270 The negative particle in most general use is 勿 veh. It is not prohibitive as in the books, but simply denies like 不 peh in mandarin.
- 勿會度日 veh wé‘ dú‘ nyih, I cannot live on.
- 勿三勿四 veh san veh sz‘, neither this nor that.
- 勿聲勿嚮 veh sung veh ’h’iáng, he said nothing.
- 勿薦拉儂 veh tsíen‘ ’lá nóng‘, I shall not recommend him to you.
- 勿是, 勿個 veh ’zz, veh kú‘, it is not so (or veh alone).
271. The particles 惟 ví, 不 peh and 非 fí, are used in a few combinations.
- 惟獨 ví dóh, only.
- 惟我一人 ví ’ngú ih zun, only I.
- 不止一人 peh ’tsz ih zun, not one man only.
- 不知下落 peh tsz ’yá loh, do not know where he is.
- 眼不能見 ’ngan peh nung kíen‘, not to be seen.
- 非獨之我 fí dók tsz ’ngú, not only I.
272. The simplest affirmative is 是 ’zz; certain auxiliary particles are often appended or prefixed.
- 是個, 是拉個 ’zz kú‘, ’zz ’lá kú‘, it is so.
- 就是, 是者 dzieu‘ ’zz, ’zz ’tsé, ib.
273. When some quality is affirmed, an adjective of opposite meaning, with the negative particle prefixed, is often employed.
- 勿孬 veh k’ieu, that is good.
- 倒勿對 ’tau veh té‘, but that is wrong.
- 勿差 veh t’só, you are right.
274. The emphasis of positive certainty is conveyed by phrases such as tsun tsung‘, seh zé‘, etc., and the double negation 無非 prefixed to the proposition affirmed.
- 眞正嘸沒 tsun tsung‘ m meh, certainly there is none.
- 畢竟勿曾到 pih kiung‘ veh zung tau‘, certainly he has not come.
- 實在有個 seh zé ’yeu kú‘, there certainly is.
- 斷斷乎是個 tön‘ tön‘ ú ’zz kú‘, it certainly is so.
- 果然勿差 ’kú zen veh t’só, it is certainly right.