Case. 130. The genitive or possessive case is expressed by 個 kú‘. It corresponds to 的 tih, m. 个 gé, é, Fúhkien, 個 kó‘, Canton.
- 伊个聲氣 í kú‘ sáng k’í‘, his voice.
- 花个蘂頭 hwó kú‘ ’nü deu, the buds of flowers.
- 人个面孔 niun kú‘ míen‘ ’k’óng, the human voice.
Obs. When the possessive particle is omitted, a compound substantive is formed, as hwó ’nü deu, flower buds. Here no transposition is necessary, the predicated part standing last in both cases. English idiom placing the subject after the possessive particle, also requires the definite article to begin the sentence, “the buds of flowers.” When the constituent words are not adapted to form a compound substantive, as in the first of the examples above, the particle is always retained.
131. The objective case has no particle to mark it. It is known by position, coming after the verb. The nominative always precedes the verb.
- 我告訴㑚 ’ngú kau‘ sú‘ ná‘, I tell you.
- 送我一本 sóng ’ngú ih ’pun, give me a book.
- 勿要駡人 veh yau‘ mó‘ niun, do not rail at people.
- 告訴伊拉者 kau‘ sú‘ í ’lá ’tsé, I have told him.
132. Only the verb 話 wó‘, to say, requires a particle to precede the objective noun. The words 替, 對, 忒, t’í‘, té‘, t’eh, may either of them be employed.
- 吾替㑚話 ’ngú t’í‘ ná‘ wó‘, I tell you.
- 忒伊話末者 t’eh í wó‘ meh ’tsé, tell him.
- 對伊話拉者 té‘ í wó‘ ’lá ’tse, have told him.
Obs. This verb being intransitive, and standing last, leaves the substantive ungoverned, and renders a preposition necessary. So in English say requires to after it. In Latin, the noun is put in the dative without a preposition, as dico vobis.
133. The sign of the dative in da mihi, and give it to me is omitted. The euphonic particle ’lá 拉 is used to fill up the rhythmus.
- 撥我一箇 peh ’ngú ih kú‘, give me one.
- 撥飯拉我 peh van ’lá ’ngú, give me rice.
- 撥飯我吃 peh van‘ ’ngú k’iuh, ditto.
- 撥之我末者 peh tsz ’ngú meh ’tsé, give it to me.
- 撥拉伊拉者 peh ’lá í ’lá ’tsé, have given it him.