作裘褥，肉好做干腊，及作肉酱，味又甚美。

gao1

you3

si3

zhe3,

pi2

hao3

zuo⁴

qiu2ru⁴

rou⁴

hao3

lamb

have

die

nmlz

skin

good

do

fur.mattress

meat

good

zuo⁴

gan1la⁴,

ji2

zuo⁴

rou⁴jiang⁴,

wei⁴

you⁴

shen⁴

mei3.

do

cured.meat

and

do

meat.sauce

flavor

also

very

pretty

‘(If) there’s a dead lamb, the fur [can be]/[fits to be] made into a mattress and the meat [can be]/[fits to be] made into cured meat and meat sauce which is extremely delicious.’

Qi Min Yao Shu · Yang Yang 齐民要术·养羊 (544ad) [Essential techniques for the welfare of the people · Raising sheep]

(Cited from M. Li (2017, p. 69) and glossed and translated by S. Lü)

(73)

Jidong Shaoxing

甲鱼背好做药个□。

ka⁷ŋ2

pᴇ⁵

hɒ3

tso⁵

ɦja⁸

ɡə⁸

jæ.

soft.shell.turtle

back

good

do

medicine

aff

prt

‘Turtle shells can be made into (Chinese traditional) medicine.’

The ‘fit’-‘can’ polysemy of hao³ persisted until its circumstantial possibility use began to decline in Modern Chinese, specifically during the Qing Dynasty. In contemporary Standard Mandarin, only the fossilized zhi³hao³ 只好 ‘can only’ is used to denote circumstantial possibility. As shown in (74), the deletion of the adverb zhi³ ‘only’ is ungrammatical in Standard Mandarin.

(74)	Standard Mandarin
	他腿断了，*（只）好在家休息。
	ta1	tui3	duan⁴	le,	*(zhi3)	hao3	zai⁴	jia1	xiu1xi⁴.
	3sg	leg	break	crs	only	good	at	home	rest
	‘His leg is broken and he can only take a rest at home.’

As indicated in Table 2, towards the end period of Late Medieval Chinese, which corresponds to the Song Dynasty (960ad–1279), a significant new meaning of hao³ emerged—the deontic meaning ‘should’. However, this use only lasted to Pre-Modern Chinese. See (75).

(75)	似这般汉，正好蓦头蓦面唾。
	si⁴	zhe⁴ban1	han⁴,	zheng⁴	hao3	mo⁴tou2mo⁴mian⁴	tuo⁴.
	resemble	so	man	just	good	in.the.face	spit
	‘A person like this, (one) should spit on him in the face.’
	Bi Yan Lu · 78 Ze 碧岩录·78则 (1125) [Blue Cliff Record · Verse 78]
	(Cited from M. Li (2017, p. 132) and glossed and translated by S. Lü)

A bit later than the deontic use of hao³, the interpretation of participant-internal possibility appeared in Pre-Modern Chinese during the Yuan and Ming Dynasties (1271–1644), as shown below. Note that M. Li (2017, p. 153) does not single out the meaning of participant-internal possibility for hao³.

(76)	您兄弟量窄，只好陪哥哥一小钟。
	nin2	xiong1di⁴	liang⁴	zhai3,
	2sg.hon	sibling	capacity	narrow
	zhi3	hao3	pei2	ge1ge1	yi⁴	xiao3	zhong⁴.
	only	good	accompany	brother	one	small	cup
	‘I’m not good at drinking (alcohol) and I can only drink a small cup to accompany you.’
	Yuan Qu Xuan · Zhusha Dan 元曲选·朱砂担 (1616) [Selected Yuan Theatre Plays · A Picul of Cinnabar]
	(Cited from M. Li (2017, p. 153) and glossed and translated by S. Lü)

Like the deontic use, the participant-internal possibility use of hao³ did not last long and was not further generalized.

As for the meaning ‘be easy to’, the ‘easy’-‘can’ polysemy can also be observed for hao³, as in (77).

(77)	嫂嫂，你如今真个不好过日子，不如跟着我一同回去住罢。
	sao3sao	ni3	ru2jin1	zhen1ge⁴	bu⁴	hao3	guo⁴	ri⁴zi
	sister-in-law	2sg	now	indeed	neg	good	live	life
	bu⁴ru2	gen1-zhe	wo3	yi⁴tong2	hui2-qu⁴	zhu⁴	ba.
	inferior	follow-dur	1sg	together	return-go	live	prt
	‘Sister, you [aren’t easy to]/[can’t] make a living now. It would be better to come to live with me.’
	Yuan Qu Xuan · Ren Fengzi 元曲选·任风子 (1616) [Selected Yuan Theatre Plays · Ren Fengzi]
	(Cited from M. Li (2017, p. 153) and glossed and translated by S. Lü)

Nevertheless, as can be seen in Table 2, hao³′s meaning ‘be easy to’, considered as an evaluative meaning by M. Li (2017, p. 104), emerged later than the meaning ‘fit to/can’, sometime between the Tang and the Five Dynasties (618–960ad) (see also J. Li 2005; Jiang and Cui 2017). This suggests that ‘be easy to’ is not the direct source for the modal uses of hao³. The meaning ‘be easy to’ for hao³ maintains an active status in Standard Mandarin.

The evolution of hao³ in the history of Chinese parallels the extension of hɒ³ in Jidong Shaoxing and supports our reconstruction of hɒ³. The fact that hao³ ‘good’ is used to denote weak obligation and participant-internal possibility in the history of Chinese sheds some light on the evolution of hɒ³ ‘good’ in Jidong Shaoxing. Both of these uses appeared much later than the circumstantial possibility use, suggesting that the chain ‘circumstantial possibility > participant-internal possibility’ for hɒ³ in Jidong Shaoxing is plausible. Furthermore, the emergence and generalization of hao³′s meaning ‘be easy to’ can also be mapped onto Jidong Shaoxing hɒ³. That ‘be easy to’ emerged later than the meaning of circumstantial possibility suggests the implausibility of identifying ‘be easy to’ as the source meaning for circumstantial ‘can’.

7. Conclusions

This paper has provided a case study on the modal uses of the lexeme hɒ³ ‘good’ in Jidong Shaoxing. The lexeme hɒ³ is a polysemous and multi-functional word. hɒ³ can serve as an adjective/adjectival verb ‘good, fitting, ready, done, ok’. Its modal uses include circumstantial ‘can’, participant-internal ‘can’, permission ‘may’, weak obligation ‘should’, and epistemic ‘can’. hɒ³ shows asymmetrical semantic extension in Jidong Shaoxing. While the positive form of hɒ³ possesses modal functions, the negated form fə⁷ hɒ³ only denotes ‘not good’ or ‘not suitable’.

We have proposed that it is from the meaning ‘fit to’ but not directly from the lexical meaning ‘good’ that the modal meanings of hɒ³ are derived. This pathway is different from the ‘good’ > deontic permission route found in some other languages (Kuteva et al. 2019, pp. 219–20). Adopting the context-induced grammaticalization model, we have reconstructed the process of extension of hɒ³ in Jidong Shaoxing, proposing that the hɒ³ of ‘fit to’ has followed a multidirectional or polygrammaticalization pattern. This pattern contains an intermediate stage of circumstantial possibility in the development of both its deontic and participant-internal uses:

Chain 1: ‘fit to’ > circumstantial ‘can’ > deontic ‘may, should’.

Chain 2: ‘fit to’ > circumstantial ‘can’ > participant-internal ‘can’.

Within deontic modality, the hɒ³ of permission is reconstructed as the source for the hɒ³ of weak obligation, i.e., circumstantial ‘can’ > permission ‘may’ > weak obligation ‘should’.

Although the chain of circumstantial possibility > participant-internal possibility is cross-linguistically less common than the reverse, our proposition is based on linguistic facts in Jidong Shaoxing and conforms to the evolution of the etymon hao³ ‘good’ of hɒ³ in the history of Chinese. A similar pathway can be found in Chinese: ke³ 可 ‘suitable’ > root possibility > ability (Meisterernst 2008a, 2008b; see also Kuteva et al. 2019, p. 415). Our findings contribute some new evidence for two proposed bidirectional developments in the modal domain: circumstantial ↔ participant-internal and deontic permission ↔ deontic necessity (Narrog 2012, pp. 185–221).

The epistemic use of hɒ³ is proposed as the latest stage of extension in the current Jidong Shaoxing. It is from both circumstantial and participant-internal ‘can’ that the epistemic ‘can’ is developed:

Chain 3: circumstantial-participant-internal ‘can’ > epistemic ‘can, may’.

The epistemic use of hɒ³ is often restricted by the source meaning of circumstantial ‘can’ or ‘fit to’. Additionally, the degree of generalization of epistemic hɒ³ varies between different speakers.

The use of the lexeme hao ‘good’ as a modal verb can be considered a regional phenomenon. According to a preliminary cross-linguistic survey, this phenomenon is found across Shanghai, Jiangsu, and Zhejiang Provinces, an area usually known as the Yangtze River Delta, which covers the entire Wu speaking area and some Jianghuai Mandarin 江淮官话 speaking areas. For Wu dialects, hao ‘good’ as a modal verb is reported in Chongming 崇明 (Zhang 1993, p. 103), Shanghainese (B. Huang 1996, p. 295), Suzhou 苏州 (Ye 1993, p. 60), Hangzhou 杭州 (Bao 1998, p. 110), Shaoxing, Yuyao 余姚 (Zhou 2019, pp. 23–46), Ningbo (Tang et al. 1997, p. 92), Xianju, Wenzhou 温州 (You and Yang 1998, p. 179), and Jinhua 金华 (Cao 1996, p. 141). For Jianghuai Mandarin, the phenomenon is attested in Nantong 南通 (Tao 2007, p. 154), Yangzhou 扬州 (J. Huang 1996, p. 165), and Nanjing 南京 (Liu 1995, p. 150). In addition, hao as a modal auxiliary is also attested in some discontinuous areas in Guangdong and Taiwan, that is, in Jieyang Southern Min and Hakka, as mentioned at the beginning of the paper. Certainly, the modal uses of hao vary in different languages and dialects. More work needs to be carried out to figure out how the modal functions of hao extend and to what extent its modal uses can be generalized in individual languages.