LESSON VI Some Remarks on the Verb |
In a monosyllabic language like the Chinese the words themselves are never inflected, and therefore the Moods and Tenses of the Verbs are formed by the addition of auxiliary words to mark the change of meaning. We will take the verb chuh (?) to illustrate. INDICATIVE MOOD - Present Tense, Simple Form, I eat, °ngoo chuh ??.
- Present Tense, Continuous, I am eating, °ngoo leh-°li chuh ????, °ngoo la° chuh ???.
- Past Tense, Simple Form, I ate, °ngoo chuh kuh ???.
- Past Tense, Continuous, I was eating, °ngoo leh-la° chuh ????.
- Past Tense, Emphatic Form, I did eat, °ngoo °z chuh kuh ????.
- Perfect Tense, I have eaten, °ngoo chuh tse ???. °ngoo chuh° la° tse ????, °ngoo chuh koo° tse ????.
- Past Perfect, I had eaten. °ngoo °i-kyung chuh tse ?????, °ngoo °i-kyung chuh la° tse ??????, °ngoo °i-kyung chuh koo° hyih tse ???????.
- Future Tense, I will or shall eat, °ngoo iau° chuh ???.
- The Future Perfect Tense cannot be expressed directly.
The only change for the different persons is the above will be in the use of the pronouns of the different persons. IMPERATIVE MOOD - Eat, chuh (?), chuh meh tse (???).
PARTICIPLES - Present, Eating, chuh (?), Past, Having eaten, chuh-°ts (??).
A few words of explanation are necessary. The use of leh-°li and leh-la° are a little difficult to understand at first. As stated °ngoo leh-°li chuh (????) means, “I am eating.” If, however, a third person asked your servant Sien-sang van° chuh meh? (???? ?), “Has the Teacher eaten his rice?”, the servant would answer, if you were still eating, yi leh-la° chuh (????) meaning “he is eating.” If you yourself said °ngoo leh-la° chuh, it would mean, “I was eating.” In the Perfect Tense the word koo° (?) means literally ”to pass over.” In the Past Perfect the words °i-kyung (??) mean “already.” The real force of leh-°li (??) is “here,” and the real force of leh-la° (??) is “there.” There are a great many ways of expressing completed action in Chinese. These will be explained later. In this lesson one of the most common will be explained. It is by the use of the adjective °hau after the verb. Thus chuh °hau tse (???) means, “I have finished eating.” Dok °hau tse (???) means, “I have finished reading.” °Hau (?), “good,” is also used before the verb to qualify it. Thus we have the expressions °hau chuh kuh (???) meaning “good to eat.” °Hau dok kuh (???), “Easy to read.” °Hau tsoo° kuh (???), “Easy to do,” etc. VOCABULARY - To arrive, tau° ?.
- To give by hand, peh ?.
- To buy, °ma ?.
- To speak, wo° ?.
- To burn or cook, sau ?.
- To learn, ‘auh ?.
- A table boy, ih kuh si°-tse° ????.
- A horse boy or coachman, ih kuh °mo-foo ????.
- A pear, ih tsak sang-li ????.
- A peach, ih tsak dau-°ts ????.
- A tailor, ih kuh ze-voong ????.
- China or Chinese, Tsoong-kok (??), Lit. Middle Kingdom.
- Shanghai, °Zaung-°he ??.
Jien° is the classifier denoting garments, pieces of baggage and merchandize, and also an affair. - A garment, ih jien° i-zaung ????.
Saung (?) is the classifier denoting pairs. - A pair of shoes, ih saung ‘a-°ts ????.
- A pair of socks or stockings, ih saung mah ???.
- New, sing ?.
- Old, °jeu ?, or °lau ?. (Of persons, only °lau is used.) °Lau is old as to time. °Jeu generally means worn out, in bad condition. (°Lau is often used as a title of respect, meaning venerable).
EXERCISES (Translate into English) - (1) °Ngoo iau° ‘auh wo° tsoong-kok wo°.
- (2) °Ngoo iau° ‘auh dok tsoong-kok su.
- (3) Noong° iau° dok su va°?
- (4) I-tsak siang-°ts tan-chi° meh?
- (5) Kyau° yi chi° meh tse.
- (6) I-kuh °mo-foo iau° °ma san tsak °mo.
- (7) °Ngoo peh yi °ng kwhe° yang-dien kyau° yi chi° °ma ih tsak yang.
- (8) °Ngoo °i-kyung wo° koo° tse.
- (9) °Zaung-°he tau° koo° hyih meh?
- (10) Tau° koo° hyih tse.
- (11) °Ngoo-kuh i-zaung ze-voong tsoo° °hau meh?
- (12) Yi leh-la° tsoo°.
- (13) Noong° chuh-°hau-°ts van° iau° tsoo° sa°?
- (14) Chuh-°hau-°ts van° iau° dok su.
- (15) °Ngoo iau° chi° °ma ih saung sing kuh ‘a-°ts.
- (16) Van° sau °hau meh?
- (17) Sau °hau tse.
- (18) °Lau sien-sang kyau° si°-tse° chi° °ma sang-li.
- (19) Kyau° yi le tsoo° meh tse.
- (20) Di°-kuh tsoo° koo° hyih meh? Tsoo° koo° hyih tse.
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(Translate into Chinese) - (1) I have already read this book.
- (2) Do you want to buy a dog?
- (3) When I arrive at Shanghai, I wish to buy an umbrella.
- (4) Has my friend come?
- (5) I gave him four dollars and told him to buy a table.
- (6) The teacher is eating his dinner.
- (7) I have already given him ten dollars.
- (8) Come along.
- (9) When the teacher has come, call me.
- (10) Have you ever eaten Chinese peaches?
- (11) I have eaten them.
- (12) Those pupils are studying Chinese.
- (13) The foreign teacher is learning to speak Chinese.
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Notes. - (1) China is known by many different names. The most common is Tsoong-kok (??). We also have Da° tshing kok (???), “the great pure kingdom,” Tsoong-wo (??), “the middle civilized kingdom,” and Zeh pah °sang (???) “the eighteen provinces” (used of China Proper, without its dependencies). A modern name is Ts-na (??). It represents the sound of China, and was much used by the reform party. The name adopted for The Republic of China is Tsoong-wo ming kok (????) “The middle civilized people’s kingdom.”
- (2) In the ninth sentence of the first exercise the force of the Tau° (?) is visiting the place for the first time.
- (3) In the twentieth sentence of the first exercise the meaning is, “Have you ever done this before?”
- (4) In the ninth sentence of the second exercise, you use the past participle, le-°ts (??). After it meh (?) is often used for euphony, thus the sentence would be Sien-sang le-ts meh, le kyau° °ngoo (????????).
- (5) In the twelfth sentence of the second exercise su (?) is added after tsoong-kok (??). The meaning is “The pupils are studying Chinese books.”
- (6) In the thirteenth sentence of the second exercise, the foreign teacher would be nga°-kok sien sang (????). Nga°-kok is used as an adjective.
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