Ke(yi) 可(以) ‘can’

According to Li (2004) and Huang (1999), ke(yi) 可以 ‘can’ can be used to indicate epistemic possibility. In my corpus, ke(yi) 可以 ‘can’ is used to express epistemic

possibility, to make conjectures, to indicate possible advantages if a treatment is practiced under a certain period of time, or to make suggestions, which are functions identified in both medical genres. One communicative purpose is identified in the spoken discourse

exclusively, where keyi 可以 ‘can’ is utilized to make polite invitations. The various communicative functions will be discussed with illustrative examples:

ke(yi) 可以 ‘can’ can be used to show epistemic possibility, as examples (89) and (90):

(89) 其實一次針扎案件 hon,真的是會造成很多的..成本 hon.hon 但是其實大部分

的針扎hon,其實從國外的報告來說,大部分都是可以預防 hon (S9)

Qíshí yīcì zhēn zhā ànjiàn hon, zhēn de shì huì zàochéng hěnduō de.. Chéngběn hon.Hon dànshì qíshí dà bùfèn de zhēn zhā hon, qíshí cóng guó wài de bàogào lái shuō, dà bùfèn dōu shì kěyǐ yùfáng hon

‘In fact, a needle case, really will cause a lot of .. cost, but in fact most of the needle, in fact, reports from abroad, most of the cases can be prevented.’

(90) 對早期的乳癌病人，積極治的療，可使治癒率達 90%以上 (W2) Duì zǎoqí de rǔ'ái bìngrén, jījí zhì de liáo, kě shǐ zhìyù lǜ dá 90% yǐshàng

‘For early breast cancer patients, with the positive treatment, the cure rate can reach over than 90%.’

The objective evidence in the predication of (89) and (90) on the one hand enhances the speakers’/writers’ arguments, and on the other hand the use of ke(yi) 可以 ‘can’ helps lower the speakers’/writers’ commitment to their propositions, and meanwhile it enables the

speakers/writers to shift the responsibility to those attributes.

Ke(yi) 可以 ‘can’ can be used to make conjectures on clinical practices according to subjective viewpoints or professional knowledge, as shown in (91) and (92):

(91) 那..其實就醫療上面的..的事實上的..每天的<E practice E>裡面，其實有時候 你適當地欺矇可以減少病人的焦慮,減少他的疼痛。(S2)

Nà.. Qíshí jiù yīliáo shàngmiàn de.. De shìshí shàng de.. Měitiān de practice lǐmiàn, qíshí yǒu shíhòu nǐ shìdàng de qīméng kěyǐ jiǎnshǎo bìngrén de jiāolǜ, jiǎnshǎo tā de téngtòng

‘that .. in fact in terms of clinical practice.. in fact .. in the daily practice, actually the sometimes appropriate concealing properly can reduce the patient’s anxiety, reduce his pain.’

(92) <E Fidaxomicin E>對腸道內大部份細菌無效(包括 Bacteroides group)，不會 影響這些細菌的生長。故使用<E Fidaxomicin E>治療 <E C.difficile E>感染 時，當可維持腸道內正常厭氧菌的數量。(W1)

Fidaxomicin duì cháng dào nèi dà bù fèn xìjùn wúxiào (bāokuò Bacteroides group), bù huì yǐngxiǎng zhèxiē xìjùn de shēngzhǎng. Gù shǐyòng fidaxomicin zhìliáo C.Difficile gǎnrǎn shí, dāng kě wéichí cháng dào nèi zhèngcháng yàn yǎng jùn de shùliàn

‘Fidaxomicin is invalid to the majority of the bacteria in the gut (including Bacteroides group), which does not affect the growth of these bacteria.

Therefore, the use of fidaxomicin for the treatment of C. difficile infections can maintain the number of normal intestinal anaerobic bacteria.’

A conjecture naturally inherits sense of uncertainty. The speaker of (91) employs keyi 可以

‘can’ to make a tentative conjecture on what may be the benefits for patients while

129

concealment is applied properly, such as concealing on degree of seriousness of the patient’s disease. As well as (91), the writers of (92) make a conjecture on the benefit of a certain treatment by applying ke 可 ‘can’. With ke(yi) 可以 ‘can’, the speakers/writers are able to make their assumptions less assertive and more acceptable to the hearers/readers.

Ke(yi) 可以 ‘can’ can be utilized to indicate what may be the possible advantages when a treatment is practiced under a certain limit of time, as shown in (93) and (94).

(93) 基本上,如果你在咳嗽剛開始前兩週,卡它期的時候,你用<E culture E>跟<E PCR E>是可以測出來 (S7)

Jīběn shàng, rúguǒ nǐ zài késòu gāng kāishǐ qián liǎng zhōu, kǎ tā qí de shíhòu, nǐ yòng culture gēn PCR shì kěyǐ cè chūlái

‘Basically, during the first two weeks of your coughing, within the Karta Period, you can use culture and PCR to test out if it is the Pertussis.’

(94) 若在七天內提早實行氣管切開術可以減少呼吸器引起之肺炎、呼吸器使用 時間及在加護病房住院的時間 (W1)

Ruò zài qītiān nèi tízǎo shíxíng qìguǎn qiēkāi shù kěyǐ jiǎnshǎo hūxī qì yǐnqǐ zhī fèiyán, hūxī qì shǐyòng shíjiān jí zài jiāhù bìngfáng zhùyuàn de shíjiān

‘If the implementation of tracheotomy is done within seven days, it can reduce pneumonia caused by the ventilator, the period for respirator use, and the hospitalization time in the ICU.’

The speaker of (93) uses keyi 可以 ‘can’ to indicate the possibility on the diagnoses of pertussis, but the premise is that the test should be done within the first two weeks of the coughing symptom. Similarly, seven days is the limit of time to minimize the possible risk of pneumonia as in (94). The employment of keyi 可以 ‘can’ reduce the speakers’/writers’

commitment to the possibilities being speculated.

In the following examples, similar to keneng 可能 ‘may’, keyi 可以 ‘can’ is used for the speakers/writers to offer tentative suggestions, either for better resolution, as in (95), or when the previous treatment is in vain, as in (96) below:

(95) 那如果真的你已經看到那麼大的 nodule,你可以選擇用<E dual energy E>,你

可以..^更早期知道..它是 inferedummars, 還是 tu--還是<E cancer E>. (S3) Nà rúguǒ zhēn de nǐ yǐjīng kàn dào nàme dà de nodule, nǐ kěyǐ xuǎnzé yòng dual energy, nǐ kěyǐ..^Gèng zǎoqí zhīdào.. Tā shì inferedummars, háishì tu--háishì cancer

‘If you have seen such a big module, you can choose to use dual energy, you can .. ^ know earlier .. if it is inferedummars, or tu-- or cancer.’

(96) 如病患有食道狹窄的情況，例如食道癌，在傳統內視鏡無法通過狹窄處 時，可以嘗試經鼻內視鏡。 (W1)

Rú bìng huàn yǒu shídào xiázhǎi de qíngkuàng, lìrú shídào ái, zài chuántǒng nèi shì jìng wúfǎ tōngguò xiázhǎi chù shí, kěyǐ chángshì jīng bí nèi shì jìng

‘If the patients had esophageal stricture circumstances, such as esophageal cancer, the traditional endoscopy could not pass through the narrow position, you can try transnasal endoscopy.’

Ke(yi) 可以 ‘can’ can be utilized to make polite invitations, as in (97) and (98). This communicative purpose is identified exclusively in the spoken discourse:

(97) 所以我們啊各位同仁, <T li nann u iann T> (你若有空)，<T etang ki..ah lan e.. T> (可以去..啊我們的)教學研究大樓，<T lan e T> (咱們的)生殖研究中 心,我們裡面有一個..佳霓..佳霓..這個啊..紀念..啊..生殖實驗室 hon。(S8) Suǒyǐ wǒmen a gèwèi tóngrén, li nann u iann(nǐ ruò yǒu kòng),etang ki..Ah lan e..(Kěyǐ qù.. A wǒmen de) jiàoxué yánjiū dàlóu,lan e (zánmen de) shēngzhí yánjiū zhōngxīn, wǒmen lǐmiàn yǒu yīgè.. Jiā ní.. Jiā ní.. Zhège a.. Jìniàn.. A..

Shēngzhí shíyàn shì hon

‘Therefore, we, ah, colleagues, if you have time, you can go to .. ah… the teaching and research building, our Reproductive Research Center, we have a ..

Jia Ni Jia Ni.. this .. ah .. Memorial .. ah .. reproductive laboratory.’

(98) <T sooi gua siunn T> (所以我想)今天我們請蔡教授來這邊講，就是說，我們 有這樣的ㄧ個典範，你用這樣的模子，把它怎樣? <T tae king tsehue T>(大 家挺做伙)，hon，那如果你們..啊..有興趣，可以到他那邊去。(S8)

Sooi gua siunn (suǒyǐ wǒ xiǎng) jīntiān wǒmen qǐng cài jiàoshòu lái zhè biān jiǎng, jiùshì shuō, wǒmen yǒu zhèyàng deyi1 gè diǎnfàn, nǐ yòng zhèyàng de múzi, bǎ tā zěnyàng? Tae king tsehue(dàjiā tǐng zuò huǒ),hon, nà rúguǒ nǐmen..

A.. Yǒu xìngqù, kěyǐ dào tā nà biān qù.

‘So I think.. today we have invited Professor Tsai to make a speech. That is, we have such a model, and you use this mold to put it like what? Everyone unites together, hon, and if you .. ah .. are interested in it, you can ask for his advise .’

131 4.2.3 Hui 會 ‘will ; may’

Li (2004: 140) argues that hui 會 has a subjective reading, as in ta hui zai lai de 他會 再來的 ‘He may come again’. Hui 會 is normally used to refer to probability or possibility of future events, yet it can also denote present events or incidents happening in the past (Lü 2000, Liu et at. 2011). The futurity potentially involves certain degree of uncertainty;

therefore, hui 會 inherently convey the sense of possibility of an event. In Chen’s (2008) study, the speaker uses hui 會 ‘can’ as a hedge to show his conjecture and uncertainty towards the occurrence of an event, which implies the possible falseness and his lack of commitment to the proposition. In my databank, hui 會 ‘will/may’ is utilized to express several communicative purposes. It can be used to express epistemic probability, to make predictions, to anticipate the audiences’/readers’ possible doubts, or to convey expectations.

One function of hui 會 which is only observed in the spoken data is to announce the topics which will be discussed later or actions that will be accomplished in the future. The functions that are shared by both genres will be introduced first and followed by the exclusive function identified in the spoken discourse.

Hui 會 ‘will/may’ is typically used to express the possibility or probability of events or situations, which is well demonstrated by the following four examples:

(99) 所以,它只要..影響到我們這個 chain 裡面的任何一隻細菌 hon,我們整個 chain 可能就會 break down 掉。 (S4)

Suǒyǐ, tā zhǐyào.. Yǐngxiǎng dào wǒmen zhège chain lǐmiàn de rènhé yī zhī xìjùn hon, wǒmen zhěnggè chain kěnéng jiù huì break down diào

‘Therefore, if it just .. affects any one of the bacteria inside the chain, the entire chain may break down.’

(100) 台.台灣是一個地震帶,hon 你新的建築物,可能三年五年 hon 就開始床--窗邊 會有裂.裂痕 hon,所以就可能會有水氣,水氣就會影響我們胚胎培養的品質 hon, (S8)

Tái. Táiwān shì yīgè dìzhèn dài,hon nǐ xīn de jiànzhú wù, kěnéng sān nián wǔ nián hon jiù kāishǐ chuáng--chuāng biān huì yǒu liè. Lièhén hon, suǒyǐ jiù

kěnéng huì yǒu shuǐ qì, shuǐ qì jiù huì yǐngxiǎng wǒmen pēitāi péiyǎng de pǐnzhí

hon

‘Taiwan is in a seismic zone, the new building, possibly within three to five years, will start.. at the bed - the window will crack..crack, so there may be water vapor, water vapor will affect the cultured quality of our embryos,’

(101) 失眠的也可能會因為癌症期別的不同而有差異。在早期癌症，預期性失眠 可能會是擔心和煩惱疾病預後和治療的結果。(W2)

Shīmián de yě kěnéng huì yīnwèi áizhèng qī bié de bùtóng ér yǒu chāyì. Zài zǎoqí áizhèng, yùqí xìng shīmián kěnéng huì shì dānxīn hé fánnǎo jíbìng yùhòu hé zhìliáo de jiéguǒ

‘Insomnia symptoms may be different depending on different periods of cancer stages. In early cancer, anticipatory fear and insomnia may be the result of disease prognosis and treatment of annoyance.’

(102) 熱急症的發生常是不知不覺的累積傷害。當任何因素，讓人體處於一個熱 產生超過熱排除速度時，體溫就會上升，熱急症就可能會產生。(W2) Rè jízhèng de fāshēng cháng shì bùzhī bù jué de lěijī shānghài. Dāng rènhé yīnsù, ràng réntǐ chǔyú yīgè rè chǎnshēng chāoguò rè páichú sùdù shí, tǐwēn jiù huì shàngshēng, rè jízhèng jiù kěnéng huì chǎnshēng

‘Heat Emergencies often cause unwittingly cumulative damage. Any of the factors causing the human body in a condition that heat production exceeds removal, body temperature may rise. Then the heat emergencies may occur.’

Hui 會 ‘will/may’ of examples (99) to (102) are used to refer to the possibility of medical symptoms or natural phenomena. The examples show that the possibility is not necessarily confined to future incidents since the causation may be a customary situation or a testified experiment. However, it is interesting to note that another modal hedge, keneng 可能 ‘may’

precedes to hue 會 ‘will/may’, and it is consistent in all the four examples. This additional hedge helps to further reduce the speakers’/writers’ commitment to their propositions.

Hui 會 ‘will/may’ is observed to be employed by the speakers/writers to make subjective predictions, as in (103) and (104).

(103) 是老年人口越來越多,啊現在 disease 越來越複雜 hon,我想這種困難傷口的..

病人會越來越多啦, (S5)

Shì lǎonián rénkǒu yuè lái yuè duō, a xiànzài disease yuè lái yuè fùzá hon, wǒ xiǎng zhè zhǒng kùnnán shāngkǒu de.. Bìngrén huì yuè lái yuè duō la

133

‘There are more and more elderly population, ah diseases are now more

complex, I think patients with this kind of difficult wounds .. will increase more and more.’

(104) 當地球+1℃：北極圈全年有半天處於無冰的狀態，野火會增加，動物會集 體離開牠們的棲息地。 (W2)

Dāng dìqiú +1℃: Běijí quān quán nián yǒu bàntiān chǔyú wú bīng de zhuàngtài, yěhuǒ huì zēngjiā, dòngwù huì jítǐ líkāi tāmen de qīxī dì

‘When the Earth temperature increases by 1 ℃: Arctic ice-free zone will exist half day throughout the year, wildfires will increase, animals will collectively leave their habitats.’

The speaker of (103) predicts that the patients with difficult wounds will increase in the future owing to the increase in the population of the elderly. The prediction is made on the basis of the speaker’s knowledge and clinical experiences. In (104), the writers predict the possible consequence in the natural world while the temperature raises one degree Celsius.

This prediction is the writers’ speculation based on the global warming phenomenon.

Hui 會 ‘will/may’ is utilized by the speakers/writers to anticipate the hearers’/readers’

possible doubts, as in (105) and (106):

(105) 你可能要打二十五到三十<E millium gram per kilo E>的ㄧ個..dose,hon 那大 家可能會覺得說,因為我過去..五年,過去十年,我在治療 MRSA 好像也都沒 有打<E loading E>嘛 (S4)

Nǐ kěnéng yào dǎ èrshíwǔ dào sānshí millium gram per kilo deyi1 gè..Dose,hon nà dàjiā kěnéng huì juédé shuō, yīnwèi wǒ guòqù.. Wǔ nián, guòqù shí nián, wǒ zài zhìliáo MRSA hǎoxiàng yě dū méiyǒu dǎ loading ma

‘You might want to make twenty-five to thirty milligram per kilo for a ..dose.

Everyone may feel that.. because in the past .. five years... ten years, when I was treating MRSA, I probably did not inject loading either.’

(106) 狂犬病毒是經由感染動物的咬傷中唾液汙染傷口而傳染給人。很多人會覺 得奇怪，為什麼是經由唾液傳染呢？其實狂犬病毒在除了蝙蝠以外所有哺 乳類動物的感染途徑都是一樣的。(W2)

Kuángquǎnbìng dú shì jīngyóu gǎnrǎn dòngwù de yǎoshāng zhōng tuòyè wūrǎn shāngkǒu ér chuánrǎn jǐ rén. Hěnduō rén huì juédé qíguài, wèishéme shì jīngyóu tuòyè chuánrǎn ne? Qíshí kuángquǎnbìng dú zài chúle biānfú yǐwài suǒyǒu bǔrǔlèi dòngwù de gǎnrǎn tújìng dōu shì yīyàng de

‘Rabies virus is infected through the bite of an infected animal's saliva

contaminated wounds and passed the infections to humans. Many people will wonder why it is contagious through saliva. In fact, in addition to the bat rabies virus infection route, all mammals are the same.’

In (105), the speaker employs hui 會 ‘will/may’ to conjecture the audiences’ possible doubt about the amount of antibiotic dosing, and dajia 大家 ‘everyone’ is applied to represent the audience. In (106), the doubt is supposed to come from the unknown third party, henduoren 很多人 ‘many people’. Hui 會 ‘will/may’ then serves to involve the hearers/readers participation and convey issues that the speakers/writers consider important.

Hui 會 ‘will/may’ can also be used to express the speakers’/writers’ expectations, as shown in (107) and (108):

(107) 你要去整合內政部,那個社會處那麼大的地方 hon,所以我們會希望政府的一 個..它的一個..uh.. 跨部門的整併 hon,要..動作要快,才能夠把事情做好. (S1) Nǐ yào qù zhěnghé nèizhèng bù, nàgè shèhuì chù nàme dà dì dìfāng hon, suǒyǐ wǒmen huì xīwàng zhèngfǔ de yīgè.. Tā de yīgè..Uh.. Kuà bùmén de zhěng bìng hon, yào.. Dòngzuò yào kuài, cái nénggòu bǎ shìqíng zuò hǎo

‘You may need to integrate the Department of Interior, the Department of Social Affairs is such a huge unit, so we will hope that the government .. its a.. the integration of cross-sectoral issue and ..uh .. the action should be fast in order to get things done.’

(108) 原則上會希望病人在手術過程中，尿量維持在 0.5 mL/kg/hr 以上(不過接受

(108) 原則上會希望病人在手術過程中，尿量維持在 0.5 mL/kg/hr 以上(不過接受