Obs. ii. Some of the mandarin demonstratives 那此彼 ’ná, t’sz, pé, that, this, that, though not belonging to our dialect in their monosyllabic form are found in some combinations. 那裏 ’á ’lí, where? 此地 ’t’sz dí‘, here; 彼此 pé ’t’sz, that and this. Facts of this sort illustrate the necessity for distinguishing between words of one or more syllables, and between roots in apposition, as separable and inseparable.
Interrogatives. 195. The interrogative forms are 啥 sá‘, what? 那裏 ’á ’lí, where? and which? and 幾 ’kí, what? which? also ’kí hó‘ (hau‘), how many.
- 啥人拷門 sá‘ niun k‘au mun, who knocks at the door?
- 啥物事 sá‘ meh zz‘, what is the matter.
- 儂要啥事體 nóng‘ yau‘ sá‘ zz‘ ’t’í, what do you want?
- 啥所去 sa‘ sü k’í‘, where are you going?
- 爲啥實盖能 we‘ sá‘ seh ké‘ nung, why do you do so?
- 到那裏去 tau‘ ’á ’lí k’í‘, where are you going.
- 那裏堂 ’á ’lí dong, where?
- 那裏个戶堂 ’á ’lí kú‘ ú dong, which place?
- 那裏个人 ’á ’lí kú‘ niun, which man?
- 那裏條路 ’á ’lí diau lú‘, which road?
- 幾時 ’kí zz, what time?
- 幾時辰 sa‘ zz zun, what time?
- 幾點鐘 ’ki ’tíen tsóng, what it is o’clock?
- 幾許銅錢 ’kí hó‘ (hau‘) dóng díen, how many cash?
- 轎夫幾家頭 kiau‘ fú ’kí ká deu, how many chair-bearers?
Obs. i. In the compound forms here exhibited, 裏 may be taken to indicate place; 許 hó‘ is a meaningless particle used to complete the rhythmus.
Obs. ii. The interrogative of the books 何 hú, what? is found in combinations, such as 沒奈何 meh né‘ hú, there is nothing I can do. But it is not used alone.
Relative pronouns. 196. The regular relative pronoun 所 ’só, is only used in combination with 以 ’í in the sense therefore, and with ’dzé, 所在 as a noun substantive, house.
- 新所在 sin sû ’dzé, a new house.
- 所以要預備 ’só ’í yau‘ ü‘ bé‘, therefore you must prepare.
The place of the relative particle 所, used in books and in some dialects, is supplied by the particles 拉個 ’lá kú‘, or 個 alone, coming after the verb.
- 買拉个米就擔來撥拉窮人 ’má ’la ku‘ mí dzieu‘ tan lé peh ’lá gióng niun, bring the rice you have bought at once, and give it to the poor. m. ’só ’mái tih ’mí.
- 網咾機檻咾坑坎咾禿是捉禽獸個 ’mong lau kí ’k’an lau k’áng ’k’én lau, t’óh ’zz tsoh giun seu‘ kú‘, nets, traps and covered pits, are all for catching animals. m. chúh k’in sheu‘ tih.
- 儂造拉個房子 nóng ’zau ’lá kú‘ vong ’tsz, the house which you have built. m. ’ní ’só kæ‘ tih fáng ’tsz.
- 皇帝賞個俸祿 wong tí‘ ’song kú‘ fóng lóh, the emoluments which are conferred by the emperor.
Possessive pronouns. 197. The possessive pronouns are expressed by the personal pronouns, with the auxiliary particle 個 kú‘.