The Analysis Of If Counterfactual Conditional Sentences From Decategorization Perspective

As an important constituent part in English grammar, if counterfactual conditional sentences occupy a certain position in English learning and teaching. Many scholars have conducted researches on if counterfactual conditional sentences at home and abroad, but their opinions are different from one another. Some scholars made their study of if counterfactual conditional sentences from grammatical perspective, some conducted their researches from the perspective of philosophy. Besides, there are also scholars who did their study of if counterfactual conditional sentences from pragmatic and cognitive perspective.In this thesis, the subjects of the study are English counterfactual conditional sentences led by the conjunction if, which will be analyzed on the basis of the theory of decategorization. The reason for the choice of if counterfactual conditional sentences is that they are representative in the category of English counterfactual conditional sentences. In this study, the subjects are divided into three kinds:(A)"If+subject+simple past+..., subject+modal auxiliary+base form+...",(B)"If+subject+past perfect+..., subject+modal auxiliary+present perfect+..." and (C)"If+subject+past perfect+..., subject+modal auxiliary+base form+..." After the analysis we can get the following conclusions:the simple past in type (A) no longer expresses an action that is finished or a state that is changed, but it conveys a hypothetical condition that can not be fulfilled in the real world. The past perfect in type (B) does not refer to something that is done or an action that is completed and so does the present perfect in the main clause. The past perfect in the subordinate clause and the present perfect in the main clause of (B) are used to express an unreal condition and a correspondent unreal consequent. So does the past perfect and the base form in the sentences of (C). The simple past, past perfect, present perfect and base form in if counterfactual conditional sentences lose some typical characteristics of the original meaning of its category and obtain some new characteristics at the same time. They express the meaning of negation to a certain extent. In if counterfactual conditional sentences, they do not convey the occurrence of events, but a state that is virtual. Hence, the simple past, past perfect, present perfect and base form in if counterfactual conditional sentences experience decategorization. The meaning of if counterfactual conditional sentences is realized through mental envision.