Chapter 1 Prolegomena 1.1 Background and Motivation of the Present Study 1.2 Significance of the Researc 1.3 Typology as the Research Rationale 1.3.1 Core Concepts of Typology 1.3.2 Prototype Category 1.3.3 Methodologies of Typological Research 1.3.4 Irrealis as a “Superordinate Category” 1.4 Methodologies and Materials 1.5 Research Objectives 1.6 Outline of the Dissertation Chapter 2 Irrealis as a Typological Category across Languages 2.1 Western Studies onlrrealis 2.1.1 The Definition of Irrealis in Western Studies 2.1.2 Problems in the Irrealis Research 2.2 Irrealis Studies in Chinese 2.2.1 Irrealis in the Research of Standard Chinese 2.2.2 Irrealis Expressions in Chinese Dialects Chapter 3 Establishment of Irrealis 3.1 Underpinning the Philosophical Origin of Irrealis 3.1.1 Connotation and Denotation 3.1.2 Reality and Fact 3.1.2.1 Reality as an Omnibus Set of Facts 3.1.2.2 （Non）fact and （Ir）realis 3.1.2.3 Possible World Theory 3.2 Reconstruction of Irrealis by Three Parameters 3.2.1 Defining Irrealis from the Perspective of TemporalParameter 3.2.1.1 Absolute Time and Time Consciousness 3.2.1.2 RelativeTime 3.2.1.3 Determination of the Horizontal Line 3.2.2 Event 3.2.2.1 Real World Event and Linguistic Event 3.2.2.2 Event and State 3.2.2.3 Event as the Width Line 3.2.3 Modality 3.2.3.1 Definition and Classification of Modality 3.2.3.2 Irrealis and Modality 3.2.3.3 Mental Verbs as Modal Markers 3.3 The Three-Parameter-Judgment Model of （Ir）realis Chapter 4 Irrealis Moods 4.1 The Composition of Irrealis Moods 4.1.1 Counterfactual Thinking as the Generational Mechanism 4.1.2 Types oflrrealis Moods 4.1.2 1 Grammatical Mood 4.1.2.2 Typological Classifications of Irrealis Moods 4.1.2.3 Typical Features of “Irrealis Mood” in Standard Chinese 4.2 Chinese Irrealis Complex Sentences …… Chapter 5 TA and Irrealis Chapter 6 Conclrrsion Bibliography Index
