A Contrastive Study Of English And Chinese Conditionals-IF/RUGUO(如果) From Cognitive Perspective

With a qualitative research method, this study conducts the comparative study between if and ruguo(如果) conditionals in the framework of Prototype Theory presented in cognitive linguistics on the basis of English and Chinese conditionals. The specific contents of this thesis include four aspects:First, to reveal the common attributes of English and Chinese prototypical conditionals;Second, to explore the differences between English and Chinese prototypical conditionals;Third, to explain how the English and Chinese conditionals evolve from prototypical conditionals to non-prototypical conditionals;Fourth, to illustrate there are similarities and differences of broadening ways when English and Chinese non-prototypical conditionals extend outward and at the same time it’s necessary to explore whether there exists a common mechanism behind the extension of English and Chinese conditionals.If there is such a mechanism,how it plays its role.Researches find out that conditionals are a prototype category compromised by prototypical and non-prototypical members and Prototype Theory holds strong explanatory power for English and Chinese conditionals. Through the study of Prototype Theory, the thesis summarizes its main viewpoints, on the foundation of which,combined with linguists’ research results, this study concludes the common attributes shared by English and Chinese conditionals, namely prototypical conditionals. By example analysis, the construction mode-"the four dimensions" of prototypical conditionals is established:objectivity of the content of conditions, the correlation between conditions and conclusions, realizability and time dimension of conditions, sentence order. Through the analysis of "the four dimensions", the thesis demonstrates the prototypes of English and Chinese conditionals respectively and makes a tentative analysis of differences of English and Chinese prototypical conditionals, namely, there are significant differences in context dependency and time indicators.By deviating in this "four dimensions", English and Chinese prototypical conditionals extend to non-prototypical conditionals in different dimensions,which manifests in decrease and alienation of conditions, deviation of truth values and semantic correlation,time order and sentence order of clauses.In non-prototypical conditionals, the most obvious manifestation is the unreality of conditions, the reasons and mechanism leading to which,are the fuzziness of conditions and metonymy. According to economic principle, the salient information takes the place of the complete content in the process of communication.The differences of broadening ways of English and Chinese non-prototypical conditionals reflect in counterfactual expressions, in addition there are subtle differences among ruguo(如果),ruguoshuo(如果说)and ifWithin the framework of Prototype Theory, this study explores the comparative study of ruguo(如果) and if conditionals based on English and Chinese conditionals. It reveals the internal logic of the conditional structure, ways of construing connotation and the cognitive mechanism hidden behind the broadening ways of conditionals, which deepens the comparative study of conditionals to a certain extent and offers a new perspective for future researches, especially the research of Chinese conditionals from a cognitive perspective.