Conditionality without 'if' : Conditional marking strategies in Mandarin

Abstract

In deriving conditional meaning, it is generally assumed that a conditional connective like if plays a crucial role. Yet, constructions which express conditional meaning without any counterpart of if exist. For instance, sentential conjunctions in English such as Mary sings one more song and I’ll leave may receive a conjunctive or a conditional interpretation (conditional conjunctions (CCs)). The conditional interpretation of CCs is an instance of conditional meaning arising in the absence of if. This paper adds to the discussion of conditionality without ‘if’. I bring evidence from Mandarin, a language known for commonly expressing conditional meaning without any overt marking (e.g., Comrie, 1986; Yang, 2021; Liu and Wang, 2022). I dub the conditionals without an identifiable ‘if’ zero-marked conditionals. I argue that Mandarin zero-marked conditionals are essentially conditional juxtapositions whose first sentences are topicalized. I propose that topicalization is the source of conditionality in Mandarin bare conditionals. I also compare the current approach with the covert-and approach (e.g., Liu, 2017), and show that the current account has wider empirical coverage.