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.”
LESSON XIII
Auxiliary Verbs
The verb °chi (起) is often used as an auxiliary verb after the principal verb to express the idea of inception. Thus dok-°chi (讀起) means “Begin to read.” °Chi also expresses the idea of erectness, but when used in this sense, le (來) follows the °chi. Thus Lih-°chi-le (立起來) means “Stand up.” Lok-°chi-le (䟿起來) means “Get up.” It also has a progressive meaning, as when you say Doh-°chi-le (讀起來) it means “read on,” “go on reading.”
We have the °chi, also used in combination with tuh (得). Thus Lok-tuh-°chi (䟿得起) means “Able to get up.” Lok-’veh-°chi (䟿勿起) means “Unable to get up.” °Ma-tuh-°chi (買得起) means “Can afford to buy it.” °Ma-’veh-°chi (買勿起) means “Cannot afford to buy it.” Kwhung°-’veh-°chi (睏勿起) means “unable to sleep.” Khoen°-’veh-°chi (看勿起) means “to look down upon,” “to disdain.”
°Zaung (上) and °‘Au (下) are used both as principal verbs and as auxiliaries. Thus we have the expressions °Zaung san (上山), meaning “to go up hill.” °‘Au san (下山), “to go down hill.” °‘Au zen (下船), “to go on board a boat,” °Zaung su (上書), “to take an advanced lesson in a book,” etc. In these cases they are used as principal verbs.
As auxiliary verbs, they express motion upwards and motion downwards.
They are not confined to verbs of motion, but are used freely with other verbs. To both of them le (來) and chi° (去) are frequently added.
Thus we have dok-°‘au-chi° (讀下去), meaning “Read on down.” Tsoo°-°‘au-chi° (做下去), meaning “Go on doing it.” Thiau°-°‘au-le (跳下來), meaning “Jump down.” Thiau°-°zaung-chi° (跳上去), meaning “Jump up to that place.” Thiau°-°zaung-le (跳上來) “Jump up to this place.”