Obs. ii. The principle of antithesis may be noticed in some of these dissyllabic combinations; e.g. 往來 ’wong lé, go and come; 買賣 ’má má‘, buy and sell.
214. In many instances the first verb governs the second, as a verb does a substantive.
- 惹笑 ’zá siau‘, cause to laugh.
- 怕打 p’ó ’táng, fear being beaten.
- 怕死 p’ó ’sí, fear dying.
- 開講 k’é ’kong, begin speaking.
Obs. In these examples, were the language one that admitted grammatical forms, the second verb in each case would become either a substantive, or an infinitive, (i.e. they would be always substantives, infinitives as destitute of time, person and number, being not true verbs). In reality 笑, 打 siau‘, ’táng, etc. are according to the principles of classical grammar, neither verbs nor substantives, not being able to take the necessary changes of form. They are bare roots, and their grammatical sense is determined by position. Verb however, is the most convenient denomination for them, because when taken alone, they are necessarily translated as verbs.
215. In some of these dissyllabic forms, the first verb qualifies the second; as in other languages, participles and adverbs qualify verbs.
- 歸去 kü k’í‘, return home (lit. return go).
- 跑來 pau lé, come running, (lit. run come).
- 殺來 sah lé, come fighting.
- 抄寫 t’sau ’siá, to copy in writing (lit. copy write).
Obs. i. The verb of more general meaning 去 k’í‘, go, is limited by that which precedes, 歸 kü, to the sense of returning home. If the idiom be compared with the English phrase go back, 歸 kü is the adverb placed before instead of after its verb. In 轉來 ’tsén lé, come back; the verb ’tsén is also best translated in English, as an adverb back.
Obs. ii. Substantives sometimes by ellipsis stand for verbs, as qualifying the following verb. 馬來呢轎子來 ’mó (horse) lé ní, giau‘ ’tsz (sedan) lé, did you ride or come in a chair?
216. The order of the words in many of these phrases, may also properly be referred to priority and sequence in time. That is, two actions are successively expressed.
- 打敗 t’áng bá‘, fight and be defeated.
- 敲開 k’au (to beat) k’é (to open), to knock open.
- 咬破 ’ngau p’u‘, break by biting.
- 請坐 ’t’sing ’zú, please sit down.
- 寫完 ’siá wén finish writing.
- 做停 tsú‘ ding, finish making.
- 吊死 tiau‘ ’sí, die by strangling.