Cognitive Analysis Of IF-conditionals: Prediction, Epistemic Distance, Alternative Space And Pragmatic Transmutation

Generally speaking, if-conditionals are discussed with respect to their truth value and logical relation as by philosophers, with respect to their inference as by pragmatic linguistists and with respect to their grammatical structures as by traditional grammarians. This thesis tries to reveal the meaning of the clause and verb forms in English if-conditionals within the framework of cognitive linguistics, which is a new perspective. In this paper, we will illustrate the meaning and use of if-conditional within the framework of prediction, distance,alternative space and pragmatic transmutation of conditional relation.Qualitative method and a combination of induction and deduction are used in this thesis. It is found that If-conditional is a category including different members. Prediction and backshift are useful factors in classifying if-conditionals. The basic point of cognitive linguistics is that the relation of if-conditional is the relation of two realities in objective world and it is modified to some extent through the mediation of human mind. So language is not context-free, when mixed with context the relation will change to the direction of pragmatic transmutation. The framework of alternative space allows us to capture generalizations about both the logical and pragmatic aspects of conditional meaning. At the same time, cognitive linguistics holds that there is a close relation between grammar and cognition: verb forms in both main and subordinate clauses are regarded as surface devices of conditional types and speaker's belief. In the course of perceiving the world, the speaker's/conceptualizer's attitudes, beliefs and emotions will inevitably permeate and affect the process and product of the interpretation of events and states of affairs and their relationships. This subjective evolvement will manifest itself in the linguistic structures. Verb forms as an important part in if-conditionals also reflect the speaker's inner distance towards the content. Different sorts of if-conditionals constitute a fuzzy category and the relation between the clauses is a continuum. Furthermore the study will try to give the cognitive motivation- subjectivity as the existence of different sorts of if-conditionals.