I paid attention to a newspaper headline

                                Bugün ne pişirsem? ´What should I cook today?´

It seemed to me that there was something wrong with it. The if material -se- which is usually in the subclause is in the main clause here! What is the reason:

1. because it is a question OR

2. because the subclause is lacking?

Think this "se" as a wish clause. It is like "What may I cook?"

I see. Can I generalize it? I mean if -se- seems to be in the main clause is it a wish?

If  conditional -se,-sa is the  predicate of the main clause then it is optative.

Therefore the subclauses with conditional -se,-sa is treated as adverbial clause of the main clause.

Bugün  ne  pişirsem ? ---> What I fancy [wish] to cook today ?

Bugün kek pişirsem yer mi acaba ? ---> would he/she  eat if I make a cake today ?

Bugün kek pişirsem  --> subclause [conditional]

yer mi acaba --> main clause

yer --> predicate of the main clause

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As in the compound clause below;

O da gelirse gideriz.---> If he comes too then we would go.

"gideriz " is the predicate of the compound clause.

Biz ---> Subject

O da gelirse --> Adverbial clause [subclause ] and -se here is conditional.

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bugün nereye gitsem (acaba). [Where to go, I have no idea, do you have any suggestion]

yarın ne yapsam.

ne yesem.

...

Thank you, gokuyum, tunci, ikicihan. Great help. I can´t remember having seen an optative form in a question before but it makes sense now.

Actually it´s the main clause lacking.

For example:

Bugün ne pişirsem ("iyi/uygun olurdu" or "karar veremiyorum" or "diye düşünüyorum" etc.)?

Why do I have the feeling that subjunctive would do the same job here?

                          Bugün ne pişireyim...

It seems that there are at least two grammatical ways of expressing the speaker´s envisaging things. Well, ise is still almost lexical.

Another nice question example with optative here:

                     Ne yapsak da bu sıkıntıyı atlatsak? ´What could we do to get over the hump?´

Nothing like ´in order to´ is needed. Handy.

Some functions of  the suffix -sA

1. Condition

Gürültü yaparsan insanlar uyanır.

If you make noise ,people would [will] wake up.

Erken yola çıkarsan akşama eve varırsın.

If you set off early you would [will] get home tonight.

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2. Determination

No matter what happens, no matter what conditions ,

we are determined to achive or fulfil the action.

Kar da yağsa yine gelirim.

Even [if] it snows I will still come.

[I am determined to come ]

Dünya tersine dönse vazgeçmem.

Even [if] the world turns upside down, I will not give up.

3. Guess, strong guess.

Ahmet yorgun olsa gerek zira bugün kahveye gelmedi.

Ali must be tired since he didn´t come to the cafe today.

Bu camı olsa olsa Serkan kırmıştır.

Only person that broke this window must be Serkan.

4. hypothetically

Benim yerimde olsan ne yapardın ?

[Hypothetically] what would you do if you were in my place ?

5. Doubt, Fear, Worry

Ya eve hırsız girmişse !

What if a thief broke in the house ! ------> FEAR

Ya bu kış çok soğuk olursa !    --------> WORRY

What if this this winter gets very cold !

Ya bir gün hastalansam bu çocuklara kim bakar? ----> WORRY

What if  one day I get ill, who would look after these kids ?

6. threat

Ders çalışmazsan kızarım ha!    

If you don´t study I will get mad at you !

Bak, söylediklerimi yapmazsan anlaşmayı bozarım !

Look, if you don´t do what I say,I will break the agreement !

7. indecisiveness

Bilmem söylesem mi, söylemesem mi?

shall I say or not, I really don´t know.

Ucuz mu satsam, pahalı mı?

shall I sell it cheap or expensive ?

8. Not to care, not to give an importance, ignore

Ne halin varsa gör !

Do what the hell you want ! [ i dont care]

Ders çalışsam ne olur çalışmasam ne olur.

What difference would that make, whether I study or not.

Ne yaparsan yap seninle ilgilenmiyorum.

Whatever you do, I don´t care.

9. wish

Keşke yarın hava güzel olsa.

I wish tomorrow the weather will be good.