The words expressing the relations of nouns to one another are placed, some of them before and some of them after the governed substantive. ‘At’ or ‘to’ is expressed by la° (?). Thus °ngoo peh la° yi (????), “I gave it to him.”

‘To’ or ‘towards’ in the sense of direction is expressed by tau° (?). Thus: °ngoo iau° tau° °Zaung-°he chi° (??????), “I wish to go to Shanghai.” ‘To’ or ‘towards’ is also expressed by te° (?), as in the expression to speak to a person. Thus: °ngoo te° yi wo° (????), “I said to him.” ‘From’ is expressed by dzoong (?). Thus: °ngoo dzoong °Zaung-°he le (?????), “I came from Shanghai.”

‘With’ is expressed by tah ? or doong ?. Thus: °ngoo tah yi bak wo° (?????) or °ngoo doong yi bak wo° (?????), “I talked with him.”

‘Instead of’ is thi° (?) or °de thi° (??). Thus: °ngoo °de thi° yi tsoo° (?????), “I do it instead of him.” The idea of doing it for a person is expressed by theh (?). Thus: °ngoo theh yi tsoo° (????), “I will do it for him.”

‘In’ is expressed by placing la° (?) or leh-la° (??) before the noun and °li (?) or °li-hyang° (??) after the noun. Thus: la° vaung-°ts °li (????) means, “In the house.” La° siang-°ts °li (????) means “In the box.”

‘On’ is expressed by placing la° or leh-la° before the noun and laung° (?) after it. Thus: la° loo° laung° (???) means, “On the road.” La° de-°ts laung° (????) means, “On the table.”

Nga° (?) means “out.” The usual expression is nga°-deu (??) “outside.” It follows the noun.

Other prepositions will be introduced later.

The most common connective is °lau (?) and corresponds quite closely to our use of “and.” Thus °ngoo iau° °ma ‘a-°ts °lau mah (???????) means, “I wish to buy shoes and stockings.” Nouns are often placed beside one another without any connective between them. Tah-ts (??) is used much in the same sense as °lau (?).

‘Also’ is °‘a-°z (??) or °‘a (?). Thus: di°-kuh °‘a-°z hau kuh (??????) means, “This also is good.” °Ngoo °‘a iau° °ma (????) means, “I also wish to buy.” °Ngoo wan iau° °ma (????) means, “I still wish to buy.”

VOCABULARY

• A city, ih zoo° dzung ???.
• A school, ih kuh ‘auh-daung ????.
• A hat, ih °ting mau°-°ts ????.
• A head, ih kuh deu ???.
• A foot, ih tsak kyak ???.
• A hand, ih tsak °seu ???.
• A heart, ih kuh sing ???.
• Father, ya ?.
• Mother, nyang ?.
• A body, ih kuh sung-°thi ????.
• Home, ok-°li ??.
• To sit, °zoo ?.
• To live, dwell, dzu° ?.
• To wear, tsak ?.
• To place, faung° ?, °pa ?.
• To use, yoong° ?.
• To wear on the head, ta° ?.

EXERCISES

(Translate into English)

• (1) Sa° nyung peh la° yi kuh?
• (2) I-kuh ya peh la° yi kuh.
• (3) Di°-kuh iau° tan tau° ok-°li chi°.
• (4) Mau°-°ts iau° ta° la° deu laung°.
• (5) ‘A-°ts iau° tsak la° kyak laung°.
• (6) I-zaung iau° tsak la° sung laung°.
• (7) Sien-sang dzu° la° dzung° °li va°?
• (8) ‘Auh-sang-°ts iau° tau° ‘auh-daung °li chi°.
• (9) °Ngoo kyau° si°-tse° °pa °ngoo-kuh i-zaung la° siang-°ts °li.
• (10) Sien-sang dzoong nga°-kok tau° Tsoong-kok le.
• (11) Sien-sang kyau° °siau-noen yoong° sing dok su.
• (12) ’Veh iau° °zoo la° zaung laung°, iau° °zoo la° iui°-°ts laung°.
• (13) Su faung° la° de-°ts laung°.
• (14) Bang-°yeu i°-kyung le koo°-°ts °lau chi° tse.
• (15) Sang-li °z °hau chuh kuh, dau-°ts °‘a-°z °hau chuh kuh.
• (16) Di°-kuh °siau noen ’m ya nyang kuh.
• (17), Sa° nyung la° ‘auh-daung °li? Sien-sang tah-ts ‘auh-sang-°ts.
• (18) Noong° wan iau° °ma sa° va°? ’Veh iau°.

• (?) ???????
• (?) ???????.
• (?) ????????.
• (?) ???????.
• (?) ???????.
• (?) ???????.
• (?) ????????
• (?) ?????????.
• (?) ?????????????.
• (?) ?????????.
• (??) ?????????.
• (??) ????????????.
• (??) ??????.
• (??) ??????????.
• (??) ?????????????.
• (??) ????????.
• (??) ??????? ???????.
• (??) ??????? ??.

(Translate into Chinese)

• (1) I placed the knives and the forks on the table.
• (2) Who lives in this house? Mr. Tsang.
• (3) The father and mother wish the child to study.
• (4) Do you live in the city or out of the city?
• (5) The cat is on the table.
• (6) Take it in your hand.
• (7) Keep it in mind (place it on your heart).
• (8) The heart is in the body.
• (9) That child has no shoes on his feet
• (10) That man has no hat on his head.
• (11) To whom do the cows and sheep belong?
• (12) When you have put on your clothes, come and eat.
• (13) The horse boy wishes to feed the horse also.
• (14) You and I are friends.
• (15) Have you ever been to foreign countries?

• (?) ????????.
• (?) ?????????? ???.
• (?) ?????????.
• (?) ?????????
• (?) ?????.
• (?) ????.
• (?) ????.
• (?) ??????.
• (?) ??????????.
• (?) ?????????.
• (??) ????????
• (??) ????????.
• (??) ???????.
• (??) ???????.
• (??) ??????.

Notes.

• (1) There are many different ways of saying “father” and “mother,” but these will have to be explained later.
• (2) Laung° is really the character °Zaung. It has the latter sound when used in the adverb “above,” which is °Zaung-deu, ??.
• (3) The seventh sentence of the first exercise is correct grammatically, but would not be used in polite speech. The usual way of asking a gentleman where he lives is to say Sien-sang °foo laung° la° °‘a-°li, ???????.
• (4) In the eleventh sentence of the first exercise the expression yoong° sing means “to be diligent” or “to pay attention.”
• (5) In the second sentence of the second exercise Mr. Tsang is translated Tsang Sien-sang. Tsang is a common surname in Chinese. The Sien-sang follows the surname.
• (6) Doong (?) is generally used with ih-dau (??), Doong coming before the noun, and ih-dau after it. Thus °Ngoo doong °ngoo kuh bang-yeu ih-dau tau° °Zaung-°he chi°.