The Property and Types of Conditional Sentences with cái(才)
The conditional sentence structure featuring the use of cái(才)is an important conditional sentence structure in Chinese.The basic semantic meaning of cái(才)in such conditional sentences indicates necessity,and in specific sentence patterns or within particular contexts,the condition expressed in a conditional sentence with cái emerges as a sufficient and necessary condition and consequently implies the exclusion of other potential conditions.The usages of cái(才)in such conditional sentences fall under six semantic types:temporal condition,deontic condition,specific condition,exceptional condition,hypothetical condition,and dependent condition.These six conditional sentence structures are divided into the subjective category condition type and the objective category condition type.The subjective category condition includes deontic condition and hypothetical condition,and the objective category condition includes temporal condition and scope condition(specific condition,exceptional condition,and dependent condition).From the perspective of conditional selection,time conditions,deontic conditions,specific conditions,hypothetical conditions and dependent conditions are positive selection conditions,while exceptional conditions are negative exclusion conditions.The historical emergence sequence of the six types of conditional sentences with cái(才)is roughly as follows:temporal condition＞deontic condition＞specific condition/exceptional condition＞hypothetical condition＞dependent condition.
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