416. Conjunctions forming pairs of sentences, have already been partially illustrated in Arts, 322–330. It may in addition be observed, that short phrases sometimes take the place of conjunctions.
a. Thus for, not only—even—, we have 勿要話 veh yau‘ wó‘ and 就是 dzieu‘ zz in the supplemental sentence.
- 勿要話爺娘敎訓伊勿轉, 勿要話親友勸戒伊勿轉, 就是菩薩也點化伊勿轉 veh yau‘ wó‘ yá niáng kiau‘ h’iün‘ í veh ’tsén, veh yau‘ wó‘ t’sing ’yeu k’iön‘ ká‘ í veh ’tsén, dzieu‘ ’zz pú sah ’á ’tíen hwó‘ í veh ’tsén, do not say that his parents were unable to influence him by instruction, and his friends by exhortations; supernatural beings even could not reclaim him by their warnings.
b. English initiatory phrases, such as I suppose that, probably, are represented by 只怕, 恐怕 tseh p’ó‘, ’k’ung p’ó‘, or by 我想 ’ngú ’siáng, it appears to me that.
- 打殺之雄窵雌窵獨干子躱拉恐怕要氣殺 ’táng sah tsz yióng ’tiau t’sz ’tiau tók kûn ’tsz ’tú ’lá ’k’úng p’ó‘ yau‘ k’í‘ sah, if the male bird were killed, the female from being solitary, would probably die of grief.
Obs. i. On the one side—on the other side—are represented by the common substantive for side with—ih one in both clauses. The preposition and article are rejected as unnecessary, cf. [Art. 328].
Obs. ii. Although is sometimes expressed by a verb, in the sense let it be that, 憑儂地獄拉前面, 伊也勿肯囘心改念 bing nóng‘ tí‘ niók ’lá zien míen‘, í ’á veh ’k’ung wé sing ’ké nían‘, granting you that hell were in sights, he would still be unwilling to repent. 隨儂 sûe nóng‘, 但憑儂 ’tan bing nóng‘, are also used in the same sense.
417. Comparisons are introduced by several compounds of 如 zû, and some fragmentary sentences, as 比方, ’pí fong, for example.
- 病好爺娘十分快活猶如尋着之寶貝一般 ping‘ ’hau ’yá niáng zeh fun k’á‘ weh yeu zû zing zák tsz ’pau pé‘ ih pén, when they recover from sickness, the parents are delighted just as if they had found a treasure.
- 如同樹木個根 zû dóng zû‘ móh kú kun, it is like the root of a tree.
- 假如見之꜂長輩勿要忽畧伊 ’kiá zû kíen‘ tsz ’tsáng pé‘ veh yau‘ hweh liáh í, suppose that you see your elders, you must not treat them disrespectfully.
- 比如担別人家個祖宗認做自家個祖宗有第個道理否 ’pí zú tan bih niun ká kú‘ ’tsú tsóng, niun tsú‘ zz‘ ká kú‘ ’tsú tsóng, ’yeu tí‘ kú‘ ’tau ’lí ’vá, if for example you take the ancestors of others, and recognize them as your own, could this be right?