Va° (?) is used as the sign of a direct question, expecting the answer “yes” or “no.” It is added at the end of the sentence. Thus di°-kuh °z noong° kuh va°? (??????) means, “is this yours?” Di°-kuh °hau va°? (????) means, “is this good?” (the verb °z being omitted). The Chinese do not use a rising inflection of the voice to indicate that a question is being asked.
Meh (?) is used for asking a question when the action is presumed to have been completed. Thus van° chuh meh? (???) means, “have you eaten your rice?” or “have you dined?” Sien-sang chi° meh? (????) means, “has the teacher gone?”
Nyi (?) is used for asking a question implying the alternative. Thus noong° chi° nyi ’veh chi°? (?????) means, “are you going or not going?” noong° le nyi ’veh le? (?????) means, “are you coming or not coming?”
Nyi (?) is also used in a question expecting a negative answer, but the explanation of this must be reserved until later.
“Who” is sa° (?). In this sense it is always joined to the noun nyung (?). Thus sa° nyung? (??) means, “who?” Pidgin English, “who man?”
Sa° (?) is also used in the sense of “what.” It sometimes precedes the noun as sa° sang-i°? (???). “what business?” In a sentence like “what do you want,” it follows the verb. Thus noong° iau° sa° (???). Literally, “you want what?”
Sa° is also used with va° in the sense of “any,” in asking a question, Thus noong° iau° sa° va°? (????) means, “do you want anything?” °Yeu sa° nyung iau° chi° va°? (??????) means, “does any one wish to go?” Noong° °yeu sa° doong-dien va°? (??????) means, “have you any cash?”
Which is °‘a-°li (??). It is always used with numeral and classifier. Thus °‘a-°li ih kuh nyung? (?????) means, “which man?” °‘A-°li ih diau loo°? (?????) means, “which road?” °‘A-°li ih °pung su? (????? ) means, “which book?” °‘A-°li °liang °po tau? (?????) means, “which two knives?” When the subject is understood about which you are conversing, the noun may be omitted, and °‘a-°li with the numeral and the classifier are sufficient. Thus in speaking of roads °‘a-°li ih diao? would be enough.
“No” or “not”, is expressed by ’veh (?). Thus yi ’veh iau° chi° (????) means, “he does not wish to go.”
M-meh (??) is used in the sense of “not any” in answering a question asking whether you have any, thus noong° °yeu sa° yang-dien va°? (??????) “have you any dollars?”, the answer might be m-meh.
Sometimes m-sa° (??) is used in answering questions in the negative. Thus noong° °yeu sa° tsoo° va°? (?????) “have you anything to do?” (Have you any employment?) The answer might be m-sa° tsoo° (???) “not anything to do.”
No one is m-sa°-nyung (???). Thus °yeu sa° nyung le va°? (?????), “has any one come?” The answer might be m-sa° nyung (???).
VOCABULARY
- Rice (growing), °dau ?.
- Rice (uncooked), °mi ?.
- Rice (cooked), van° ?.
- A hat, cap or bonnet. ih °ting mau°-°ts ???? or ih tsak mau°-°ts ????.
- A carpenter, ih kuh mok-ziang° ????. Lit. Wood worker.
- A hand, ih tsak °seu ???.
- A foot, ih tsak kyak ???.
Kung (?) Is the classifier denoting objects long and generally stiff.
- A cane or stick, ih kung °baung ???.
Zoo° (?) is the classifier for hills and buildings.
- A house, ih zoo° vaung-°ts ????. (Sometimes ih zak vaung-°ts ??)
Sen° (?) is the classifier for broad objects.
- A door, ih sen° mung ???.
- To eat, eats, eat, chuh ?.
- To invite, invites, invite, °tshing ?. (Also used in the sense of please, when making a request of any one).
- To take, tan (?) or nau (?).
- To call, calls, call, kyau° ?.
- To open, opens, open, khe ?.
- To shut, shuts, shut, kwan ?.
- To do, does, perform, make, tsoo° ?.
- To enter, enters, come in, tsing° ?.
EXERCISES
(Translated into English)
- (1) I-kuh sien-sang van° chuh meh?
- (2) °Ngoo iau° °tshing ih we° sien-sang.
- (3) Khe khe mung.
- (4) Di°-kuh kyau° sa°?
- (5) Kwan mung.
- (6) Di°-°pung su sa° nyung tan-le kuh?
- (7) °‘A-°li kung °baung °z noong°-kuh?
- (8) °‘A-°li ih zoo° vaung-°ts °z i-kuh?
- (9) Sa° nyung tan-chi° kuh?
- (10) Nyung °yeu °liang tsak °seu, °liang tsak kyak.
- (11) Noong° °yeu sa° sang-i° tsoo° va°?
- (12) Ngoo m-sa° sang-i° tsoo°.
- (13) Noong° kyau° sa°?
- (14) °Yeu sa° nyung tsing°-le va°? M-sa° nyung.
- (15) Noong° mau°-°ts °yeu va°? M-meh.
- (?) ????????
- (?) ???????.
- (?) ???.
- (?) ?????
- (?) ??.
- (?) ?????????
- (?) ?????????
- (?) ??????????
- (?) ??????
- (?) ????????.
- (??) ????????
- (??) ??????.
- (??) ????
- (??) ??????? ???.
- (??) ?????? ??.
(Translated into Chinese)
- (1) Have the children eaten their rice?
- (2) Which cow is yours?
- (3) Which bird is black?
- (4) Bring the hot water.
- (5) Bring the boiling water.
- (6) Please come in.
- (7) Who did it?
- (8) Who brought it?
- (9) Who took it away?
- (10) Who wants it?
- (11) Who entered?
- (12) Who opened the door?
- (13) Who shut the door?
- (14) Which table is yours?
- (15) What do you want?
- (16) Have you anything to eat?
- (17) I have nothing to eat.
- (18) Have you any oranges?
- (19) I have.
- (20) I have none.
- (?) ??????
- (?) ?????????
- (?) ?????????
- (?) ????.
- (?) ????.
- (?) ???.
- (?) ?????
- (?) ??????
- (?) ??????
- (?) ?????
- (??) ??????
- (??) ?????
- (??) ?????
- (??) ??????????
- (??) ????
- (??) ??????
- (??) ???
- (??) ???????
- (??) ??
- (??) ??
Notes.
- (1) Note the difference between °tshing (?), kyau° (?) and han° (?). °Tshing is used in speaking to an equal or to a superior. Kyau° in speaking to a servant. Han° in even more curt than kyau°. Thus °tshing yi le (???) means, “invite him to come,” and is the polite form of speech if you wish an equal to come to you. Kyau° yi le (???) or han° yi le (???) would be used if you tell some one to call your servant or a workman to you.
- (2) Notice the repetition of the khe (?) in the third sentence of the first exercise. This makes it more emphatic.
- (3) The verbs tan (?) “take” and le (?) “come” are often used together in the sense of “bring.” Literally “take-come.” So also with tan (?) and chi° (?); this means, “Take away.” Literally “Take-go.” Sometimes the tan and the le, and the tan and the chi° are separated from one another by other words in the sentence. Thus tan su le (???) means “bring the books.” The above remarks also hold true of nau.
- (4) In the sixth sentence of the first exercise the words °di-°pung su stand first. This is because they are emphatic. It is difficult to give any hard and fast rule in regard to the order of words in a Chinese sentence, but generally speaking, we may say that the most emphatic word is placed first. In this sentence it is the book which is being talked about, and so it occurs first.
- (5) The words in the thirteenth sentence of the first exercise would only be addressed to a servant or to a child. “What are you called?” means, “what is your name?” not “what is your surname?”
- (5) In polite phraseology, in speaking to a person the pronoun noong° is never employed. The third person is used instead of the second. To ask your teacher his name, you would say Tsung sing°? (??), which means, “what is your honorable name?” (surname). If you wish to inquire further as to his other name, you would say °tshing kyau° da° ‘au? (????) which means, “please tell me your great official name?” The requirements of etiquette as to the use of words will be explained later somewhat fully.
- (6) In the fifth sentence of the second exercise, the expression boiling water is used. For this the words khe (?) “open,” and °s (?) “water” are used. It signifies that boiling water is open water on account of the bubbles which proceed from it.
