臺灣話的否定詞m有意願否定及簡單否定兩種語意，本文所要探討的問題便是：臺灣話究竟有一個或兩個不同的否定詞m。本文以為雖然表面上似乎有兩個不同的m，但在深層結構僅有一簡單m存在。此一簡單m於詞庫中附著於例外動詞上，整個[m-例外動詞]並於句法層面加在動詞節之下。m亦可單獨加在NEG節之下，而此NEG節必須次類劃分以beh「要」或其他抽象情態詞為主要語的MP。m附著於beh或其他抽象情態詞之後的語音形式還是m，但已增加額外的意願語意。本分析方法區分構詞否定與句法否定，因而可進一步解釋m的共現限制，以及解釋為何簡單m不可單獨出現而意願m卻可以，並且掌握了[m-例外動詞]的一些例外行為。

In Taiwanese the negator m seems to have more than one denotation, volitional and simple. The question is whether there are two different m’s or just one m. This paper proposes that while on the surface there seem to be two m’s, underlyingly only the simple m exists. The simple m attaches to some exceptional verbs in the lexicon and is inserted as a whole under a V node in syntax. M can also be inserted alone under a NEG node that is subcategorized for an MP headed by beh ‘want’ or other abstract modals. The phonetic form of m attaching to beh or abstract modals is still m but with an additional volitional meaning. The analysis distinguishing lexical from syntactic negation further explains co-occurrence restrictions, accounts for why the simple m cannot occur alone while the volitional m can, and also captures other exceptional behaviors of these m-exceptional verbs.