j. 了反勿得 ’liau fan veh tuh, ib.
- 重來了反勿得 ’dzóng lé ’liau fan veh tuh, extremely heavy.
k. 話勿得 wó‘ veh tuh, or 話勿來 wó‘ veh lé, very, unspeakable. 勿了事 veh ’liau zz‘, endlessly.
- 大來話勿得 tú‘ lé wó‘ veh tuh. unspeakably great.
- 話勿來個苦惱 wó‘ veh lé kú‘ k’ú ’nau, unspeakably wretched.
l. 得利害 tuh lí‘ é‘, severe, dangerous.
- 重得利害 ’dzóng tuh lí‘ é‘, exceedingly heavy.
Obs. i. Among the words admitted here are many forms of expression equivalent to our qualifying adverbs very, extremely, etc. In actual usage no distinct line is kept between the adjectival and adverbial sense; e.g. 最好 tsûe‘ ’hau, may mean best, or very good. It seemed therefore preferable to give in one view, the more common forms for framing an absolute or modified superlative. Most of these particles are also used to qualify verbs, as will be shown. They are therefore true adverbs.
Obs. ii. Here may be distinguished four modes of forming the superlative. 1. By particles appropriated to this use 是, 頂, 極, tsûe‘, ’ting, kiuh. The two former stand before the adjective, the third is found both before and after its word. 2. The ordinal 頭一 teu ih, in mandarin 第一 tí ih, the first, also places the adjective it precedes in the superlative. 3. Auxiliary verbal particles 得, 來, tuh, lé, with the appendages 野, 極, 利害, ’yá, kiuh and lí‘ é, to the former, and 野, 死, 唔, 做, ’yá, ’sí, and m tsú‘, to the latter, form a third class. 4. The forms 了勿得, ’liau veh tuh or ’liau fan veh tuh, wonderful, very, 話勿得 wó‘ veh tuh (lé), unspeakable, and 勿了事 veh ’liau zz‘, endlessly, when appended to an adjective with 來 intervening, also convey a superlative sense.
Obs. iii. The verb 完 wén, finish is also applied to adjectives with the same force as the preceding intensitive particles. 畫來像完者 wó‘ lé ziáng‘ wén ’tsé, painted extremely like; 容貌黃完 yóng mau‘ wong wén, countenance very sallow.
Obs. iv. Extreme excellence is also predicated of an adjective by the phrases 十分 seh fun, ten parts and 十二分 seh ni‘ fun, twelve parts; 物事十分好 meh zz‘ zeh fun ’hau, the thing is thoroughly good.