LESSON II Demonstrative, and Personal Pronouns. |
The definite article the is not expressed directly in Chinese, but the demonstrative pronoun takes its place. The demonstrative pronouns are: | This or these, di° kuh ??. | That or those, i-kuh ??. | The demonstrative pronouns change their forms with different nouns, being formed by the di° (?) or i (?) and the classifier belonging to the noun. Thus “this table” is not di°-kuh de-°ts but di°-tsak de-°ts (????). When the demonstrative is used with a numeral it retains the form di°-kuh (??) or i-kuh (??) and the classifier of the noun comes between the numeral and the noun. Thus “this one table” is di°-kuh ih tsak de-°ts (??????). The personal pronouns are as follows: SINGULAR NUMBER | Nominative and Objective | Possessive | | I. | Person: I or me, °ngoo ?. | I. | Person: My or mine, °ngoo-kuh ??. | | II. | Person: Thou, thee or you, noong° ?. | II. | Person: Thy, thine or yours, noong°-kuh ??. | | III. | Person: He, she, it, him, her, yi ?. | III. | Person: His, hers, its, i-kuh ??. |
PLURAL NUMBER | Nominative and Objective | Possessive | | I. | Person: We, or us, nyi° or °ngoo-nyi° ??. | I. | Person: Ours, nyi°-kuh or °ngoo-nyi°-kuh ??, ???. | | II. | Person: You or ye, na° ? | II. | Person: Your, or yours, na°-kuh ??. | | III. | Person: They or them, yi-la ??. | III. | Person: Their, or theirs, yi-la-kuh ???. | The use of kuh (?) in the possessive case must be noted. Kuh (?) serves to form the possessive case of nouns as it does of pronouns. Thus to say “a man’s table” would be ih kuh nyung kuh de-°ts (??????). Exercises in possessive case formation will be found in this lesson. VOCABULARY - A son, ih kuh ‘eu-°ts or ih kuh nyi-°ts ????.
- A daughter, ih kuh noen° ???.
- A friend, ih kuh bang-°yeu ????.
- A sheep, ih tsak yang ???.
- A bird, ih tsak °tiau ???.
- A bed, ih tsak zaung ???.
°Po (?) is the classifier used with tools, instruments or articles grasped in the hand. - A knife or sword, ih °po tau ???.
- A fork, ih °po tsho ???.
- A spoon, ih °po tshau ???.
- An umbrella, ih °po san° ???.
- To have, or has, °yeu ?.
EXERCISES (Translate into English) - (1) °Ngoo iau° ih °po tau.
- (2) Di°-kuh nyung °yeu ih kuh yang-dien.
- (3) Noong°-kuh bang-°yeu kuh ‘eu-°ts °yeu ih tsak yang.
- (4) I-kuh °nyui-nyung kuk noen° iau° ih tsak °tiau.
- (5) Yi iau° ih °po san°.
- (6) °Ngoo iau° ih °po tsho.
- (7) Nyi° iau° ih tsak zaung.
- (8) Na° °yeu ih kwhe° yang-dien.
- (9) Di°-kuh sien-sang °yeu ih tsak kyoeh-°ts.
- (10) I-kuh yoong°-nyung °yeu ih kuh dan°.
- (?) ?????.
- (?) ????????.
- (?) ???????????.
- (?) ??????????.
- (?) ?????.
- (?) ?????.
- (?) ?????.
- (?) ??????.
- (?) ?????????.
- (?) ????????.
(Translate into Chinese) - (1) Your teacher has a table.
- (2) My friend has a son.
- (3) Their daughter has an umbrella.
- (4) They want a bed.
- (5) That servant wants a knife.
- (6) This pupil’s teacher has a chair.
- (7) My son wants a dollar.
- (8) He wants a fork.
- (9) She wants a spoon.
- (10) The woman’s daughter has an orange.
- (11) He has mine.
- (12) He has yours.
- (?) ?????????.
- (?) ?????????.
- (?) ????????.
- (?) ??????.
- (?) ????????.
- (?) ?????????????.
- (?) ?????????.
- (?) ?????.
- (?) ?????.
- (?) ???????????.
- (??) ????.
- (??) ????.
Notes. - (1) Verbs undergo no change in form for the singular and plural number. Tense formation will be explained later.
- (2) The verb °yeu is often used for the expression “there is.” Thus, °yeu ih-kuh nyung iau° doong-dien (???????) means, “There is a man who wants cash.”
- (3) °yeu kuh (??) means “some.” Thus °yeu kuh nyung (???) is “some men.”
- (4) Sometimes the kuh is omitted and we have °yeu nyung. Thus °yeu nyung iau° yang-dien (?????) means, “some man want dollars.”
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