- 做一個人總要正正派派 tsu‘ ih kú‘ niun ’tsóng yau‘ tsung‘ tsung‘ p’á‘ p’á‘, as a man, you must be correct in conduct.
- 人住勒拉花花世界, 大有福氣拉 niun dzû‘ leh ’lá hwó hwó sz‘ kú‘, dú‘ ’yeu fok kí‘ ’lá, man living in a beautiful world, has great happiness.
b. As verb.
- 看看許多人跟拉 k’ön‘ k’ön‘ tú hau‘ niun kun ’lá, see there is a great number of persons following.
c. As verb.
- 逃走脱者就快快活活接到船上 tau ’tseu t’eh ’tsé dzieu‘ k’á‘ k’á‘ weh weh tsih tau‘ zén long‘, when he had escaped, they gladly received him to the boat.
- 明明亮亮收受徒弟 ming ming liáng‘ liáng‘ seu ’zeu dú dí‘, they openly received disciples.
- 詳詳細細考究實骨子那能個 ziáng ziáng sí‘ sí‘ ’k’au kieu‘ zeh kweh ’tsz ná‘ nung kú‘, carefully examine how it truly is.
Obs. Groups of four, whether formed by repeated words or not, very commonly fall into separate clauses; e.g. 文理嘸啥好草草不工 vun ’lí m sá‘ ’hau, ’t’sau ’t’sau peh kóng, it is not at all well written, but coarse and unpolished.
Section 5. Order in groups.
367. There are various principles of arrangement in the words of a group. A group of four (1) may contain in itself an entire sentence; e.g. 懂呢勿懂 ’tóng ní veh ’tóng, do you understand? (2) or it may consist of verbs and their regimen, nouns and their adjectives, or other combinations of the parts of speech; e.g. 伸冤理枉 sun yön ’lí ’wong, to redress injuries. (3) Repetition direct and alternate, forms many short phrases into longer groups, (4.) The principle of arrangement in many groups is, the order of nature, species being placed before genus, and the whole before its parts. (5.) The constituent words may be coordinate in meaning, and alike in grammatical character.
In addition to these varieties of structure, there are also mixed groups in which repetition for instance forms one part, and words combined grammatically, another; e.g. 念念不忘 nian‘ nian‘ peh vong, think of constantly.
368. Complete sentences are here placed with the other groups, because they fall into regular forms, and obey the laws of rhythm in a manner similar the fixed phrases of two, three, four or more words here referred to. Hence the predominance of short pithy sentences in common conversation.