230. Several adjectives are found in these combinations; e.g. 全, 直, 多, 好, 滿, 完, 全, 通, 明 白, etc.
- 讀勿全 tóh veh dzíen, cannot be read through.
- 伸勿直 sun veh dzuh, cannot stretch out straight.
- 差勿多 t’só veh tú, differs little.
- 話得好 wó‘ tuh ’hau, well spoken.
- 補得滿 ’pú tuh ’mén, can be filled up.
- 走勿通 ’tseu veh t’óng, no thoroughfare.
- 話勿明白 wó‘ veh ming báh, cannot be made to understand.
Obs. In the third and fourth examples, and others like them such as 跑得快 pau‘ tuk k’wá‘, the proposition is not one of possibility, he can walk fast, but of fact, he walks fast.
Repetition and Antithesis. 231. These occur extensively among the verbs. The meaning of the word repeated remains unaffected.
а. Many single intransitive verbs, or verbs used intransitively are repeated.
| 坐坐 ’zú zú‘, sit down. | 看看 k’ön‘ k’ön‘, look. |
b. Transitive verbs are repeated before the word they govern.
- 寫寫字 ’siá ’sia zz‘, write.
- 種種田 tsóng‘ tsóng‘ díen, work in the fields.
- 候候儂 heu‘ heu‘ nóng‘, I come to see you.
c. k’ön‘, see, occurs after a repeated verb, in a metaphorical sense.
- 睃睃看 sú sú k’ön‘, see what it is.
- 聽聽看 t’ing t’ing k’ön‘, listen to it and see.
- 試試看 sz‘ sz‘ k’ön‘, try it and see.
- 做做看 tsú‘ tsú‘ k’ön‘, make it as a trial.