本研究整合語法化及主觀化的觀點分析臺灣客語心理畏懼動詞「怕」之情態演變歷程。臺灣客語「怕」除了諺語用法外，較少表達「害怕」或「擔心」之語意，絕大多數情況是用來表達說話者主觀性不確定之情態意義。本文以客語語料庫（含口語及書面語料）為本，檢視「怕」構式在實際使用中之用法分布及共現語境所呈現之句法功能及語意表徵。藉由「怕」構式語法化及詞彙化歷程之推演，本文解釋其如何由「害怕、擔心」之心理動詞演變至表「恐怕、大概、或許」之知識性情態詞，同時也解釋「驚」與「怕」、「敢」與「怕」如何在詞彙化運作下發展為情態詞「驚怕」與「敢怕」，且皆用來表達說話者對命題內容之主觀不確定性。綜言之，「怕」之情態演變的動因為語用推論而導引出之轉喻強化現象，在語言使用之溝通目的下，透過「語境誘發之重新解釋」形成了歧義現象，並進一步固定化為獨立之語意。

Integrating perspectives of grammaticalization and subjectification, this study investigates the development of the modal meaning ‘(it’s) possible that…’ from the psych verb meaning of pa3 怕 ‘to fear, to be afraid of’ in Taiwanese Hakka. The syntactic and semantic distributions and collocational patterns of pa3 constructions are examined based on its actual usage drawn from Hakka Corpus. Grammaticalization processes are demonstrated to show its development from a psych verb meaning into an epistemic modal meaning denoting the uncertainty of the speaker’s subjective stance. The lexicalized forms giang1pa3 and gam3pa3 are also analyzed as to code the speaker’s belief or attitude towards a proposition. Metonymic strengthening is the key motivator behind such a development. Its use in a communication context triggers context-induced reinterpretation, giving rise to ambiguity. Pragmatic inferences are in turn conventionalized, leading to autonomous semantics.