d. After substantives needing to be spoken of in the dual number 兩個 ’liáng kú‘, or 兩個字 liáng kú‘ zz‘ are appended; the former is applied to living agents, and the latter to characters as representatives of abstract nouns.
- 吾你弟兄兩個勿好爭論 ngú ’ní dí‘ h’iung ’liáng kú‘ veh ’hau tsáng lun‘, we are brothers and ought not to quarrel.
- 善咾惡兩個字本來對面個 ’zén lau oh ’liáng kú‘ zz‘ ’pun lé té‘ míen‘ kú‘, virtue and vice are originally opposite terms.
e. Prepositions of motion take after the nouns they govern, the fragments 兩 ’liáng, 一淘 ih dau, separately or together.
- 我忒儂出外兩日咾再來 ’ngú t’eh nóng‘ t’seh ngá‘ ’liáng nyih lau tsé‘ lé, you and I will go out for two days and return.
- 伊忒我一淘牽兩隻牛睏拉水裏 í t’eh ’ngú ih dau k’íen ’liáng tsáh nieu k’wun‘ ’lá ’sz ’lí, he and I together led two oxen to lie down in the water (or 一氣).
Obs. These are perhaps fragments of propositions, of which only the predicate remains.
Section 8. Coordinate Sentences.
409. In further illustration of the connection of groups and propositions, it may be observed, that coordinate sentences often occur in juxtaposition without any particle.
a. There may be several subjects to one predicate.
- 文武百官鄕紳士庶禿出求雨 vun ’vú puh kwén, h’iáng sun ’zz sû‘ t’ók t’seh lé gieu ’ü, the civil and military mandarins, the gentry and common people are all come out to pray for rain.
- 按察司布政司撫臺各省有個 ön‘ t’sah sz‘, pú‘ tsung‘ sz‘, ’fú dé, kok ’sáng ’yeu kú‘, a judge, treasurer and lieutenant-governor belong to each province.
b. There may be several predicates to one subject, or several explanatory clauses to one proposition.