ABC Chinese–English Comprehensive Dictionary (2003), p 628. I can't access the "slightly revised through July 2005" ed. 莫非 - Wiktionary appears correct.
- Am I correct that 莫 here means 3 below?
- I don't know which meaning fits 非?
Still I don't understand how these two characters compound to signify "can it be that"? We're combining merely two characters that signify negation.
Don't we need more characters to signify the modal verb 'can', eg "possibility in either a dynamic, deontic, or epistemic sense"? Something feels missing!