Neng(gou) 能(夠) ‘can’

According to Lü (2000), nenggou 能夠 ‘can’ expresses the probability of an event. Li (2004) further points out that nenggou 能夠 ‘can’ can convey epistemic possibility, and with the epistemic possibility, it can be used to replace hui 會 in Mandarin Chinese and in most dialects of North China although in other dialects hui 會 is often preferred instead of nenggou 能夠 ‘can’. Liu et al. (2011) argue that nenggou 能夠 ‘can’ can be used to estimate the possibility of an event. In Mandarin conversation, nenggou 能夠 ‘can’ is employed as a hedge to show the speaker’s hope towards the possibility of the proposition and at the same time signal the speaker’s lack of commitment (Chen 2008). In written Chinese, neng(gou) 能(夠) ‘can’ is also found to present the writers’ hope for the

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practicability of their research purposes or experimental results. In addition, it is used by the writer to make epistemic evaluation (Lo 2010). In my corpus, neng(gou) 能(夠) ‘can’ is used to express possibility of events, to predict probability of events under conditions, to convey expectations, or to make suggestions. The last function, to make suggestions, is observed only in the written discourse.

Neng(gou) 能(夠) ‘can’ in examples (124) and (125) are used to express possibility of events. The speaker of (124) indicates that the infertility center has cooperative plans with a hospital in China. Since the infertility center of that hospital in China is brand new, the speaker and his team members communicate with them a lot. They transmit some blueprints and experiences to this new center and hope the new open center can operate smoothly and well. Similarly, writers of (125) argue that certain medicine is capable of helping cancer patients with sleeping problems.

(124) 所以常常我們會有一些..一些..圖的ㄧ個來往 hon,我們..把我們的經驗 hon 交

給他們hon,讓他們能夠讓開幕開幕以後 hon 能夠運作地更順利 (S8)

Suǒyǐ chángcháng wǒmen huì yǒu yīxiē.. Yīxiē.. Tú deyi1 gè láiwǎng hon, wǒmen.. Bǎ wǒmen de jīngyàn hon jiāo gěi tāmen hon, ràng tāmen nénggòu ràng kāimù kāimù yǐhòu hon nénggòu yùnzuò de gèng shùnlì

‘So often we have some .. some ..sort of trade on graphs, we put on our

experience hon .. to them hon, so that they can run smoothly after the opening.’

(125) 鴉片類藥物和或非鴉片類鎮痛藥來處理疼痛，通常能幫助癌症病人睡眠變 佳。(W1)

Yāpiàn lèi yàowù hé huò fēi yāpiàn lèi zhèntòng yào lái chǔlǐ téngtòng, tōngcháng néng bāngzhù áizhèng bìngrén shuìmián biàn jiā

‘By using non-opioid drugs and opioid analgesics to manage pain, usually it can help cancer patients to get better sleep.’

In (126) and (127), the speaker/writers employ nenggou 能夠 ‘can’ to predict the probability of events under certain conditions. If-conditionals jiashe 假設 ‘if’ and ruguo 如 果 ‘if’ are utilized along with nenggou 能夠 ‘can’ to imply that the probability will be

implemented only when the conditions are fulfilled. The application of if-conditionals helps the speakers/writers to reduce their commitment to the propositions to an even smaller degree.

(126) 假設能夠解決困難插管的一些事情,可能讓我們的醫療糾紛,可以減少四十個 percent.我有經過詳細的..啊統計,四十個 percent. (S3)

jiǎshè nénggòu jiějué kùnnán chā guǎn de yīxiē shìqíng, kěnéng ràng wǒmen de yīliáo jiūfēn, kěyǐ jiǎnshǎo sìshí gè percent. Wǒ yǒu jīngguò xiángxì de.. A tǒngjì, sìshí gè percent

‘If we can solve some problems of difficult intubation, possibly our medical legal problems can be reduced forty percent, I have made detailed .. ah statistics, forty percent.’

(127) 從胃腸道給予病人營養殊為重要，尤其對重症的病人更有其必要性 。腸道 如果能夠得到養分，可以確保腸黏膜屏蔽功能的完整，減少腸內細菌轉移 到血中的機會。 (W1)

Cóng wèicháng dào jǐyǔ bìngrén yíngyǎng shū wéi zhòngyào, yóuqí duì zhòngzhèng de bìngrén gèng yǒu qí bìyào xìng. Cháng dào rúguǒ nénggòu dédào yǎngfèn, kěyǐ quèbǎo cháng niánmó píngbì gōngnéng de wánzhěng, jiǎnshǎo cháng nèi xìjùn zhuǎnyí dào xiě zhòng de jīhuì

‘It is important to give the patient nutrition from the gastrointestinal tract, especially for patients with severe degree. If the ntestinal can get nutrients, then it can ensure the integrity of the intestinal mucosa shielding function, reducing the chance of intestinal bacteria transferred to the blood.’

Neng(gou) 能(夠) ‘can’ can be used to express expectations, as in (128) and (129). The expectation may be derived from the speaker himself, as in (128), or from other people, as in (129). Xiwang 希望 ‘hope’ is applied along with neng(gou) 能(夠) ‘can’ to imply that the expectations are merely subjective viewpoints.

(128) 那可是在..醫生的心裡面 hon,我們當然希望至少九成到九成五以上的ㄧ個藥 物能夠..涵蓋我們現在所面臨的ㄧ個感染。 (S4)

Nà kěshì zài.. Yīshēng de xīn lǐmiàn hon, wǒmen dāngrán xīwàng zhìshǎo jiǔ chéng dào jiǔ chéng wǔ yǐshàng deyi1 gè yàowù nénggòu.. Hángài wǒmen xiànzài suǒ miànlín deyi1 gè gǎnrǎn

‘However, in the doctor's mind hon, we certainly hope that the medicine can at

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least cover 90% to 95% of infection .. that we are facing now.’

(129) 許多腫瘤學家希望能用更簡便的篩檢方法，將會干擾老年癌症病人治療的 其他健康問題察覺出來。 (W2)

Xǔduō zhǒngliú xué jiā xīwàng néng yòng gèng jiǎnbiàn de shāi jiǎn fāngfǎ, jiāng huì gānrǎo lǎonián áizhèng bìngrén zhìliáo de qítā jiànkāng wèntí chájué chūlái

‘Many oncologists hope that they can find some simpler screening methods to detect other health problems existing in elderly cancer patients.’

Examples (130) and (131) are extracted from the written discourse. Neng 能 ‘can’ in these two examples are employed to make suggestions, and this function is observed

exclusively in writing. The preceding assertive hedge jianyi 建議 ‘suggest’ in these two cases apparently reinforces the sense of recommendation.

(130) 在病灶範圍分佈較廣或合併有空洞重度肺結核病人，建議能將確認有效藥 物加到6 種。(W2)

Zài bìngzào fànwéi fēnbù jiào guǎng huò hébìng yǒu kòng dòng zhòngdù fèijiéhé bìngrén, jiànyì néng jiāng quèrèn yǒuxiào yàowù jiā dào 6 zhǒng

‘For patients who have wider distribution voids or combine with severe

tuberculosis, it is suggested that the confirmed effective drugs can be added to six kinds.’

(131) 即使是緊急手術，也建議病人在術前能至少接受兩個小時的血液透析。

(W2)

Jíshǐ shì jǐnjí shǒushù, yě jiànyì bìngrén zài shù qián néng zhìshǎo jiēshòu liǎng gè xiǎoshí de xiěyè tòuxī

‘Even the emergency surgery, it is also suggested that the preoperative patient can receive at least two hours of hemodialysis.’