Taiwan Journal of Linguistics

Vol. 22.1, 165-196, 2024

DOI: 10.6519/TJL.202401_22(1).0007

VIETNAMESE MODAL SYSTEM OF

DYNAMIC POSSIBILITY:
A DIACHRONIC PERSPECTIVE*

Trần Phan
National Tsing Hua University

ABSTRACT
This preliminary work examines the Vietnamese diachronic data to first attempt a
glimpse into the inventory of specialized dynamic modal elements in Vietnamese,
and to adumbrate a rough chronology of this modal system. It further traces back
the syntacto-semantic changes resulting in two distinct instances of the dynamic
modal được. I argue that post-verbal được is immediately derived from a
resultative marker, and there once existed a pre-verbal được with a pure
opportunity reading, which was later reanalyzed as được with a benefactive
interpretation. The paper thus provides an explanation to the long-held puzzle
regarding the sole post-verbal position of dynamic modal được in Present-Day
Vietnamese.

Keywords: dynamic possibility, modality, được, syntactic/semantic reanalysis,

diachronic syntax, Vietnamese

*
I thank the audience at the ISVL-2 Workshop, the editors of this issue, and the two
anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments and suggestions. Special thanks go to
Barbara Meisterernst for inspiring me to pursue the topic, as well as for her steadfast
support and encouragement during the development of this paper. Her generosity in giving
her time to discuss issues relevant to this research has been much appreciated. All errors
remain mine alone.

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1. INTRODUCTION

Pre-verbal có thể and post-verbal được are standard means to express

dynamic possibility, both jointly and individually, in Present-Day
Vietnamese (PDV). See (1) for an example. A diachronic investigation
into surviving texts going furthest back to the 12th century, or the late
Archaic period in T.C. Nguyễn’s (2001) periodization, however suggests
that a distinct group of pre-verbal modal auxiliaries once dominated this
role until the conclusion of the Ancient period.1 Post-verbal được gained
in importance towards the end of this stretch, and có thể became regularly
used only quite recently.

(1) Tí có thể đi được.

Tí can go DUOC2
‘Tícan go/walk.’

Dynamic modality is understood in this paper as covering ability,

opportunity, and dispositional readings. This term partially overlaps with
Portner’s (2009) category of dynamic (volitional) modality: I view
dispositional modality as referring to inner dispositions/attributions of a
non-volitional (inanimate) subject. It is different minimally from ability
modality, which concerns the stable properties of a volitional subject. An
opportunity reading is then associated with “accidental or stable properties
of the utterance situation” (Hackl 1998:26). The modal elements
exhibiting this set of readings are taken in Hackl (1998) to share a common
constraint of having the predicate they select denote a change of state. This
change is attributable to properties inherent to the subject and/or the
utterance context they are in.

1
T.C. Nguyễn (2001) divides the history of Vietnamese into six periods: Proto Viet (8th
to 9th century), Archaic Vietnamese (10th to 12th century), Ancient Vietnamese (13th to
16th century), Middle Vietnamese (17th century to first half of 19th century), Modern
Vietnamese (1881 to 1945), Contemporary Vietnamese (1946 to present).
2 The abbreviations are glossed as follows: CL: classifier; COMP: complementizer; CONJ:

conjunction; COP: copula; HON: honorific term; NEG: negative marker; PERF: perfect
marker; PRT: particle; SG/PL: singular/plural. Due to its extreme polyfunctionality, all
instances of được are glossed as DUOC for simplicity’s sake.

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Regarding the scholarship on the Vietnamese modal system, the

literature up to this point, which are predominantly synchronic in nature,
has laid disproportionate emphasis on the acquisitive modal được.3 This is
mainly because this modal has multiple functions and curiously appears
after the main verb, whereas other modal elements generally surface pre-
verbally. (A substantial amount of attention is also given to related forms
in other Southeast Asian languages and Chinese varieties for a similar
reason.) The first aim of this work is to provide a coherent and diachrony-
informed picture of the many grammatical means communicating
dynamic possibility in the language, and call attention to an inventory of
forgotten pre-verbal dynamic modal verbs. Among which is the pre-verbal
được, which I will argue to have once existed with a standard opportunity
reading. This modal use will be viewed as the missing link in the
development of lexical verb được into pre-verbal benefactive
circumstantial and deontic modal được. The second aim concerns the
study of post-verbal modal được itself, a subject of intensive synchronic
research for more than 25 years (see Simpson 1997; Duffield 1998 et seq.;
Enfield 2003; Sybesma 2008 (to a lesser extent), and Thepkanjana and
Ruangmanee 2015, among others). Specifically, I will offer a diachronic
look that leads to an alternative proposal on the syntacto-semantic
mechanism whereby this post-verbal modal evolved. The findings of this
research are therefore expected to shed more light on how modality is
configured syntactically in the language.
The paper is organized as follows. Section 2 introduces the three
classes of dynamic possibility-denoting means in Vietnamese and
sketches out the rough historical development of this modal system.
Section 3 focuses specifically on the two paths of syntactic/semantic
reanalysis which result in the dynamic được in both post-verbal and pre-
verbal positions. Section 4 concludes the paper.

3 The term “acquisitive modal” is adopted from van der Auwera et al. 2009. An acquisitive
modal is understood as “an expression of modality that goes back to a predicate meaning
‘acquire, get’” (van der Auwera et al. 2009:271). Typical with these modal readings are
‘get’ etymons, of which an example is shown in (i).
(i) I get to watch TV tonight/at night. (van der Auwera et al. 2009:271)

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2. MODALS OF DYNAMIC POSSIBILITY: A DIACHRONY

For the purpose of this paper, I propose that the development of

Vietnamese modal expressions of dynamic possibility be divided into
three stages. Stage I is characterized by a set of canonical pre-verbal modal
verbs already dominant during the Archaic and remained so during the
Ancient period. Stage II features the post-verbal modal được. This modal
gradually rose in prominence starting in the late Ancient period and
continuing into the early Middle Vietnamese period. Stage III began no
later than the early 19th century (the start of the Modern Vietnamese), with
the rise of có thể, first as a reinforcer but later as an alternative to được.

2.1 Stage I: pre-verbal modal verbs

The list of pre-verbal modal verbs of dynamic possibility should

include at least hay, khá/khả, and kham.4,5 They are all obsolete in PDV, a
fact which will become important in the later discussion. Note that many
of the following examples display a co-existence of these modals and a
post-verbal được (with most likely a resultative reading). This co-
occurrence will be addressed in sec. 2.2.
Hay is first attested in the 12th-century Phật thuyết đại báo phụ mẫu
ân trọng kinh (Sutra on the Profundity of Filial Love), the oldest surviving
text written in the Nôm script, see (2). It continues to show up fairly often
throughout the 16th century, as shown in examples (3-6). In contrast, hay
is only attested sporadically during the later two centuries, and its modal
reading is not listed in de Rhodes’s (1651) dictionary. This might suggest
that its dynamic use already started decreasing in popularity by the 17th
century at the latest. From the 19th century onwards, the dynamic use of
hay is mostly absent from the linguistic record.

4 The negative modal khôn ‘cannot, hardly able to’ is excluded to keep the discussion more
focused.
5 For the reason that will be clear in sec. 3.2, this inventory should also include pre-verbal

được.

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(2) Hay tu bao nhiêu nết khổ

can observe many ascetic.practice
‘can observe various ascetic practices’ 6 (Phật thuyết, 12th c.)

(3) Ai hay cốc được, mới ốc là đã.

who can understand DUOC only say COP complete
‘Only those who can successfully understand it are said to be
complete.’ (Cư trần, 13th c.)

(4) Chí đàn bà nhờn chưng mình tốt đẹp hay nghiêng
will woman rely.on PRT self beautiful can overturn
được quốc thành.
DUOC state
‘Women, aware of their own beauty, can cause the downfall of a
state.’ (Khóa hư, 14th c.)

(5) Đất nào hay cãi ngược người ta?

land which can argue against people
‘What sort of land could argue against people?’ (Thập giới, 15th c.)

(6) Ngươi chỉn hay nói

2SG essentially can speak
‘You essentially can speak’ (Nam Xương, 16th c.)

Although hay typically occurs with a volitional subject, it is

sometimes found with non-volitional subjects, see (7).

(7) a. Tứ mùa nước chảy chẳng hay mòn

four season water flow NEG can worn
‘Water flows all four seasons but it cannot be worn’ (Hồng Đức,
15th c.)

6 Glossing and translations of the diachronic data are mine.

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Trần Phan

b. Kim cương […] lại hay hoại được muôn vật.

diamond but can destroy DUOC all thing
‘Diamond […] however can destroy all things.’ (Giải Kim cương,
17th c.)

The modal khá/khả has fewer textual attestations compared to hay,

and is found irregularly in written texts between the 12th and the 17th
century. In most cases, khá/khả is followed by non-passivized verbs and
typically expresses ability, see (8-10). Instances where the verb directly
after khá/khả is passivized, as in (11), are much less common. When this
occurs, khá/khả expresses opportunity. These two uses are also attested
for the Classical Chinese kě 可 ‘can’ (cf. Pulleyblank 1995; Meisterernst
2008). This might suggest that khá/khả is a typical case of ‘wholesale’
borrowing from Chinese.

(8) Mẹ dấu rằng sao khả báo được.

mother dear say how can repay DUOC
‘My dear mother, how could I repay [her favor]?’ (Phật thuyết,
12th c.)

(9) Tham thiền kén bạn, nát thân mình mới

practice Zen choose friend disintegrate body self only
khá hồi ân.
can return favor
‘When practicing Zen, I choose friends, only until our physical body
disintegrates could I return the favor.’ (Cư trần, 13th c.)

(10) Nghiệp Tiêu Hà làm khá kịp

achievement Xiao.He do can reach
‘The achievement of Xiao He, I can match it.’ (Quốc âm, 15th c.)

(11) Bụt ấy là lòng, Bụt khá cầu.

Buddha that COP heart Buddha can seek
‘Buddha, that is but your heart, Buddha can be sought.’ (Quốc âm,
15th c.)

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Already in De Rhodes’ (1651) dictionary the dynamic reading of khá

is not included, although its deontic reading as ‘should’ is mentioned. If
one subscribes to the path of semantic development by Bybee et al. (1994)
and van der Auwera and Plungian (1998) in which dynamic ability
develops into deontic possibility, it seems that after khá took on the
deontic meaning, its earlier dynamic use started to fade away gradually.
Instances of kham as dynamic modals are exceedingly scarce, with a
mere few examples evidenced in the written texts from between the 14th
and the 16th century. Kham is assumed to be a cognate of the Chinese kān
堪 ‘can’.

(13) Quay đầu chấp bóng, ắt kham cười

turn head keep shadow necessarily can laugh
Diễn Nhã Đạt Đa.
Yajiadatta
‘Turning the head to look at his own reflection, laughable was
Yajiadatta.’ (Cư trần, 14th c.)

(14) Quân tử kham khuôn được thửa danh

person.of.noble.character can follow DUOC its name
‘Persons of noble character can model themselves on my name.’
(Quốc âm, 15th c.)

(15) chẳng kham lại lên non Vọng Phu vậy.

NEG can again go.up mountain await husband PRT
‘[I] can no longer return to the Husband-Awaiting Rock.’
(Nam Xương, 16th c.)

Among the three modals, hay appears to be the most commonly employed.
It also enjoyed the longest life span compared to the others. Khá/khả and
kham were much less frequently attested and appeared mainly in literary
works. Hay is also the only modal of this class which appears not to have
a Sinitic origin. It is largely plausible that the remarkable continuation of
hay is attributable to its native origin. Indeed, the Nôm character 咍
representing hay is generally taken to denote a native sound or concept,

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although there is a disagreement on whether the character is borrowed

(Wen 1933; Wang 1948) or a native invention (Hoàng 1999).

2.2 Stage II: post-verbal được

Vietnamese acquisitive được is cognate with the Sinitic dé 得 which

is assumed to be borrowed from Chinese into the Common Viet-Muong
vocabulary (Trần 2014). Note that post-verbal được single-handedly
yielding a clear dynamic reading is an extremely rare sight in Ancient
Vietnamese. First, được is more often found along with modal verbs (see
sec. 2.1). With this configuration, the yielded modal reading is
understandably attributable to the modal verbs (although it is unclear if or
how much được also contributes to this construal). Second, in the absence
of a pre-verbal modal, được is usually understood as a resultative marker
meaning ‘be successful’ and only occasionally allows for a modal reading.
Some of the earliest cases of seeming ambiguity in fact lean towards
the resultative reading under a closer look. For example, (16) does not
bring about a modal reading for được. This is because muốn ‘want’ as a
(desirative) control predicate only allows for a vP/VP complement (Grano
2015) and not a larger projection like Mod(al)P(hrase).

(16) Đệ tử nhược muốn trả được ơn ấy thời vì chưng

disciple if want repay DUOC favor that then for PRT
áng nạ viết lục kinh này
parents write sutra this
(i) ‘If the followers want to repay successfully that favor, write this
sutra for their parents’ sake.’
(ii) #‘If the followers want to be able to repay that favor, write this
sutra for their parents’ sake.’ (Phật thuyết, 12th c.)

This syntactic constraint is manifested in the ungrammaticality of (17),

where the pre-verbal modal có thể ‘can’ is explicitly realized. As will be
made clear in sec. 3.1, I assume that được in a lower ModP enters an Agree
relation with a ModP above VP to jointly express a dynamic modal
reading. Since a higher ModP is impossible as the complement of muốn,

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post-verbal được in (16) cannot be interpreted as a modal verb, but rather

as a resultative marker.

(17) *Tí muốn có thể bơi được.

Tí want can swim DUOC
Int: Tíwants to have the ability to swim.’

One of the early attestations of được with a clear modal interpretation

might be one from the 14th-century translated work Thiền tông khóa hư
ngữ lục (Zen Lessons on Emptiness), see (18). Được in this case translates
the Chinese modal néng 能 ‘can’ in the original work, 7 and is intended to
parallel khá of the following clause. These clear cases of modal
interpretation are rarely attested prior to the 16th century.

(18) Cái chết đến ai ưa được, hạn lại đố

CL death come who love DUOC time come challenge
ai khá ngăn đấy.
who can stop PRT
‘When death arrives no one could love it, when the time comes no
one could stop it.’ (Khóa hư, 14th c.)

But how did the dynamic reading of post-verbal được come into
existence? I venture to hypothesize that the decline in use of the original
pre-verbal modals may highly correlate with the emergence of được. That
is, through the frequent co-occurrence of pre-verbal modals and post-
verbal resultative được in modalized environments, the latter gradually
took on the dynamic reading. This way, được was over time reanalyzed as
a modal element proper and started to function as an alternative way to
express what canonical modals were originally responsible for, rendering
them redundant. I will return to this process of reanalysis in sec. 3.1.

7 The original text is as follow:

(i) 死 至 誰 能 戀 (quoted in Nguyễn 1972:154)
sǐ zhì shuí néng liàn
death come who can love
‘When death arrives no one could love it.’

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2.3 Stage III: pre-verbal modal expression có thể

Although có thể ‘can’ is the standard means to signal dynamic

possibility in PDV, it seems to have gained popularity only from the 19th
century onwards. One of the earliest attestations of có thể is in (19)
whereby a dispositional construal is confirmed.

(19) Trên đầu ngó lên thấy thạch nhũ như là màn treo
above head look up see stalactite like curtain
có thể bỏ xuống
can drop down
‘Looking up I saw above my head a stalactite looking like a curtain
that can drop down.’ (Chuyến đi, 1875)

Note that có thể at the time still behaved more or less like (part of) a
periphrastic construction instead of a fully lexicalized adverbial phrase it
is assumed today. That is, the string appears to consist of có ‘have, exist’
and thể ‘potential, ability’. This view is reasonable as có thể is sometimes
accompanied by mà, an overtly realized C-element, see (20).

(20) Đồ thắt bằng tre mây có thể

object weave by bamboo rattan have potential
mà đựng bát chén
to hold bowl
‘bamboo- or rattan-weaved object which can (= has the potential to)
hold bowls’ (Huình-Tịnh 1895:253)

More interestingly, có thể seems to have có lẽ (lit. ‘have reason/logic)

as its predecessor, see (21). Here, the string is also followed by mà,
revealing its periphrastic nature. In PDV, có lẽ is however restricted to an
epistemic reading of ‘might’ or ‘maybe’.

(21) việc này tôi phải cứ sự thật, chẳng có lẽ

issue this 1SG must depend truth NEG have reason
mà binh bên dòng được
to defend side congregation DUOC

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‘As for this issue, I must act in accordance with the truth, I cannot
(= have no reason to) just take our congregation’s side’ (Thư № 20,
1759)

All in all, I hypothesize in this section that có thể as a periphrastic

construction first came to reinforce or emphasize the modal reading of
post-verbal được. It was then reanalyzed as a modal element independent
of the presence of được. Syntactically, có thể in PDV is most likely base-
generated under ModP above VP, the same projection hosting the three
archaic pre-verbal modals.

3. PATHS TO THE DYNAMIC ĐƯỢC

Được and its Southern alternative đặng are highly polyfunctional. I

assume được started out as a transitive verb carrying the prototypical
reading ‘acquire’ or ‘come to have/possess’ (cf. Enfield 2003) when it
selects for an object DP, see (22-23). 8 Aspectually, được is a typical
achievement verb which describes a non-agentive punctual event leading
to the beginning of a state. Modal extensions of được in both pre- and post-
verbal positions are taken to derive from this lexical verb.

(22) Miễn được lòng rồi, chẳng còn pháp khác.

as.long.as DUOC mind zen NEG have dharma other
‘As long as one acquires a Zen mind, there is no other dharma.’
(Cư trần, 13th c.)

(23) Của ấy nào ai từng được chầy.

wealth that which who used.to DUOC long
‘That kind of wealth no one has ever had for long.’ (Quốc âm,
15th c.)

8 The claim that various modal readings go back to a verbal meaning of acquisitive verbs
like được is also proposed for other languages where acquisitive modality is prominent
(van der Auwera et al. 2009).

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3.1 Post-verbal được

In a post-verbal position, được can function as a resultative marker

meaning roughly ‘be successful, with success’ (Trần 2014; Hoàng 2006),
see (24).

(24) a. Thầy Hoa Lâm tu đạo cảm được hai

master Hoa Lam practice way influence DUOC two
hùm đến chầu gần.
tiger come gather near
‘Master Hoa Lam by practicing Zen successfully influenced two
tigers to attend his audience.’ (Khóa hư, 14th c.)
b. Cốc được tính ta nên Bụt thực
understand DUOC nature self become Buddha true
‘Once one successfully understands one’s own nature, one
becomes a true Buddha.’ (Vịnh Vân Yên, 14th c.)

I hypothesize that this resultative marker is derived from transitive

verb được as V2 of a V1-V2 configuration. In this position được still
retains its lexical meaning, and must share with V1 the same argument
structure. This transitive V2 then gradually takes on a more functional
meaning when referring to the endpoint of the event denoted by the
preceding verb. Adopting Cao’s (1999) path of grammaticalization for
Chinese V2 dé, I assume được first developed its intransitive use before
turning into a fully functional category that is a resultative marker, a
process closely tied to the loss of argument structure (Roberts and
Roussou 2003). As a point of illustration, được in (25-26) can in principle
be interpreted as either a transitive verb or a resultative marker.

(25) Nghề võ mạnh chưng thu được công trăm

career military strong PRT claim DUOC credit hundred
trận đánh.
battle fight
(i) ‘A strong military career is reflected in collecting and acquiring
credit of hundreds of battles.’

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(ii) ‘A strong military career is reflected in collecting successfully

credit of hundreds of battles.’ (Khóa hư, 14th c.)

(26) Năm hồ chiếm được chốn câu chày

five lake seize DUOC place fish net.cast
(i) ‘In the Five Lakes appropriating and acquiring a place for fishing
and net casting’
(ii) ‘In the Five Lakes occupying successfully a place for fishing and
net casting’ (Hồng Đức, 15th c.)

Syntactically, I propose that the resultative marker heads a small

clause selected by V (cf. Meisterernst 2022). Inspired by Ramchand 2008,
this projection is referred to as resP.

(27)

I further suggest that the dynamic reading of post-verbal được is

derived directly from its resultative reading. This is unsurprising as a
semantic extension from resultativity to ability/potentiality is observed
cross-linguistically (Enfield 2003; Mari and Martin 2007; Lien 2011). In
(28), được can no longer be interpreted as a transitive verb, but ambiguity
remains as to whether it has a resultative or a dynamic reading.

(28) Nợ quân thân chưa báo được

debt king father not.yet repay DUOC
(i) ‘The debt towards my king and my father I have yet to pay back
successfully.’
(ii) ‘The debt towards my king and my father I have yet to be able to
pay back.’ (Quốc âm, 15th c.)

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To account for the post-verbal dynamic được syntactically, I adopt

Cheng and Sybesma’s (2003, 2004) analysis of Cantonese post-verbal dak
得 ‘can’ where not one but two structural positions for dynamic modality
are postulated. Accordingly, the pre-verbal Mod1P and the post-verbal
Mod2P wrap around VP, the former licensing the latter, see (29). I propose
that resultative được is at first moved to Mod2P before it is finally
reanalyzed as base-generated there, see (30). The pre-verbal modal
position, once occupied by the archaic modal verbs, is then filled with có
thể, and the two modals form a kind of doubling via Agree.9 This line of
thinking is well-aligned with Duffield’s (1999) proposal to treat có thể as
an abilitative/alethic modal and post-verbal được as being parasitic on the
position it occupies. Syntactically, adopting the reanalysis of được from a
(lower) resultative head to a (higher) secondary modal head is also a less
costly solution than assuming the movement of the entire verb phrase over
a pre-verbal modal head được to achieve the right surface order (as
proposed in Simpson 1997 and Duffield 1998).

(29) (30)

3.2 Pre-verbal được

Previously I have shown that dynamic modal verbs predominantly

occupy a pre-verbal position throughout the development of the
Vietnamese modal system. An immediate question that arises is: why does
Vietnamese not have a pre-verbal dynamic được? The situation is even

9 See Phan (2023) for more evidence in support of this configuration.

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more peculiar given được, besides its post-verbal position, also appears
pre-verbally as a benefactive circumstantial modal and a deontic modal,
see (31).10

(31) Tí được đi bơi.

Tí DUOC go swim
(i) ‘Tígets to (= to have a chance to) go swimming.’ (benefactive)
(ii) ‘Tíis allowed to go swimming.’ (permissive)

A deeper look into the diachronic data however suggests that such a
pre-verbal được, although already obsolete in PDV, was once in existence.
(32-34), extracted from written texts dating from the 17th to the 19th
centuries, clearly exemplify an evaluation-neutral dynamic modal use of
được. That is, được in these examples is infelicitous with a permissive or
a benefactive circumstantial reading. It is noteworthy that while both
instances of dynamic được realize opportunity modals linking the actions
denoted by its complement VP to the outside circumstance, only the
benefactive được necessarily communicates that the said actions take
place to the advantage of the subject. Such a notion of subject benefit is
not warranted in these examples. I take the benefactive được to be distinct
from a pure dynamic được essentially in this additional component of
benefactivity. This point will be returned to shortly.

(32) a. Mà Đức Chúa Giê-su lấy hình ấy cho được

CONJ HON lord Jesus take image that for DUOC
vào lòng chúng tôi
enter heart 1PL
‘Then Lord Jesus Christ assumed that form to be able to find a
way into our heart’ (Những điều ngắm, 17th c.)
b. Bấy giờ người chẳng biết làm sao, xin đợi ba
that.time 2SG NEG know do what ask wait three

10 For the lack of better term, the label benefactive is chosen here to reflect the advantage
generated by the external circumstances which is evaluated as beneficial to the subject. By
invoking this label, I do not make reference to syntactic constructions featuring something
like a verb of giving or a dative marker. I thank a synonymous reviewer for their comment
on this terminological issue.

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ngày cho được đem Phê-rô đến trước

day for DUOC bring Peter to in.front.of
mặt vua làm chứng sự ấy.
face king bear.witness affair that
‘At that time, he did not know what to do, so he asked the king to
wait for three days so that he could bring Peter to the court to bear
witness to that affair.’ (Thiên Chúa, 17th c.)
c. Đến ngày thứ năm, là ngày các Giu-dêu ăn thịt
to day order five be day PL Jew eat meat
thịt chiên […], cho được nhớ nghĩa thuở xưa Đức
meat sheep for DUOC remember grace time past HON
Chúa Trời cho khỏi làm tôi nước I-chi-tô
lord sky make avoid be slave country Egypt
‘On the fifth day, the day the Jews eat lamb […] so that they could
remember how in the past the Lord saved them from becoming
slaves in Egypt’ (Đức Chúa, 17th c.)

(33) a. song le đến sau cũng một năm ấy đức thầy cả Vítvồ
but later also one year that HON priest Bishop
Berita sang nước chúng tôi cho được làm
Berita come country 1PL for DUOC create
Concilium để mà sửa mọi sự về việc đạo
council in.order PRT fix every thing about affair religion
‘but later that year Bishop Berita came over to our country so that
he could create a council aiming at resolving all the faith-related
affairs’ (Thư № 6, 1702)
b. người nghe tin ấy liền sai bốn ông
3SG hear news that immediately dispatch four CL
chính đội trưởng và năm mươi quân cho được
principle captain CONJ fifty soldier for DUOC
tìm Phatêrê ấy trong xứ nhiều nơi
search father that in region many place
‘upon hearing the news, he immediately dispatched four warrant
officers and fifty soldiers in order to be able to search for that
Father in many parts of the region’ (Thư № 6, 1702)

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c. cho nên chúng tôi phải làm tờ này cho được

therefore 1PL have.to make sheet this for DUOC
làm chứng sự thật cho danh cha cả sáng
testify truth for name Father Glory
‘we therefore had to compose this letter so that we could testify
the truth for the glory of our Father’s name’ (Thư № 7, 1703)
d. thằng bé đi cùng tôi nó đã chạy đến kẻ
CL little go with 1SG 3SG PERF run arrive place
Hầu cho được bảo bổn đạo làng ấy cho biết
Hầu for DUOC tell this religion village that for know
những sự trái lẽ làm vậy
PL NOM against moral do so
‘the boy travelling with me ran to Hầu village so that he could tell
the Christians there about those immoral deeds’ (Thư № 10, 1706)
e. những kẻ đã lên chức thầy cả cũng phải làm
PL CL PERF rise rank priest also must do
hết sức cho được nên muối đất và
exhaust effort for DUOC become salt earth and
sự sáng soi thiên hạ
NOM light world
‘those who were ordained to the priesthood also must strive their
best so that they could become the Salt of the Earth and the Light
of the World’ (Thư № 11, 1732)

(34) a. Nói rồi thì thầy ấy nhắm mắt lại cho đặng
speak already then friar that shut eye back for DUOC
nhớ mọi sự trước sau cho đủ
remember every affair before after so.that enough
‘After saying it, the friar closed his eyes so that he could recall
everything’ (Lazaro Phiền, 1887)
b. Xin quan lớn cho tôi quân lính và
ask mandarin great give 1SG soldier CONJ
thuốc đạn cụ túc cho được chống trả phi đảng
ammunition enough for DUOC fight.against bandit
thì tôi dám đi.
CONJ 1SG dare go

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Trần Phan

‘Sir, if you could provide me with enough soldiers and

ammunition so that I could fight against the bandits then I will go.’
(Lazaro Phiền, 1887)
c. liệu phương thế cho đặng gạt người.
calculate method for DUOC deceive person
‘looking for ways to be able to deceive others’ (Taberd 1838:136)

Keen readers may notice that the examples in (32-34) all feature the
purposive marker cho ‘for, in order’, which introduces an infinitival clause
with a connotation of purpose. The possibility denoted by được is not
inherently internal to the subject but is made available through a
precursory conscious effort (primarily by the subject). The clause
preceding the purposive marker denotes these enabling actions. Examples
like (35) show that the sequence [cho được] cannot be a single lexical
element, i.e. a lexical variant of cho. In the absence of an overt DP, I
assume pro as the subject of the subordinate clause.

(35) song le tôi ra sức mà lên bờ cho người ta được

but 1SG exert CONJ go.up bank for people DUOC
xem thấy mà cứu lấy kẻo tôi chết đấy chăng
see see CONJ save take lest 1SG die PRT PRT
‘but I exerted myself to climb up the bank so that others could see
and save me lest I might have perished’ (Thư № 10, 1706)

Why are there many instances of pre-verbal được in this purposive

configuration? The answer may lie in the typical association of purpose
clauses with a modal interpretation cross-linguistically. See (36) for
examples from English, Italian and Romanian: subordinate (purposive)
infinitivals normally contain a covert possibility modal element (Bhatt
2006). That the dynamic modality is explicitly spelled out with được in
(32-34) is thus unremarkable.

(36) a. Sue went to Torino to buy a violin. (English)

(≈ Sue went to Torino so that she could buy a violin.’) (Bhatt
2006:2)

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b. Gianni è andato a Torino per/a comprare

Gianni is gone to Turin for/to to.buy
un violin. (Italian)
a violin
‘Gianni went to Turin to buy a violin.’ (Coniglio and Zegrean
2012:95)
(≈ ‘Gianni went to Turin so that he could buy a violin.’)
c. Ion a sunat pentru a afla noutăţile. (Romania)
Ion has called for to find.out news-the
‘Ion called so that he could find out the news.’ (Coniglio and
Zegrean 2012:95)

It is important to note that pre-verbal được with a non-biased dynamic

reading is also attested in the absence of cho, so its occurrence is in fact
not restricted to the purposive configuration. See (37).

(37) a. lòng đầy đức mến, cho nên chẳng được phạm
heart full virtue love CONJ NEG DUOC commit
một tội gì trọng hèn
one sin what serious trivial
‘[their] heart is full of love [for God], because of that they are
unable to commit any sin, serious or trivial’ (Thiên Chúa, 17th c.)
b. đã hỏi Thày giảng Jacobê Vĩnh có được phê tên
PERF ask catechist Jacob Vĩnh PRT DUOC write name
vào nhưng mà đã thưa rằng không được
in but PERF say COMP NEG DUOC
bởi mù con mắt đã 6 năm nay
because blind CL eye PERF 6 year this
‘[we] already asked if Mr. Jacob Vĩnh the catechist could sign his
name but he answered that he could not because his eyes have
been impaired for six years’ (Thư № 8, 1703)
c. tôi […] thấy thầy Thiêm đọc một tờ lý đoán
1SG see catechist Thiêm read one CL judgment
phạt Đức Cụ trong ấy nói nhiều lời tôi
punish HON elderly in there say many word 1SG

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Trần Phan

chẳng được thuộc hết

NEG DUOC memorize exhaust
‘I […] saw Mr. Thiêm the catechist read a judgment specifying
the punishment of the Honorable in which it mentioned many
things I could not memorize in their entirety’ (Thư № 18, 1759)
d. may đâu lúc đó trăng lại tỏ hơn,
lucky where time that moon then bright more
nên tôi đặng xem thầy ấy rõ ràng
CONJ 1SG DUOC see friar that clear
‘luckily the moonlight was brighter at the time, so I was able to
see that friar clearly’ (Lazaro Phiền, 1887)
e. Sự tôi chịu cực mười năm nay thì đã
thing 1SG endure hardship ten year this then PERF
đủ mà đền tội tôi rồi. Bây giờ tôi
enough CONJ redeem sin 1SG already now 1SG
đặng chết bằng an.
DUOC die peace
‘My enduring hardship in the past ten years is already enough for
me to redeem my sin. Now I can die peacefully.’ (Lazaro Phiền,
1887)

Further, the dynamic modality status of pre-verbal được is

indisputable in cases where được alternates between a pre-verbal and a
post-verbal position without a change in its reading. (38a) and (38b)
belong to two consecutive sentences; here được can precede or follow the
main verb giúp ‘help’. In (39) được can appear on either side of tra
‘investigate, find’ in the same sentence.

(38) a. Vìvậy kẻ ở xa mà ta chẳng biết mặt,

thus person at far REL 1PL NEG know face
thì người ấy nguyện làm lễ, cùng làm mọi
CONJ person that wish do service CONJ do every
phúc khác, thì cũng được giúp ta
good.deed other gain also DUOC help 1PL

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‘Thus for someone living afar whom I do not know about, if that
person wishes to celebrate Mass and do other good deeds, then he
could also help us’ (Thiên Chúa, 17th c.)
b. và kẻ ở trên thiên đàng cũng giúp được ta
CONJ person at on heaven also help gain 1PL
và kẻ đã sinh thì
CONJ person PERF die
‘and those who are in Heaven could also help us and those who
passed away’ (Thiên Chúa, 17th c.)

(39) song le chửa tra được chứng nào cho thật,

but yet investigate DUOC evidence which PRT true
vậy con xin ở lại đây năm ba ngày nữa
thus 1SG request stay at here five three day more
hoặc được tra chứng nào chăng
perhaps DUOC investigate evidence which PRT
‘but I have yet to be able to find any real evidence, thus I am asking
to remain here for a few more days so that I perhaps will be able to
find some evidence’ (Thư № 22, 1759)

The examples above strongly argue for the case of a forgotten pre-
verbal được with an evaluation-neutral dynamic interpretation. I assume
được here is derived from the lexical verb được and venture to hypothesize
that được acquired a pre-verbal auxiliary status, and thus a modal reading,
when it started to allow predicates to act as its complement. When được is
a lexical verb of acquisition, it selects for a nominal phrase. Contexts in
which both a predicational interpretation and a nominal interpretation are
plausible for the complement of được most likely pave the way for its
reanalysis from a lexical verb into an auxiliary verb marking opportunity
(see also Meisterernst 2019). Purely as a point of illustration, see (40).
Thanh nhàn here can be understood as either a nominal meaning ‘leisure’
or a predicational adjective meaning ‘leisurely’; the former reading
matches the lexical interpretation of được, while the latter reading
facilitates its modal use. Conceptually, it is not unreasonable to think that
the core meaning “come to have” (Enfield 2003) of the lexical được is
largely preserved for the auxiliary được; the difference between the two

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fundamentally lies in what the subject of được is presented with: for

lexical được what the subject comes to obtain is a physical or abstract
entity, for auxiliary được it is an opportunity (enabled by some external
circumstance) to realize the event denoted by its complement. 11, 12

(40) Ta được thanh nhàn ta sá yêu

1SG DUOC leisure(ly) 1SG should love
‘If one gains leisure/ can be leisurely, one should appreciate it’ (Quốc
âm, 15th c.)

The evaluation-neutral modal được is distinguishable from the

contemporary benefactive được, which biases towards an opportunity the
subject appreciates and considers fortunate to experience. For Vietnamese,
I claim that this added benefactivity component is in nature not pragmatic
but semantically encoded. This goes against Enfield’s (2003:301) claim
that pre-verbal được does not carry any inherent positive evaluation, citing
that it is “compatible with opposite and contrasting value judgments”, as
shown in (41). Native speakers of Vietnamese have no problem
confirming that while (41a) is unproblematic, được must be replaced by
the malefactive phải ‘have to’ for (41b) to be grammatical. Predictively,
having phải in lieu of được in (41a) also leads to ungrammaticality. As
such, the sense of positivity for được (or that of negativity for phải) is not
a mere implicature that is contextually determined.

(41) a. Tôi rất tiếc, ngày mai tôi không được hát
I very sorry tomorrow I neg rslt.prr.evnt sing
bài hát này.
clf song that
‘What a shame, tomorrow I will not (get to) sing that song.’
(Enfield 2003:301)
b. Tôi rất mừng, ngày mai tôi không được
I very cheerful tomorrow I Neg rslt.prr.evnt

11 I thank an anonymous reviewer for reminding me to clarify the mechanism through

which pre-verbal modal được is derived from lexical được.
12 I disagree with Thepkanjana and Ruangmanee’s (2015:125) characterization of pre-

verbal được as a lexical verb in a serial verb construction.

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hát bài hát này.

sing clf song that
‘I’m glad, tomorrow I will not (have to) sing that song.’ (Enfield
2003:301)

Enfield’s (2003) claim for Vietnamese appears to be carried over

from Lao and some other mainland Southeast Asian languages whose
respective equivalents to được (all derived from acquisitive verbs) simply
entail a prior clause to the event predicated without specifying that the
event is preferential to the subject. A similar scenario seems to be attested
for some North Germanic languages. For example, Norwegian modal få
selecting a VP means that the event denoted by predicate takes place to
either the advantage or the disadvantage of the subject, although the latter
might be more marked (Lødrup 1996; Askedal 2012; see also Viberg 2012
for Swedish få). In addition, the acquisitive modals in these languages
allow both (participant-external) possibility and necessity readings. It
appears that Vietnamese stands out as a language whose acquisitive modal
can be unambiguously benefactive and has only an existential force.
It is postulated here that the contemporary benefactive được is
derived from the obsolete ‘pure’ circumstantial được via a semantic
reanalysis in the sense of Eckardt (2012). The process started out with the
standard dynamic được which more often than not implies a positive
nature of the happening in its VP complement. This benefactivity
implication was at first strictly contextually conditioned, but is later
reinterpreted as a proper component of the core semantics of được, that is
an inherent, context-independent meaning of the modal. Eckardt
(2012:2688) attributes this kind of change to an “urge to Avoid Pragmatic
Overload.” Pragmatic overload is understood to occur when certain
presuppositions needed for the understanding of an element become
unwarranted and therefore cannot be accommodated by the addressee
without a proper context. Faced with this risk, the addressee might resort
to reanalyzing the meaning of the said element so that its semantics
becomes aligned with the prominent contexts in which it is found.
As a working hypothesis, I assume that this reclassification of
information is facilitated by the tendency for được to increasingly
associated with contexts of beneficial opportunity. This follows from the

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emergence of the malefactive phải ‘have to’ which is tied to contexts of

disadvantage. The presence of phải as a modal allows for a neat division
of labor between phải ([+malefactivity, +necessity]) and được
([+benefactivity, +possibility]), a display of stark contrast in both inherent
evaluation and modal strength. This division carries over to the realm of
deontic modality: while deontic được means ‘be allowed to’, deontic phải
is interpreted as ‘must’. 13 I further hypothesize that after được acquired its
benefactivity component, pure opportunity modal được as its diachronic
predecessor gradually ceased to exist. Much research is needed to
substantiate the claims nevertheless.14
If the discussion so far is on the right track, then we have reasons to
believe that this pure possibility use of pre-verbal được could be traced
back to even the earliest surviving texts. For example, the sentences in (42)
are at least in principle ambiguous between a pure opportunity reading and
a benefactive interpretation.

(42) a. Được mắng tám đấng tiếng

DUOC hear eight kind sound
‘Can/get to hear eight kinds of sounds’ (Phật thuyết, 12th c.)
b. Trăm ngàn muôn kiếp ắt khôn là
hundred thousand ten.thousand life CONJ hard CONJ
được gặp
DUOC meet
‘It is hard to be able to/ get to meet in hundreds of thousands of
incarnations’ (Phật thuyết, 12th c.)

13 Note further that phải as a lexical verb also has the core meaning of ‘come to have’, but
the theme of phải is strictly evaluated as negative (leading to meanings like ‘contract’ or
‘suffer from’ (Nguyễn 1997)), while that of được is viewed as positive or neutral (i.e.
usually, though not necessarily, desirable). Thus, there appears to be a deep-rooted contrast
in semantics between these two elements. A further discussion on the matter is however
beyond the scope of this work.
14
By arguing for the existence of pre-verbal được as an evaluation-neutral modal auxiliary,
it becomes more straightforward as to how other instances of pre-verbal được could
develop further modal readings. An account like, for example, that in Thepkanjana and
Ruangmanee 2015, which proposes a direct reanalysis from the post-verbal dynamic được
to the pre-verbal deontic được, has to answer the question of why the syntactic position of
the modal relative to the verb changes when new interpretations develop.

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c. Thị phi tiếng lặng, được dầu nghe

quarrel voice quite DUOC freely listen
yến thốt oanh ngâm.
swift sing robin sing
‘Quarrelling voices quiet down, I can/ get to freely listen to birds
singing.’ (Cư trần, 13th c.)

Consequently, it seems not unreasonable to hypothesize that the

opportunity reading of pre-verbal được might predate the ability reading
of post-verbal được. Interestingly enough, Li (2004:228–229) also claims
that the Chinese dé 得 is attested first with a participant-external
(opportunity) reading (3rd century BC to 1st century) and much later with
the participant-internal (ability) one. Incidentally, pre-verbal dé as a
marker of possibility was also common in Middle Chinese but is lost in
Present-Day Chinese. This striking parallelism in the development of
these two cognates, though deserving further research, seems to reinforce
the current hypothesis.

4. CONCLUSION

This work was first tasked with outlining a rough chronicalization for
the modal means expressing dynamic possibility throughout the history of
Vietnamese. These modal expressions can be divided into three groups
corresponding to three stages of development of the possibility system.
Group I consists of at least hay, khá/khả, kham and được, which are all
merged pre-verbally and no longer in use in PDV. Group II has post-verbal
được as its sole member. Group III features modal phrases có thể and the
now outdated có lẽ. Diachronic data indicate that pre-verbal modals long
anteceded post-verbal được, while pre-verbal modal phrases only started
to surface quite recently.
The second task of the paper concerned the sketching of the two
distinct development paths for được as a dynamic modal element, both in
a post-verbal and in a pre-verbal position. I started out by suggesting that
post-verbal được as a modal is derived from a resultative marker, and its
peculiar position can be accounted for if Cheng and Sybesma’s (2003)

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“fork modality” is adopted. I subsequently made a case for the once

existence of pre-verbal được as a dynamic modal proper, an important
missing piece of the puzzle regarding the syntactic representation of
modality in Vietnamese.

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 Vietnamese Modal System of Dynamic Possibility

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[Received 16 June 2022; revised 21 Dec 2022; accepted 27 Feb 2023]

Trần Phan
Graduate Institute of Linguistics
National Tsing Hua University
101, Sec. 2, Guangfu Rd., East Dist., Hsinchu, Taiwan
tranphan@gapp.nthu.edu.tw

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Appendix: The list of cited texts with the corresponding abbreviation,

English translation, and publication data.

Abbreviation Title of text English translation Publication

Chuyến đi Chuyến đi Bắc Voyage to Tonkin Trương
Kỳ năm Ất in 1876 1881
Hợi 1876
Cư trần Cư trần lạc Dwelling in the H.C.
đạo phú World with the Joy Nguyễn
of Practicing 1988
Dharma
Đức Chúa Truyện Đức The Story of Lord H. Nguyễn
Chúa Giê-su Jesus 2003c
Hồng Đức Hồng Đức Poetry Collection of Bùi 2000
Quốc âm thi the National
tập Language from the
Hong Duc Period
Giải Kim Giải Kim Understanding the Lê 2000
cương cương kinh lý Diamond Sutra
nghĩa
Khóa hư Thiền tông Zen Lessons on Trần 2009
khóa hư ngữ Emptiness
lục
Lazaro Phiền Truyện thầy The Story of Lazaro T.Q.
Lazaro Phiền Phien Nguyễn
1887
Nam Xương Người con gái The Married Q.H.
Nam Xương Woman of Nam Nguyễn
Xuong 2001
Những điều Những điều Contemplations on H. Nguyễn
ngắm ngắm trong Major Holidays 2003a
các ngày lễ
trọng
Phật thuyết Phật thuyết đại Sutra on the Hoàng 1999
báo phụ mẫu Profundity of Filial
ân trọng kinh Love
Quốc âm Quốc âm thi Poetry Collection in Bùi 2000
tập the National
Language

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Thập giới Thập giới cô Ten Admonitions to Bùi 2000

hồn quốc ngữ Lonesome Spirits in
văn the National
Language
Thiên Chúa Thiên Chúa A Primer on H. Nguyễn
thánh giáo Christianity 2003b
khải mông
Thư Thư người Letters from Đoàn 2008
Việt Công giáo Vietnamese
thế kỷ 17-18 Catholics in the
(collective 17th-18th c.
name mine)
Vịnh Vân Vịnh Vân Yên Fu on the Van Yen H.C.
Yên tự phú Temple Nguyễn
1988

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Trần Phan

從歷時角度探討越南語中表可能性的能願模態詞系統

潘玉陳
國立清華大學

本文透過歷時語料探索越南語的能願模態詞（dynamic modals）系統，並
大致勾勒出越南語模態詞分佈的時間順序。此外，我們進一步追溯在語料
中 發 現 的 兩 種 能 願 模 態 詞 được 的 句 法 - 語 意 變 化 （ syntacto-semantic
changes ） 。 本 文 認 為 動 後 （ post-verbal ） 模 態 詞 được 是 由 結 果 標 記
（resultative marker）發展而來的，而曾經存在的動前（pre-verbal）模態詞
được 經過重新分析（reanalysis）由單純的可能性語意（opportunity reading）
轉變為受惠性（benefactive）語意。為何在現代越南語中能願模態詞 được
僅出現於動詞後是一個長期存在的難題，本文藉由歷時的角度為此提出了
一個解釋。

關鍵字：表可能性的能願模態詞、模態詞、được、句法/語意重新分析、歷
時句法、越南語

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