LESSON XII Some Verbal Idioms
Reading edition
We have already explained the use of °khau-°i, nung-keu°, and we°. There are other ways of expressing the possibility and impossibility of doing things in Chinese. For instance one way is by the addition of tuh le or ’veh le after the verb. Thus: Dok-tuh-le (讀得來) means “Able to read.” Dok-’veh-le (讀勿來) means “Unable to read it.” Many verbs of one character admit of this construction. Thus: Wo°-tuh-le means “Able to speak.” Wo°-’veh-le means “Unable to speak.” Tsoo°-tuh-le (做得來), “Able to do.” Tsoo°-’veh-le (做勿來), “Unable to do.”
Verbs made up of two characters do not take tuh-le and ’veh-le after them. Thus we do not hear °hyau-tuh-’veh-le for “Unable to know,” but ’veh we° °hyau-tuh (勿會曉得).
The literal meaning of tuh-le is “Obtain, come,” and the literal meaning of ’veh-le is “Not come.”
We also have the use of tuh-kuh after verbs, expressing possibility, and ’veh-tuh, expressing impossibility. Thus we have tsoo°-tuh-kuh (做得個), meaning “it is possible to do a thing,” and tsoo°-’veh-tuh (做勿得), meaning “it is impossible to do a thing.” With verbs of physical action, we have tuh-°doong (得動) and ’veh-°doong (勿動) used after the verb implying possibility and impossibility. Thus we have °tseu-tuh-°doong (走得動), meaning “I have the physical ability to walk,” and °tseu-’veh-°doong (走勿動), meaning “I have not the physical ability to walk.” In the same way we have tsoo°-tuh-°doong (做得動) and tsoo°-’veh-°doong (做勿動). ’Veh-°doong literally means “Not move.”
Strange to say we have °zoo-’veh-°doong (坐勿動), meaning “I have not the physical ability to sit up,” and °zoo-tuh-°doong (坐得動), meaning “I have the physical ability to sit up.”
°Ma-tuh-°doong (買得動) means “Possible to buy.” °Ma-’veh-°doong (買勿動) means “Impossible to buy.”
With verbs of hearing and seeing impossibility is expressed in still another way. Thus we have khoen°-tuh-kyien° (看得見), meaning “It is possible to see,” and khoen°-’veh-kyien° (看勿見) meaning “It is impossible to see it.” Literally translated these expressions are “See, obtain, behold,” and “See, not behold.” We also have khoen°-tuh-tsheh (看得出), meaning to see a thing clearly. Literally “See, obtain, come forth,” and khoen°-’veh-tsheh (看勿出), meaning not to be able to see, or literally “See, not come forth.”
In the same way we have thing-tuh-tsheh (聽得出) and thing-’veh-tsheh (聽勿出) in regard to hearing. Instead of thing-tuh-kyien° and thing-’veh-kyien° we have thing-tuh-dzak (聽得着) and thing-’veh-dzak (聽勿着). Literally “Hear, obtain” and “Hear, not obtain.”
We have already explained the use of °hau after verbs expressing completed action. We also have other words used much in the same way. Thus dok-°hau-tse (讀好哉), dok-wen-tse (讀完哉) or dok-°ba-tse (讀罷哉) all mean the same thing. The verb wen means “to finish.” Accordingly in asking a question tsoo°-°hau-meh (做好末), tsoo°-wen-meh (做完末) and tsoo°-°ba-meh (做罷末), all mean “Have you finished it?”
Verbal nouns are often formed by the addition of deu (頭) or fah (法) after the verb. Thus tsoo°-deu (做頭) or tsoo°-fah (做法) means the manner of doing a thing.
VOCABULARY
To move, to excite, °doong 動.
To hear, thing (聽). Heard, thing-kyien° 聽見
To knock, to strike, khau 敲.
To finish, wen 完.
Kan (間) is the classifier used with rooms.
A room, ih kan 一間.
A bed room, ih kan vaung-kan 一間房間.
A guest room, ih kan khak-daung-kan 一間客堂間.
An office, ih kan °sia-z°-kan 一間寫字間.
A shroff’s room, ih kan tsang°-vaung-kan 一間帳房間.
A study, ih kan su-vaung 一間書房.
A dining room, ih kan chuh-van°-kan 一間吃飯間.
A kitchen, ih kan sau-van°-kan 一間燒飯間 or dzu-vaung 廚房 or tsau°-kan 灶間.
All, °loong-°tsoong 攏總 or koong°-°tsoong 共總.
All in general, most, da-ke 大槪.
Few, °sau 少.
Each, °me 每.
Every, kauh 各.
Other, bih 別.
High, kau 高.
Low, ti 低.
Broad, khweh 闊.
Narrow, ‘ah 狹.
Deep, sung 深.
Shallow, °tshien 淺
Too (denoting excess), thuh 忒.
Above, °zaung-deu 上頭.
Below, °‘au-deu 下頭, °‘au-°ti-deu 下底]頭, °‘au-°ti 下底.
Under, beneath, °ti-°‘au 底下.
Outside, nga°-deu 外頭.
After, °‘eu 後.
Behind, °‘eu-°ti 後底, °‘eu-°ti-deu, 後底頭 °‘eu-deu 後頭.
Before, zien 前, zien-deu 前頭.
Earth, di° 地 or di°-jeu 地球.
EXERCISES
(Translate into English)
(1) °Zaung-deu °yeu thien, °‘au-deu °yeu di°.
(2) °Yeu too-hau° z° °ngoo °sia-’veh-le.
(3) Noong° we°-sa°-°lau °tseu le man°-le-°si? Iung-we° °ngoo °tseu ’veh-°doong °lau.
(4) Tsoong-kok wo° zak-zen nyung wo° le kwha° meh, °ngoo thing-’veh-tsheh.
(5) °Yeu-kuh su °ngoo dok ’veh le.
(6) Di°-zak vaung-°ts °kyi-hau° kau, °kyi-hau° kwheh?
(7) Di°-zak vaung-°ts °yeu °kyi kan?
(8) °Yeu ih kan khak-daung, ih kan °sia-z°-kan, ih kan chuh-van°-kan, °lau s° kan vaung-kan.
(9) Di°-kuh meh-z° °yeu sa° yoong°-deu va? ’M-sa° yoong°-deu.
(10) Sa° nyung la° khau mung? °Ngoo ’veh zung thing-kyien° °yeu sa° nyung la° khau mung.
(11) Di° diau loo° thuh ‘ah, °ting °hau noong° °tseu la° zien-deu, °ngoo °tseu la° °‘eu-deu.
(12) °Tshing khak-nyung khak-daung °li °zoo.
(13) Dzoong °Zaung-°he tau° °tsh di° °yeu °kyi-hau° loo°?
(14) Vaung-°ts nga°-deu °z °lang °tien, vaung-°ts °li-hyang° °z nyih °tien.
(15) Di°-diau ‘oo °yeu-kuh di°-faung °z sung °tien, °yeu-kuh di°-faung °z °tshien °tien.
(16) Noong° na°-nung °hyau-tuh di° tsaung z°-thi? Iung-we° °ngoo thing-tuh °yeu nyung wo° °lau.
(17) Ze-voong tsoo° le ’veh °hau, °loong-°tsoong kuh i-zaung thuh doo°.
(18) Kauh nyung °yeu kauh nyung kuh z°-°thi.
(一) 上頭有天, 下頭有地.
(二) 有多化字我寫勿來.
(三) 儂爲啥佬走來慢來死? 因爲我走勿動佬.
(四) 中國話若然人話來快末, 我聽勿出.
(五) 有個書我讀勿來.
(六) 笫宅房子幾化高, 幾化闊.
(七) 第宅房子有幾間.
(八) 有一間客堂, 一間寫字間, 一間吃飯間, 佬四間房間.
(九) 第個物事有啥用頭否? 嘸啥用頭.
(十) 啥人拉敲門? 我勿曾聽見有啥人拉敲門.
(十一) 第條路忒狹, 頂好儂走拉前頭, 我走拉後頭.
(十二) 請客人客堂裏坐.
(十三) 從上海到此地有幾化路?
(十四) 房子外頭是冷點, 房子裏向是熱點
(十五) 第條河有個地方是深點, 有個地方是淺點.
(十六) 儂那能曉得第樁事體? 因爲我聽得有人話佬.
(十七) 裁縫做來勿好, 攏總個衣裳忒大.
(十八) 各人有各人個事體.
(Translate into Chinese)
(1) Where is your teacher? He is in the study writing.
(2) Did you tell the table boy to bring the tea?
(3) If the carpenter does not make it well, I shall call another man.
(4) This manner of doing it is bad; I want you to do it better.
(5) I walked to Shanghai, and then I could walk no further.
(6) Then what did you do? I called a ricsha and came back.
(7) Is the Master in? He has gone out.
(8) Three days ago I went to see the pagoda.
(9) There is water beneath the earth.
(10) The cat is under the chair.
(11) When I have finished reading the book, I want to learn to write characters.
(12) Tell him to come inside.
(13) This table is too low; I cannot write characters on it.
(14) May I come in? Come right in.
(一) 儂個先生拉啥地方? 拉寫字間裏寫字.
(二) 担茶來, 儂對細崽話否?
(三) 若然木匠做來勿好, 我要叫別人來做.
(四) 實蓋做頭是勿好, 我要儂做來好點.
(五) 我走到上海難末走勿動哉.
(六) 難末儂那能做頭? 我叫之東洋車佬轉來.
(七) 先生垃拉否? 出去拉.
(八) 三日前頭我去看第座塔.
(九) 地底下有水.
(十) 貓拉椅子底下.
(十一) 我讀罷之書要學寫字.
(十二) 叫伊到裏向來.
(十三) 第隻檯子忒低, 勿好寫字.
(十四) 我可以進來否? 進來末哉.
Notes.
（1) In regard to °sau, meaning ”few,” it should be noted that it never occurs before a noun. If you wish to say a few men the idiomatic expression would be °yeu ’veh too °kyi-kuh nyung (有勿多幾個人) or m-meh °kyi-hau° nyung (無沒幾化人). The men are few would be nyung °sau (人少). °Sau is often used to qualify verbs. Thus we have °sau dok kuh, meaning “to read less.”
（2) As already pointed out in a previous lesson what correspond to prepositions in English are really postpositions in Chinese, as they come after the nouns instead of before them. When used as adverbs, however, they generally precede the verbs. Thus we have °li-hyang° °zoo for “Sit inside,” °zaung-deu °zoo (上頭坐) for “take a higher seat.” This is the usual polite phrase said to a guest when he enters your guest room. He will take a seat near the door, and you ask him “to be seated higher.”
（3) The first sentence of the First Exercise is really an oath, and is used when one is calling Heaven and Earth to witness that his words are true.
（4) Note the impersonal use of °yeu in the second sentence of the First Exercise. Literally it is “There are many characters.”
（5) In the seventh sentence of the Second Exercise you have the usual form of inquiring whether the gentleman you wish to see is at home. You say Sien-sang leh-la° va°? “is the master there?” The answer is leh-la°, if he is at home, meaning “He is there.” If he is not at home, the answer may be tsheh chi° la°, “he has gone out,” or ’veh leh-la°, “he is not there.”