LESSON VII Prepositions and Postpositions, and Common Connectives
Reading edition
The words expressing the relations of nouns to one another are placed, some of them before and some of them after the governed substantive. ‘At’ or ‘to’ is expressed by la° (拉). Thus °ngoo peh la° yi (我撥拉伊), “I gave it to him.”
‘To’ or ‘towards’ in the sense of direction is expressed by tau° (到). Thus: °ngoo iau° tau° °Zaung-°he chi° (我要到上海去), “I wish to go to Shanghai.” ‘To’ or ‘towards’ is also expressed by te° (對), as in the expression to speak to a person. Thus: °ngoo te° yi wo° (我對伊話), “I said to him.” ‘From’ is expressed by dzoong (從). Thus: °ngoo dzoong °Zaung-°he le (我從上海來), “I came from Shanghai.”
‘With’ is expressed by tah 搭 or doong 同. Thus: °ngoo tah yi bak wo° (我搭伊白話) or °ngoo doong yi bak wo° (我同伊白話), “I talked with him.”
‘Instead of’ is thi° (替) or °de thi° (代替). Thus: °ngoo °de thi° yi tsoo° (我代替伊做), “I do it instead of him.” The idea of doing it for a person is expressed by theh (忒). Thus: °ngoo theh yi tsoo° (我忒伊做), “I will do it for him.”
‘In’ is expressed by placing la° (拉) or leh-la° (拉拉) before the noun and °li (裏) or °li-hyang° (裏向) after the noun. Thus: la° vaung-°ts °li (拉房子裏) means, “In the house.” La° siang-°ts °li (拉箱子裏) means “In the box.”
‘On’ is expressed by placing la° or leh-la° before the noun and laung° (上) after it. Thus: la° loo° laung° (拉路上) means, “On the road.” La° de-°ts laung° (拉擡子上) means, “On the table.”
Nga° (外) means “out.” The usual expression is nga°-deu (外頭) “outside.” It follows the noun.
Other prepositions will be introduced later.
The most common connective is °lau (佬) and corresponds quite closely to our use of “and.” Thus °ngoo iau° °ma ‘a-°ts °lau mah (我要買鞋子佬襪) means, “I wish to buy shoes and stockings.” Nouns are often placed beside one another without any connective between them. Tah-ts (搭之) is used much in the same sense as °lau (佬).
‘Also’ is °‘a-°z (也是) or °‘a (也). Thus: di°-kuh °‘a-°z hau kuh (第個也是好個) means, “This also is good.” °Ngoo °‘a iau° °ma (我也要買) means, “I also wish to buy.” °Ngoo wan iau° °ma (我還要買) means, “I still wish to buy.”
VOCABULARY
A city, ih zoo° dzung 一座城.
A school, ih kuh ‘auh-daung 一個學堂.
A hat, ih °ting mau°-°ts 一頂帽子.
A head, ih kuh deu 一個頭.
A foot, ih tsak kyak 一隻脚.
A hand, ih tsak °seu 一隻手.
A heart, ih kuh sing 一個心.
Father, ya 爺.
Mother, nyang 娘.
A body, ih kuh sung-°thi 一個身體.
Home, ok-°li 屋裏.
To sit, °zoo 坐.
To live, dwell, dzu° 住.
To wear, tsak 着.
To place, faung° 放, °pa 擺.
To use, yoong° 用.
To wear on the head, ta° 戴.
EXERCISES
(Translate into English)
(1) Sa° nyung peh la° yi kuh?
(2) I-kuh ya peh la° yi kuh.
(3) Di°-kuh iau° tan tau° ok-°li chi°.
(4) Mau°-°ts iau° ta° la° deu laung°.
(5) ‘A-°ts iau° tsak la° kyak laung°.
(6) I-zaung iau° tsak la° sung laung°.
(7) Sien-sang dzu° la° dzung° °li va°?
(8) ‘Auh-sang-°ts iau° tau° ‘auh-daung °li chi°.
(9) °Ngoo kyau° si°-tse° °pa °ngoo-kuh i-zaung la° siang-°ts °li.
(10) Sien-sang dzoong nga°-kok tau° Tsoong-kok le.
(11) Sien-sang kyau° °siau-noen yoong° sing dok su.
(12) ’Veh iau° °zoo la° zaung laung°, iau° °zoo la° iui°-°ts laung°.
(13) Su faung° la° de-°ts laung°.
(14) Bang-°yeu i°-kyung le koo°-°ts °lau chi° tse.
(15) Sang-li °z °hau chuh kuh, dau-°ts °‘a-°z °hau chuh kuh.
(16) Di°-kuh °siau noen ’m ya nyang kuh.
(17), Sa° nyung la° ‘auh-daung °li? Sien-sang tah-ts ‘auh-sang-°ts.
(18) Noong° wan iau° °ma sa° va°? ’Veh iau°.
(一) 啥人撥拉伊個?
(二) 伊個爺撥拉伊個.
(三) 第個要擔到屋裏去.
(四) 帽子要戴拉頭上.
(五) 鞋子要着拉脚上.
(六) 衣裳要着拉身上.
(七) 先生住拉城裏否?
(八) 學生子要到學堂裏去.
(九) 我叫細崽擺我個衣裳拉箱子裏.
(十) 先生從外國到中國來.
(十一) 先生叫小囡用心讀書.
(十二) 勿要坐拉床上要坐拉椅子上.
(十三) 書放拉檯子上.
(十四) 朋友已經來過之佬去哉.
(十五) 生梨是好吃個桃子也是好吃個.
(十六) 第個小囝無爺娘個.
(十七) 啥人拉學堂裏? 先生搭之學生子.
(十八) 儂還要買啥否? 勿要.
(Translate into Chinese)
(1) I placed the knives and the forks on the table.
(2) Who lives in this house? Mr. Tsang.
(3) The father and mother wish the child to study.
(4) Do you live in the city or out of the city?
(5) The cat is on the table.
(6) Take it in your hand.
(7) Keep it in mind (place it on your heart).
(8) The heart is in the body.
(9) That child has no shoes on his feet
(10) That man has no hat on his head.
(11) To whom do the cows and sheep belong?
(12) When you have put on your clothes, come and eat.
(13) The horse boy wishes to feed the horse also.
(14) You and I are friends.
(15) Have you ever been to foreign countries?
(一) 刀叉我放拉檯子上.
(二) 啥人住拉第個房子裏? 張先生.
(三) 爺娘要第個小囡讀書.
(四) 儂住拉城裏呢城外?
(五) 貓拉檯子上.
(六) 擔拉手裏.
(七) 放拉心上.
(八) 心拉拉身體裏.
(九) 伊個小囝脚上無沒鞋子.
(十) 伊個人頭上無末帽子.
(十一) 牛佬羊是啥人個?
(十二) 着好之衣裳佬來吃.
(十三) 馬夫也要撥馬吃.
(十四) 儂搭之我是朋友.
(十五) 外國去過歇末.
Notes.
（1) There are many different ways of saying “father” and “mother,” but these will have to be explained later.
（2) Laung° is really the character °Zaung. It has the latter sound when used in the adverb “above,” which is °Zaung-deu, 上頭.
（3) The seventh sentence of the first exercise is correct grammatically, but would not be used in polite speech. The usual way of asking a gentleman where he lives is to say Sien-sang °foo laung° la° °‘a-°li, 先生府上拉那裏.
（4) In the eleventh sentence of the first exercise the expression yoong° sing means “to be diligent” or “to pay attention.”
（5) In the second sentence of the second exercise Mr. Tsang is translated Tsang Sien-sang. Tsang is a common surname in Chinese. The Sien-sang follows the surname.
（6) Doong (同) is generally used with ih-dau (一淘), Doong coming before the noun, and ih-dau after it. Thus °Ngoo doong °ngoo kuh bang-yeu ih-dau tau° °Zaung-°he chi°.