208. Self depreciatory phrases employed instead of pronouns of the first person are equally numerous. 寒 hön, cold; 敝 pí, spoilt, inferior; 賤 dzíen, poor, cheap, form such groups, as—
- 寒門(家) hön mun (ka), my house.
- 寒荆 hön kiung, my wife, (kiung is thorn.)
- 敝處(地)(鄕) pí t’sû‘ (dí‘) (h’iáng), my abode.
- 敝(賤)姓 pí (dzíen) sing‘, my family name.
- 賤名 dzíen ming, my proper name.
- 賤内 dzíen né‘ my wife.
Obs. One’s wife is also denominated 拙荆 tseh kiung, stupid thorn.
209. The antithesis of 令 ling, is usually 舍 só‘, a cottage. Among the groups into which it enters, are—
| 舍弟 só‘ dí‘, my brother. | 舍姪 só‘ dzeh, my nephew. |
| 舍下 só‘ ’au, my house. | 舍親 só‘ t’sing, my relations. |
210. Many groups take 小 ’siau, small, 家 ká, family, both being regarded as sufficiently depreciatory to represent the pronoun my.
| 小兒 ’siau rh, my boy or my son. | 小犬 ’siau k’iön, small dog. |
| 小徒 ’siau dú, your mother. | 小孫 ’siau sun, grandchild. |
| 小弟 ’siau dí‘, I. | 小女 ’siau ’nü, my daughter. |
| 家兄 ká h’iúng, my brother. | 家母 ká ’mú, my mother. |
| 家父 ká ’vú, my father. | 家叔 ká sóh, my uncle. |
Obs. i. These words form a principal part of the complimentary style of speech, or 客氣個說話 k’áh k’í‘ kú‘ seh wó‘. In the every day colloquial of the lower class, i.e. the majority of the people, they are little used. Thou and I, thine and mine are prefixed.
Obs. ii. While these words are given as substitutes for the pronouns, it should be remembered that the tendencies of the language are against the introduction of the pronouns, whether there be a substitute or not. Thus instead of asking, “Is your eye better?” The Chinese say 眼睛好點否 ’ngan tsing ’hau ’tíen ’vá, eye better, eh? So, for “what is your name?” 姓啥 sing‘ sá‘, name, what? While the pronoun is thus entirely omitted, room is left for the speaker to introduce whatever terms of adulation or humility he may think fit. Those of the former kind are for convenience taken to mean you and your, while their opposites are I and mine.
Obs. iii. Many other phrases of the same kind are used in letters, but as they do not occur in conversation they are here omitted. Many of them are collected in Gutzlaff’s “Notices of Chinese Grammar.”