- (一) 第本書我已輕讀過哉.
- (二) 一隻狗要買否?
- (三) 到之上海我要買把洋傘.
- (四) 我個朋友來末?
- (五) 我撥伊四塊洋錢叫伊去買一隻擡子.
- (六) 先生垃拉吃飯.
- (七) 我已經撥伊十塊洋錢.
- (八) 來末哉.
- (九) 先生來之末來叫我.
- (十) 中國桃子儂吃過歇末?
- (十一) 吃過歇哉.
- (十二) 伊個學生子拉拉讀中國書.
- (十三) 外國先生拉拉學中國話.
Notes.
- （1) China is known by many different names. The most common is Tsoong-kok (中國). We also have Da° tshing kok (大淸國), “the great pure kingdom,” Tsoong-wo (中華), “the middle civilized kingdom,” and Zeh pah °sang (十八省) “the eighteen provinces” (used of China Proper, without its dependencies). A modern name is Ts-na (支那). It represents the sound of China, and was much used by the reform party. The name adopted for The Republic of China is Tsoong-wo ming kok (中國民國) “The middle civilized people’s kingdom.”
- （2) In the ninth sentence of the first exercise the force of the Tau° (到) is visiting the place for the first time.
- （3) In the twentieth sentence of the first exercise the meaning is, “Have you ever done this before?”
- （4) In the ninth sentence of the second exercise, you use the past participle, le-°ts (來仔). After it meh (末) is often used for euphony, thus the sentence would be Sien-sang le-ts meh, le kyau° °ngoo (先生來之末來叫我).
- （5) In the twelfth sentence of the second exercise su (書) is added after tsoong-kok (中國). The meaning is “The pupils are studying Chinese books.”
- （6) In the thirteenth sentence of the second exercise, the foreign teacher would be nga°-kok sien sang (外國先生). Nga°-kok is used as an adjective.
LESSON VII
Prepositions and Postpositions, and Common Connectives
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.”