This paper discusses about the ‘NP+好+V’ construction is a middle voice that is active in form but is passive in meaning. However, the ‘NP+好+V’ construction is unable to meet the affectedness, which is one of the semantic conditions of typical middle constructions. The concept of affectedness is argued by Hale & Keyser(1987), Fellbaum & Zribi-Hertz(1989), etc. and it means that the middle construction can be formed when the subject is affected. Therefore, it can be concluded that the affectedness is not enough to explain the ‘NP+好+V’ construction. This paper discusses about the meanings represented by the ‘NP+好+V’ constructions, by studying the semantic functions of ‘好’ which is common to the ‘NP+好+V’ constructions.
‘好’ of 上聲(third tone) means ‘good’, ‘excellent’, ‘easy’. The ‘NP+好+V’ construction can easily form the middle construction when the verb quality is ergative verb and ‘好’ represents the meaning of ‘容易’. In general, active or passive constructions are used to convey strong ‘disposal’ or ‘affectedness’. However, the Modern Chinese ‘NP+好+V’ construction is a middle construction used to express the passive meaning or the speaker’s subjectivity about the NP’s attributes.