Routledge Grammars 13- d Cq&rnpir G-ir 4m m p h&na to camhacar spdren by narlve y & r s in Hang Kong.
guide
It pl~40nm a trmh a~nd xceasiblc dcxriprion ot th languag, conccntr~tingun & red patterns o f uw in currcnt Cdnmcu. Thi m a k it rhc i d d &rcncc mum for all learners and usem nf Canmnesc. irr~5pccti1rdlrrrl.in schmk.. col+, univenitie< and adlilt c l a w s of all qw. Monwcr, it will p i & a lasting and rcliablc resource For all fluenr .+IS of the hnguag.
The b m k is organid tu pmmotc a thorough undcntanding OF Cantonerr grammr. Art+ by hth syntarric c a q o ~ & and languagefuncricms, rhc G ~ ~ ~ ~ w r p m v ani indtpth dm rreacmenr of structw and p l a special sttmrion tu idiom and speed1 re*& Eqipbnacions are full. c l w and free uFiarpon.
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I
Cantonese
1
A COMPREHENSIVE
1
GRAMMAR
1
Stephen Matthews and Virginia Yip
p m p p k and gmemuc use ot prmidc tcdcrs with rasy dsrcar tothr
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P r l d To G r u t
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ISBN n-415-08945-X
CANTONESE: A COMPREHENSIVE GRAMMAR Stephen Matthews and Virginia Yip
London and New York
CONTENTS
List of t a b k Ackmwledgemena List of abbreviatiom
xiii xv mi
~ p p m i h -; ~ p t i v ~ a explanation rd Cantonese and Madarin Spoken and written C a
FEm plblnhed 1994 by Routledge 11 New Feller Lane. Londen EC4F 4EE
Modifidions m the Yale system
Linguistic literature on C a m e Dictionaries Learning Cantmew
Simuhanewdy pub'shed in the USA and Canada by ROUfle9se 29 West 3Sth Street. New Yerk.NY lOWl
Q 1994 St* libthews and Ylrginh Yip T m in rimes by n m . p eb d , SmdleM. D e w h n t e d and h n d in Great Britain by TJ Presr,(padsma.)h d . Comaall
1 P b d o g y : tlw cadolme m n d sy!3tem
2.1
AIl timmrcstntd. N b n a r t d i h i s b w k m a v b e m n t d e r invented, inclwhng photocopying and record~w,or In ary inf-tlon *age w rttrieval s y m , wirhout permission in m t l n s hm the p u b l ~ h s ,
Erin111lrRpor> Cdeprtrrtg m Atblicorim a o t o A camremrd Iur th~sbuok 1s avail9llable from t
t British ~ Lihmry
~dludes b W i h i c a l references and ~ndex-
ISBN W415-08945-X (pbk )
P. Carmmwc d i i l a t s - Gmrnar. 1. Yip. ViMnk
n.me.
FL1733M8 .495 1'7-dc20
1Wi -Z.#.*d.rnrn m. r l-km*n+nadr.
k.',s -w-l
r'r.drs
m
Romanizatim
W
19F2-
1.1.1 1.1.2 1.1.3 1.1.4 1.2
Co-nu Initlal conscnants Unrelead 00-nts Nml and liquid mnsonam Syllabic nasals
Vowels 1.2.1 V m l quality 1.23. Vowel length
1.2.2 1.3 1.3.1 1.4 1.4.1 1.4.2 1.4.3
Diphthongs Syllable strurrrrre Im~tialsand finals Tone The basic tones Tone Eharrge Tone and i m r i o n
15
Vananon and change in pronundation
2 W o r d ~ ~ s n d ~ f m m a t i o n
2.1 Fwflxesand sufflxa 2 1 . 1 prrflxes
Dhitsnes a d chnhtmlivn Demmmatives Demonstratives in gpposition Noun clnlu~ticra Syntax and usage of dassifieK Measure (quantity) dassifiers Sortal (type)classifiers Alternative dassifiers Pwes1ve mns~ructirms
Comparability of syntmic categories
Verbs versus a d j a i m
6.4.3
Free relative churn
2.2 2.3
Reduplion Compwndjng
2.3.1
Compound nmm
2.3.2 Comadj&ves 2.3.3 Verbdject oompwnds 3 QwdkcategorlPs:partsdspeech~Csnt@mse
4
Relative c h u m Relativw with g4 Relatives w~thclassifier
Verbs and aux~liaries Coverbslprrpc&itione Imlize~s!post~h Claaif~ers Adverts
Verbal imd mXcrmp*s Conjunctions
H m r e : mrd order and to@cdimth B a w word order Subjea, wrb and object Verh-wbjed order Right-dklcEarior Tqicalization and topic prominence Topicaliration Double subjects and hanging topim Svmdary topicalizationiicm 42.4 Verb topkalization 4 2 . 5 Definite subjects and exi!%mtklmte~lm 4.2.6 Topic chains
4.1 4.1.1 4.1.2 4.1.3 42 42.1 42.2 4.2.3
5 Pronoans
5.1 5.1.1 5.2 5.2.1 5 2.2 523 5.3
T k nmn phrase 6.1 6.1.1 6.1.2 6.2 6.2.1 62.2 623 6.2.4 6.3 6.4 6.4.1 6.43
212 Suffixes 213 I n k ~
3.1 3.1 1 3.1.2 3.1.3 3 1.4 3.15 3.1.6 3.1.7 3.1.8
6
Personal pronouns Omitted pronouns Reffexive pronouns JIhgei
+
Pronoun jfigJi Syntaxofretle~tveproncruns Recipmcals: 'each dhww
7 Prrpositions snd t q l e d m s OflOratllnl 71 Location 7.1.1 Spatial location: cwerbs and halien
7.1.2 7.1.3 7.1.4 7.2 7.2.1
Distance a d movement
Diremion
Placement N m q m i a l relationship Cwmh 7.2.2 Nm-spatial l w a l k ~ t i r n s
8 'lhevwbplm3e 8.1 Typff d verb 8,l.I The verb haih 'be' 8.1.2 Statiw wrb 8.1.3 Verbs ofperception 8.1.4 Verb of c @ t h 8.2 Objects of the verb and transitivity 8.2.1 Direa and directional o b j e 8.2.2 Indirect objeas 8 2 . 3 Quantified o b j W 8.2.4 V e r h m cornpour& 8.2.5 Adverbla1 obj8.3 Serjal verbs 8.3.1 Serml construcriom actions 8.3.2 Dir&mal wrbs and verb?, of motion 8.4 Passives 8.4.1 Indirect pas*ves 8.4.2 Resulmtive passives
nii Ccntwrn 11 Aqxcl snd d
9 M&thIwnstration= dplrription dc q *
9.1 9.1.1 9.1.2 9.1.3 9.2 92.1
Syntax uf a d j d i v . ~ Predmtive a d j a h m A m h i v e ad@-ks
M d h c a t i m of adjecrives Reduplication of adjectives Adject~ve adjective 92.2 Adjective adjccrive - dei 9.2.3 A-B-B adwives 9.3 Canpanson oE adjmiws 9.3.1 Degreer. of w q 3 h 9.32 Equal comparisons 9.3.3 Negative and intm'qative wmparisolls 93.4 Fxcessikes 93.5 Superlatives 9.4 Complementation: annplex structures with djectiuff 9.4.1 Adjectives of ease and difku1ty 9.4.2 Evaluative mnstruaim
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:possibClityard~lty M d a l terbs mibility and pemisslon
Ability
N-v Obltgatim
Volition: wishes and desires Preference Modal adverbs Adverbs of possibility Advwbs of n-ty
10Adveiud~ctions
10.1
Adverbs modifying the verb phtase
101.1
ffilk
10.1.2 10.1.3
e
10.2
CPmprisPn v f m
Syntactic cwstructim e q n m i n g modality Verb - &k expressingrnential
-
yauhlmouh dak verb Verb - (rhh)- verbal pmck e q m s s i e inabilii
Reduplicated a d v d
Sentence adverbs: modifying the xnttmx 10.3 10.3.1 Positicm of sentence adverbs 10.3.5 ~ d w dhquarrtity 103.3 Adverbs d time 103.4 Adverbs of fequerry 10.4 Advexha1 phrases 10.4.1 Vwwpcint a d d
l particles
11.1 A w l and the qmmor of nme 11.2 Aspect marken 11.2.1 Syntax otmarkers 11.2.2 Progresrve: &. I d i d 11.2.3 Contin-: ~yuh 11.2.4 Perfectite: jd 11-2.5 fiprientiak gwo 112.6 Delimitat~ve:lufh 112.7 Hab~tual:h8i andgwarm 113 Verbal p h c l e s 11.3.1. Dlrecrlonal particlff 11.3.2 Resulrative pmrtdes 11.3.3 Quantifying panicles 11.3.4 Adversatwdliahtual chm
i3 N-th
248
13.1
LeKifal negation: negative verbs and adjmlives
249
13.2
Adjectival negation Verbal negarbn Indchnite negahm: 'not Double negatives
250
13.3
13.4 13.5
. ..my'
14 QnantikMii
14.1 U-1 quantifimtion: 'all'. ' e v q ' and -each' 14.1.1 3y11bZv1&J.c 14.1.2 Reduplicated quantifiers 14.1.3 $6~ r i u km)
131
257 259
261 262 262
266 287
rmEih 'mch, every'
Raponses to yedm questions
'Amy'
Replies to negative questions Alternative qwstiom Whqueaions 'Who' qUertiDns 'What' questions 'Which' queaim 'Wl~ere'questiom -When' and time q w m m *Why' questions: reason and purpwe 'Hm' qai~stinns-m n n m and dpgrw Row many'rhow much' Indirect q h o m Multjrlp rlupstims Exclamatory qoeshom
Existential quantiMon: 'm' Indefinite Neaative 'xmw. no one, mth'ing' Relative quantities:m u c h l m q , littleffew Comparing quantities 'More' and 'lesr' Most 15 lkktmthi llm 15.1 yduh + noun 15.2 ~duhhn6uI1+ verb 1 . yirrh adjediive
+
15.4
15.5
huh Presentative &emen=
16 Cwrdination snd mbar8inatP d -
16.1 18.1.1 16.12 16.1.3 16.1.4 16.2 16.2.1 16.22 16.23 16.2.4 16.3 16.3.1 16.3.2 16.3.3 16.4 16.5
Codination .Coordination of words a d phrases Lists
Coordinationd d m Disjunction: 'either'
. . .'or'
Subordinatecktuses l i m e clauses Fkmm clauses Purpose clauses h c & e clauses: 'alrhwgh' Conditional s e n t m a Explbt mnditimak Implicit mnditionak Negatiw mnditionak 'if not', 'unless' Cleft sentences and emphnsis I n d i m speech
17 Q m 4 k a s
17.1 17.1.1 17.1.2 17.1.3 17.1.4 11.1.5 17.1.6 17.1.7
Yedno yeaions PartrtIdequestions A+I~-A queshim
Copular q u e s t k : haih-mhih meik quesrims EW&3ltki q ~ e ~ h$Uh-& 5 : Tag questions lntonafion and echo questions
18 Sentem mrtkk a d i n t e r l d 18 I Role of the sentence parride 18.1.1 Prormnciation: tone and ~ntonation 18.2 Synmx pl prfi* 18.2.1 T o w panicles Ig.2.2 Oause-final @des 18.2.3 Particle wmbinabons 18.3 Funmcms of the parhdes 183.1 Question prudes 183.2 Asperrive panides 18.3.3 Irrtperative and persuasive prtides 183.4 Fphemiic prt~cles 18.3.5 Exclamatory and affective particles 18.4 lnterjcm 18.4.1 Place-fdlem 18.4.2 Exclamations 19 Iuqmdlw sedmcm commands m d regaes*l
19.1 19.2 19.3 19.4 19.5
Second p e m imperarives Firw person imperatrves Third person lrnperatlves Negat~veimp%alives Indirect commands
xii Cornems 20 Csntonese gpeech m n t b p o l l t m s and terms
of ddress 20.1
Polit-
LIST OF TABLES
wnventiom
20.1.1 Re20.1.2 Thnnks zo 1.3 Apolcgies 20.1.4 Compliments 20.1.5
20.2
Intmductim Temr;oCaddress
20.3 20 3.1
Kinshiiterms Parents and grandparents 20.3.2 Bmthen. d m and cwsins 20.3.3 Relatioms by marriage
M
3.4
20.4 20.5
ChlldWlI ;md grandchildren Greetiqs Telephone expressions
Ti N m n d s an8 tinm 21.1 Numerals 21 -1.1 C d i a l numbas 21.1.2 Ordinal numbers 21.1.3 Fractions and m e s 21.1,4 Lmky and ! a h numkm 21.2 Days and months 21.2.1 Dates 21.3 Times of day Appdix:
Rornanizaticm sytems
Nutes Glcmary of grammatical terms
RefaIndex
Initial carwmanh Vowels C a m finals A s v mnrkprc in r Related partides
a mn
Particle c o m b i w ~
Terms for dder relatives Terms FCN siblrngs and cabsins Numerals
d Mandnrin
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Research for this grammar was su-ed
hy a grant fmm rhP Hongkong R e ~ a r c hChants Council (project W I Z 3 8 H ) . We w e grateful to Helen K w k , a pioneer in the siudy of Cantonese grammar. For acnng ns m u l t ant to the prwa:to Mimi Chan. head d i h e Depamnent nf English a t thr University of Hongkong, for supporting the projet; and to our research d t a n t s . Beny Hung and Cream Lee. for tlielr assistance. native antultions and expenen* in teaching Cantmew, We thank Mwra Ylp w h m emmmgement and d cm Cantonese have k n a last~nginAuence, as has Bernard h e ' s exemplary work in wmpratiw grammar. We are deeply indebtd to Thomas Lee for reading the rmnuxript and painstmk~nglyprowdmng detailed wments on each chaprer. His cuperb standards of schdarsh~pm W m g the besr of East and West have inspired our work immensely. Discussms with Thomas hmve proved to be most stimulating. We thank Cheung KwawWn and Eric Zee for theu expehx and valuable m m e m on phonology. Cream Lee. Thomas Lee. Caesar Lun and Tang Sze-Wmg hate been generous with thmr time in the final prepration of the m a n m i p r . Needlesf to sq,none d the above k a r s any reqmmiMity for the remaining e r r m and &meanings in this grammar. We are also grateful to numerous mileagues w h have discussed Cantonese grammar w t h a,espe~rnUyBob Bauer. Gu Yang. Gregory James, Tom Lai. Sam Leurrg, Leunp Chung-Sum, Kitty h. K.K. Luke, Chwn N a n c a m , Keith Tong and Q 5. Tong. We have also benefited fmm interaction wtth some fine graduate students. notably Brian Chan. Alice Cheung, Pamda Man, Kittj Smto. Raymond Tang. Tang Sze-Wing and Cathy Wmg. 'lhP Linguistic Society of Hongkong has provided a tAuaMe forum for discussion. Thanks are also due to a number of pmtient informants. notably Pamck a d Dan Yip and Linda Lee, a d W e n t s too numerous to mention but whose help with idiomahc Lhrrtonese has k e n no less vmluable. We h o p t h d their p u d e m e m at some of wr quenions mu be allayed by the fin~shedpmdm. We ate grateful to Simon Ben. Jenny Pot@ and the editorla1 teams at R m l e d p for supporting the prcjfft and bringing it to completion. Finally, we t h k our son T i a h y . w h w imminent arrival provided funher mcennves to ~omplereme Dwk. and our tmmtlws tor meir enmgement.
INTRODUCTION
ABBREVIATIONS I
I
ADJ CUlW
u
rnNT
DEG DEL
EXP HA&
LP NEG PFV
PL POSS FROG PRT
v-PRT
adjectival marker adverbial marher noun classajer mntinr~m~$av d e m e~predellmdahve aspect e ~ p e n e d a als@ habitual aspect linking pinticle neaatlvn d e r perfective asp& plural possessive marker progrtrsite q& particle verbal particle
While a number of exuellent gramman of Mandarin C h i m are mailablt, no substantial referee gmmmar d Cantonese has jet appeared in &gM. Chao YuewRen's Conwmw P d m (mifitdy written in 1947) devnter m l y a brief. t h n u ~ hval~iahls.chapter hr emrnrnm. whle Sarnu~l Cheung HungNids (1972) grammar has unfortunalely not been t r a m W. The more thomugh language m u m such as P d e r Huang and Gerald K&s Spwk Gwrnrapre deal wirh g , r a m vnly in a s p d k fash~on.and were written In rhe 1Ws: works on Chntcnese h a w & e n u d theSe for reference p u r p m . for laEk of more q p u p n a t e materials. Subsemem W l m n & In the langvage. as well a in h linguistic description of Chinese. make a reference grammar all the more necessary. The present w k $5 imended m fill this long+randing gap. The lack of a grammar of Cantonese is remarkable In n e w d the d e of Hongkong and the w e m y Cantrmese in bwiness and commerce in parteular. While many Honghmg people can communicate in English, there have alwap been some Westemen in Hongkong and 5brmd who haw attempted u, learn some Cantonese. The language has scquwed the reputation d beingdifkult for semnd language learners: indeed thesubtly d i t h n t i a t e d tones and m m n t s which seem inilially awkward. in addition to the urdamibar sentence structurrs, presenl daunting challertges. This irnpressron is unfonunate, h m w , w m in oenain her mpecm the language 15 relatively simple: there are no forms or verb conjugatiom as an E u q m n languages, for exmple. and a minimum of inflectional formsto be learnt. It u the ward order and synlactk shuctures that m t i t u t e the major pinmatical difficultis The lack of a reference -mar emcmbaW the t;sk facing learner%of t k language. One r e a s why grammars of Camonese are mt available in Emghih i s that Cans essentially a spoken language.' Grammars - mopposed to phrase&mLs - m d ~ t m a n ylake the written form d a language as the standard to tre described. To the extent that Cantonese is u-uen d m at all, it i s h e m l y affected by wand& written Chinese, wtich is based on Mandarin, as a r m l t . there 6 no clear d i m d m telmwn what is 'Cantonese' md what is 'Mandarin' (see below on the relahonship between wntten and spoken Ca-), rendering a grammar of wmten C a n m e impractimble. In the d e z a i p t k apprm& lo linguistrcs cm which t h s book is based. the spoken form of any language i s taken to be primary. the written form derivative:" lhm rejm any notnon of the
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I
I
2 Cantonese: a mprehensive v m a r wperiority d written language and the devaluarlm ot spoken Camonesz which all t m offen m l b from such amtadex In add~tion,there is a pedagogical mnsideratw~~: to l m or teach both w e n and written Chirtex s i m u l t a n e d y is doubly taxing, in that the burden of learning an m t ~ r ~~~nfmmilimr ly Imnplag~k m~llripli~rl hy r h F~h ~ l m r ~whirh ~ t ~ ,rplmrp at best irdirectly to the pronunciation. To learn the spoken language atone, ming a m n i z e d ortImpphy+is a much mwe practicable oprion; HIEE&I~ student--a n then tackle the mitten language if t k y wlsh or need to do so. Fw all these reasom, we largely ignore the written language and use the Yale Krnanlzstion qs&m as an alphabetic representation .of rtR spvken Imguw. The present grammar h intended to be primwily a learner-user's p m mar meetmg the needs ofthe W h n g kinds of readers: (a) iearners using the grammar in w n j u d o n with a language murse; @) t t r e who use s a n e C m t m socially and professionally but are h k i i g to impmve their grarnmatkal t d e d g e and the accutacy of rheir language; (c) t b with m knowledge of Mmdann who are interested in Cantonese fcr comparat~vr,w practical reasom; (d) lirrguisrs &g on aspof Cmntonese or looking for a detailed dercripticm of a variety of Chiother than Madann: (e) Cantonese speakers, suet m teacheK of English and speech thempias, whu wish lu drvrlup lhcu rnelalhgukAic-t n v a m m ul ihc h n g u n ~ ; ( f ) teachers of Endish to Cantonese weahen who want to learn more about their ~ u d e nfirst ~ ' language; (g) tewhcn a d dudrnts wf trardatidmhpretaiim tu and from Cantonese.
THE LANGUAGE AND TTS SPEAKERS thtorme is the m t wdely known and inAuentia1 variet) of Chio t k r than Mandarin. It belwrgs to the Yue group of dimlects (CanYuhwk, as in Y~thryCihpTn 'Cantonese film' and Yutrrkehk 'Cantonese opera.). Yue d i a k i s are qmken primarily m the wwthwn Chip m w m of Guangdong and Ciumngri, and in the neighbou~ing territoriesd Hongkong and Macau"amonese as spoken in Hmglcong is generafly known as Gwdngriling Wd after the w i n c e of Guangdong. Varieris of Cantonese are also used in Chnew mmmunit~esin Singapore. Malaysia. North Arnenca, Auvtratia and e h h e r e as a result ofemigrahon from rhe Guargaotq area and from Hongkong i k l f . W~thlnClina, the role ot cantonew is increasing. Far trom being replaced by Mndarm, it enjoys growing prestige as a result of the rapid economic development of the xuthern m a s t ~ dishias l led by Guangdong
province. %dents in major dties d l over China am learning Cantone%in
order to do Iwsines with Hongkong and Guangdong: Cantonese is sad to be 'heading north' (fik shhng. Zhan 1993). The wage -bed in this grammar is thai of Hongkot~gC a m e . TrPlditimlly, rhs ywfch n f C n ~ n n @ m( h~ t n n ) ir 1 h wnrlplrrl ~ nf rmm pison. hence the terms Centonc.~and GWgj5u Wd;howwer, the rnajorily of Wes&m of the language wII have more w n M with Hmgkcng htwnm. In Singapnre, Malapia and the r w e w a ~Chinese mmmunitles, there are distinctive varieties; yet the inhence of Hongkong Cantonese is strcmg, due in prt to films, te&sim pgrammes and pop smgs - 'Cantwpop'. The impau snd pqmlar~tyd Hongkmg C a m in sll t h m Mferent forms naturally contribute to its growing prestige. Compared to other Chid~alecls.Cantonese h a a su&ntlal litem NF, b ~ pral h ~ f l dwnften, althpwgh t?lld#ly littk vf this has FBen translated. The written literature imludes w r y such as the nineteenthc e n ~ r ylDve scmp edited and translated by Morris (1992). Oral Ilterature includes children's song. of wh3h a selection are transcribed with wmmentaiy in Chm & K& (1980). Reoently, written Literature in more or less dloquial Cantonese has begun to appear, mduding poplar novels such as the series Slu hhrnyfn j i ~ - ~ ' D i o afya yuppie', w h d attempts t o represent C a n m e exactly as it is @om. nKse texts include many a n t o n e w word5 which are nc4 normally m i d e r e d mqmbk in stmdard written Chinese (see the d o n on spoken and wntten Cantonese). They are: also mmked by the use of English words to represemcodemixing and even to represent some Cantonese words, for example the letter D to represent the compamtive mas m @hng&"cheaper'. Due m the low m t l s of written Camonese this new literature is frowned upm in traditional C h i m cultural arc]- but, like the use of Cantonese in pop w n p . it a w n to be generally accepted by speaken of the V g e r generation. This vernacula~style is also I-mgly found in Hongkong ne~spapers."
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APPROACH: DESCRIPTION AND MPLANAllON In keeping with the g d s of Reference Gramram serk. this vdume a i m at mmprehensive ~overas.pmvidmg reference for the student and h l a r of the l a w a g e wtnle fmgrounding the more essential of sentence! shucture for the benefit of the learn-user. As a grammar of ?he s p k n language, the bodc is intended to reRea current wage. Sevmal features d C a n t o m desuibed in eartler works are omitted because thqy are not representative of the Cantonese currently spoken in Hon&ong. For exam+, the high level md high fanlng b n r s are mnmdered to be non4stinctrve (see below on the ~omanizatwnsystem): as a result, the tone mndhi rule changing a high falling tone to hlgh level as d e m i by Chae (1947) is no longer w a t i v e . In C$.W of dwbt, the
Inhoduclion 5
4 C s r r t o m : a comprshsrrsMe grammar
usage follmwd d e c u that of the s e d author. a native Cantonese speaker born and raised in Hongkong. The grammar adopts the ckmipt~veappmach which is the basis of madem linguistics: it aims to d-k how the language is a ~ u a l l spoken, y rather than tw tpll the rpader hwK it rhnrtM I w v k p n . Fnr m m p l ~ . prolrunaahm Idili is adopted in place. of the trmdit~omlrreiIt Unkr this apprmch, there is no issue of 'cmed', ' ~ N or M'b8 C a n t o m {emept pcrhap in rPferrm.to R m - n a h v v a k e r ' s IM d t h e langr~agr, where 'pdmeans +approximatingto a native speaker's usage'). I w e a d , our fOClK i s on gmmmatlcaly.- i.e. what sentences are p c ~ s ~ hin l espoken rant- anrl MI what kind of l a w is v t e to u311chkin& of -text, lending to an emphasis. uithin the dercnptive appmach, on distinaions of register: sryles of w c h appropriate for particular kinds d mmt and associated with dimel cnt levels d f m l i l y . In rrmt a r ~ mvf grammar there are altematixe prssibilitk which belong priman@ to one register rather than another: n construction or a m m used In polire mn%rwsatignmight Re gul of p l s ~ ein the strwtmarket. and viw versa. Canlacks a m n g w i v e gramrnarical tradition prescribing or stignaatizing certain pammatical oonstruchons;' such premipliw ideas as there are tend to r e k t the prestige of Mandarin usage, with the m l t that structural patterns b m d on Mandarin may be preferred to t b indigenolls m Cantonese. Such m-um~res are included with rekrerm m their Mandarin o r i ~ i nand stylisnc status. While informed by lingistic thinking and r e s a d , the gmnmrrr aims m avoid unnewssrlmy terminology, stiEking w k r e possible to mnblished and widely u n d e r n o d tenm such as srthjecr and oh&?. N e v e n h e t ~ s rn , uniamiliar terms svch as wriul rvrh and topimIi?nrimtare inrroduced where there are no equivalents in tradihonrrl Englkh gmmmrrr:senom learners of the: languap will need to come to terns w~ththae mnceps. which are fundamental to Ihe grammar of C a m o m . The format of IIK grammar follows the eaab1'khed order of pm of speech fanliar to W&em m r s . However, this d m not imply that these categories are always appopnate for Canlonex. %me disclrssion is dewted to the proMems of applying traditional Western g r a m m d d categoriesto Chi(see in p n h l a r Eh. 3).
m.
*
CANTONESE AND MANDARIN Some excellent grammars of Mandarin inevitably influence the way one d e k k Cantonese p m m a r . C k m (1968) and Li and Thompson (1981) in p a h a l a r have set I I a~ framework of c ~ t e g o r kwhich are widely M o p e d - it only w n polnt nt rlepclrhrre - In rhsnrsslons at Ctnnesz grammar. The present grammar is intended to Re m p a t ~ b l ewith this framewrk. dthough numemus open questions remain regarding the
categoriesand nnalalyses assumad. Similwly, termimlogy which is not part
of the Western p~nnrnarica1tradition is generally dmwn fmm dcmipt~orn ofMandarin grammar such as thnse mentmned abwe. Qcm~onrrlly,terms are adoped from language typdogy and wmparative grammar, mch as the t m i n d h p r r i ~(w. , ~ R 4 1 nrd the mnmplff kh). Forthe benefitofmderswith some k m l e d g e of Mandarin, referenceis. ma& to salient similar-kk and wntmds. Some p r i ~k n ~ m l d g e of Mandarin is an i n v a l l u h l e a a ~in the~turlynfhlnmse. A l h g h t h e m languages arenot mutually intelliyible, t h e i r ~ m m a t i F a l ~iss~mlar re in most m e respecis. Their relal~omhipis Enrnparahle to that between languages within the IndwEumpean language firmilla: ths Qnhm differs fmm Mandarin to much the sanR extent as French differs from Spanish, orflvedish fmm Geman. W i l e no one would s u w that French and Spanish share the %me ~ m n = r ,this is offen in of Mandarin and Can-. Chw's comment that 'one can say that there is practically one universal Chinese p m m a r ' (1968: 13) has sometimes been taken ~0 literany. and the m i o n that van& of Chinese share the saw grammar is a funher r e a m why n C a n t o m reference gramrmr has notbeen a-ed thusfar. ~ e p h o n o l o g y a n vwabulary d presentthe most striki~~gmntmsh, the differences n n v r r r , often relatively subtle, tend to be overlooked. For example* Cantonese and Mandarin m a r to h m very similar pmssive amstmctions. Both allow the indirect p s i v e oomtmction in w h i the paaive verb rerairs an ow M d m W6 bZi
tm le ch&. (Fm)d d - PFT 'he had my car stolen.' 1
(&)
Isy
Cmnmmsr N@ Hi
yihn tau-$ ga che. I by person steal-PW CL car 'he had my car stolen.' However, in Cantonese: the noun sepresenting the agent of the adion ifits identity i s unknown) mus be m t , while in Mandmin (as in E11pli41)Ille nw111WII Irc: um~1i1tc.l.11 L j d l I 1 1 k subtle grammatical d i f f e r e m which are of inter& to the linguist and i m p r a n t m the language l a m e r ; particular attention i s therefore paid to these distinhve P a l u m uf Canlgrammar. *An
SPOKEN AND WRriTFN CANTnNFSF Traditionally, Cantonex hrs been regarded as one of the m n y Chinese d i a k & . 11 doff not h a w a standardkized written form on a par with
6C :-
a comprehwslw grammar
standard written Chinese! No form of written Cantonis taught in x h w l s or used in Rcademic setrings in any C a n t m q m k i n g community. When it oomes to the written fam. it is standard written Chinese that is taught and learnt. For educated Canmnese w k e r s , standard written Olinere i s the written bm they use in mosl contexts. E h e u e r , in mlloquial genres s h as m k , popular mapzines. newspaper gossip columns, i n k m a 1 p s s o m l wrnmunications, written Cantonese may be & When the written Canmrrlins ton many exdusively Cantonex words and q m s i o n s . nowVantorme speakers may find ~t totally unintelligible. Another ch&&i of written Cantis the inr11r;irm nf FnpllFh WnTTIF mrl nrulP-fwitrhing hetrvepn rantand Engliih as seen in magazines and bmks for m i d d t d a s s yuppies (see Bauer 1987).
If written Q n t m i s qmsmiRd hy m m n n a m l writren symbols such za charaden, the situation is complicated by addional pmblems. Many mlbquial Cantonese words lack a standard written fosm (see GY. Cheung 1983 h r a list nf emtnples)). Fw example, the verh.+rih ' s l ~ k a' s in d14h wmhttdl Yide a slick' bs n ~ 8have a c c m q m n d ~ n gEha-r nor rbes a mgnate exist in standard written Chinese. Some chamden comeq m d i q R wrtain Gnmae \mrds. expxially cvkrquial mes m y k available and used sjwmdically hut i t k n o t dear to what extent these have been aacepred for uses of untten Cant-. Still other Cantowords are replaced in writing by the -dine Fharmn in s l a n d d written Chinese. What i s h o r n rs wntten Cantonese inevitably uses a greater or 1-r number of standard written Chinese characters; if a Cantuwe speaker m&such a text aloud, the result is neither Mandarin n w Cantonese but a hybrid vrrriety. Naturally, this influence alm extends to the grammar, with the result that many features of spcken Cantonex are not found in wiling; indsed the: grammar w d is asentially that of Mandarin. Tne r e l a h s h ~ pbmwen spoken a d written -f of C a n t o m b thus extremely wmplex. For zhese reasons, n o Mle@ is made in tins hook to k l with written h s of the l a w a g e . Reference is. however. made to the liternry IInNrt? of certain gmmmatical features whim are found in fonnal registers of speech as well as in writing. For e m r q l e , in news brm-inp the, W v emay be wed without an agent: Yiuh sei mlhng t l d o u h - $ h i hin i i a n lor%-ckih. have four CL s t m l i - m i s t s Re sent back main-land 'Tmr ilk@ i m m i p n h werc repmated to mainlard (China). ' As illmlmted &me, this is a feature of Mandarin rather than Gnmnese synm (see 8.4).
Unfortunately, a wide range d m a n i z a b o n systems ate rn use for Cantonese; no standard miparable to the Pinyin u w l for Mnnrtarin has merged, and new wminue to appear.7 (See Appendix for the m r s l o n tabk listine, t k symbols used I ~ rI h e Yale, the, Intemarlonal Fkn%c A l p h a m (PA) and the system adopted by the Linguidic Society of Hongkong). Representing C a n t o m in alphabetic form s an inrrinaa l l y chailenging p b l e m , and mne of the current systemsis IWIn this b k , the Yale s w m dewloped by Parker Huang a d Gerald Kok is a h p l e d , with certain m o d i s . This is the sy?#crn used in Huang and Kok's Sped Chmwww w u m and ulhu rr~aler~nls p~uduud at Yale Universily. and in Tong and J a m ' CblloqrliaI CaAtone (1994). In Hmghng, it is u d d the U n m l y of Hongkong and by the New A s i a - Y a b i d X m a ChiLanguage Centre of t l C~ ~ IU nI l i~i b i r ~ i t s m u m and for its new Cantol~eseEnglish and Engliskdhntonese dictionariw, which will complement this book. 'rltr. Yak l l a ~ u g c l i ~ lla. l h ~xuwal ~ b d v a d t n p in additio~~ bn k i n g the rmst widely used @ern. Eirstly. nuny of its wnvenhom resemble the l n t e m a h a l Phonetic Alphabet and the Pinyin ranaanimtion used fnr M~adarin,and this will frlcilltate adapntion from Mandarin to Cantonese. Secondly, its marinion of tow is relatively e m m m a l and iwnic: rising and falling tones am shown b y rising and falling rrccents, w M are -10 hlalbw and rcmcmhr than rhc m w h n t nrbittary numbm m umd in thc Sidney Lau system:' 14m m. tam2 'think' The Yale syskm uses m tonal i n r f i c ~ t hfor the: mid level (3) tone, which is appmpiate: since this is the m m neutrsl of the tones: sei w. sei3 'tour'
The one arbitrary feature of tonal marking in t k Yale q%em Is the 'h" h r t e d after er meyowelhlihthongfor low-register tones, i.a low rising, low level and low falling miles: d h 'lwrse' (bw riring) d h 'linen' (Imv falling) mah Wd' (low level) This is an emnomizing M i c e , meaning that only h e lexical tones need be ind~catedby diacritics, the mid and low level tones b e i v unmrked. Thm is relatively little danger of the 'h' after vowels being p m n o u d [h], and as the only amltrary teature of the @ern, ~k rloes not m t the land ot burden on the learner that the numerical g ystm ( u d by Sidney Lau and some linguists) do.
8
C w f f a R s e : a comprehensive grammr
The seven basic tmes are represenred in the $ramlard Yale y w m as Ikllmm; cmtmwsa TO- in the Yale Sysran
HW
1
B a
(a
ah
ah
Bh
Wcl
Low
The standmrrl Yale system entails m ~ k i n ga diptinction between the high level and high falling tanes (the high falling tone is shown in paremin the table). Hmvever, since these two i m e s me m longer distindive for m n p Hmgkong Canmnese apeakwg (aee Mow), bath are r q m m t e d as high level in this h k . Thm nn our m, Cantonese has only six basic tones. But note that the distindion is retained in mrrent diionaries using thp r* qTtPrn
The long vowels and diphthongs are represented. rrs m most system. by double h e r s : no (long a) vs- n (short a). nai vs. oi. e.g. grsai 'meet' w. @i 'ficken'.
smr~~ p chi? t h m CL cor
' t h e a' Wng m h d& help rmt suweed
* a ~ ~ nhelp' ot
(d. Ga c k h& yduhylhng CL car very have-eyle T h e car is very stylish.')
(d. N@h M g Yih ihh a h . 1 help you not s-d 4 a n y help you.')
(e) Apmrmphes are introduced rn represent reduced torms,wch rn mj ~ h or mi'd! (a wmmon abbrewated form of mRr@h? 'whatT) and *'ohyih, a omtraction of seisahp-ylJt row-W). Note that the mmnnimtim used by the Horgkong e m e n t for sneer names, plsce names and persoml names as fnund in telephone drmm%. birth wrtificare?, etc. do not mstfh t k Yale wrn. in parricubr with re& to initial consonan&. Por exaniple, the surname written Uuu is Jirrlr in the Yale *em. This dmcrepncy is due In thc lack of n s t r i n d d i d mmnnization +em. s m y k keen from the alternative spellings of the same surname. TR or Chmh fm the name mrnanized as dfl!. Maw narrssard personal nemes
MODIFEATIONS TO THE YALE SYSTEM This grammar i n t m d v m oertain mod~ficatinmto alleviate some dificultieg and deficiencies in the Yale system as used in previous works. The= mpdifmrionr at? d e s i m pimady tv m a k the system easier tv me, and &mild nut be d i l l for u s e ~ of s the Yak system lo get uuspd to. (a) Tne high level and high falling tones, k i n g no longer dlsfinctive (see 1.4),arc M h w r ' h n as high level: for c ~ m p kstandard , Yak, h r g 'help' i s written as hie,rirr 'sky' ss fin. The sentence:parlick thn and sin are exceptions, as t h q are pronounced with a clew falling tom. @) Hyphenation i s wed ?oshow dintiow within word% for reduplicated structures,i n d u d i g A-not-A questiow (Heui-hh-htwi? 'Gorrr not?'); m p o u n r t ; such as -t compouncb (cl!arng@ ' s i n g q ' k and compleK numbers (miumwhplulzk 'thitq-six'). MI k k m T m not going' is diSingr~i~herl fmm the pmremi m- as in msy~111rk' ~ i n m m t m b l c . unwell' (see 2.1.1. 13.1).
(c) The negsfive marker M as m N#
Ed) Words are written separately u n l m there is stmng reason to regard ~ I I W J I na wumyuunrrb. F u l cmn~~plle. d & k t n uud wnl~ulynltir-ks nnr: ~ v r i i nsepamrely fmm the m u m and verb respxtively hecause they may occur sepmately:
EXAMPLES Grammatical points are exemplified in W t fnllolring format: ((go h h @ng).&hn). Romanization: Ng6h hbu lsahnwvdn d& G k : I wry hard fmd sucwed (EL g c d m i d ) 'I have difkwllyfindirg (a good maid).' Tramhtion:
W e m e m in parentheses me optional. i.e. may be omitted @en a suitable wntext. Tlle literal g k s s is intended to fsalitrrte parsing o f the C a n t o m sentence, and to enable the tramlatinn to be idiomatic En@&. The:
I@!@v ol q IWJOJ nql jo = m d lxmm v ~~~ -das ~q RBJ pm N S arum ~ Ju! ylv~3trisolpa a i a q ~'m*uql3tmj m ampnrn ~ ~ B U I IF^ W ~ 01m w A i p d d l $ m w 'ma IELUIOF 5l411OJ '(5361)
-8tmtry pm ~p q w jo iqtrrwpm m WIM J W J ~ ~ 'mdmp q x a ol m w x p u! ol p w q a l rnwpnp j m h m 'suoymqu~uorr Wleh W m'4 '(2661) WU3 P m (8861) !m13 W ''suoW1 - w g put! p q m u w *atme =E =mm m m n ~ )
w q ~uo ( ~ 1 ~9 ) m WOIUQ %uoqStwp aw uo ( ~ ~ 6S1m) W 3 XN-H '=!O aI ~ ~ u y ~ a(0662) l ~ a] uF?o pue :mum&! mtmusy, u e l s L JO ~ d ~ n : s n y h uo (!%I 'qa] -qgti~)i a e u m :.;alJlutd @mJ-axauas pus d qran uo ;aws os@)Bulouoyd m ( ~ 1 )
JO
'e wm
q
e
* ~ =~A E
i~aprmam
asarll p
mq weq ~t!murer%a s a r o l u ~40
ma3 v%oy~ ' M u 3 ul ~ w ! l q t d p3 0 s ln~xp n qulnu y
'JWOJ
p W q U! 1 x 3 a48 WOJJ pnvmdas
pus v x '(mr w m W E u q '(MI ~ 'UT) s u o w g GGS -sadol zsxp ug .saSt!dwt OM# a q traealaq Z u w w s q m lo 4u!x1w -ampm .ipmqs@u3 41w a c x r w u ~ Zuu ~ h * ~ auy a q ayl mvrp ol IFSYJT 9! 11 ' ~ a n c ~ ~-uo~reqmmol om p u ~ luasardar q 01 mcq lgap IOUq I! . = a u q u g and ol ~ @ tm q d uroq mnnqum t! uo -A spron V!I~Qju m p m ~ u o a~ qdw ~ :-a1 p r ~ e r lq d qdr.um u! p n ~I~SJ loci ~XE TG ~ ~~q e z Ac k m i q pasl 6pp!m q g n n q 'sprom ~~ rppltq -uuysxIra p x d n d a41 m p o m tw aneq p q f i sqdwrnr> paplo~cuam ro 's~avads =!leu q l o q~!h* u o ~ l ~ s u n! r npar~n4sumuaaq a n ~ qsarrmos x a q ~ 30 itrs 01 p a m q y IOU ~ ~ sawaluas 3gIumx3 p m m w w S JO ntrpd ol uo11qqm tn a m l p a g u o l q l o ~13adss mqsnll! X a q ~aaqm q d m ' v p d d d e araqm uan@ am luauo;, $0 surnrsgpu! palyap w o n
&
l U a U r G 5 V p( 7 ~ ) T q O F 1( ~ F J ) J=PoJq "om-1(,%I,) Wlg (raw) q m a t t m awqdala~('lalJ uopsra~um (.hum)
-SMOnOJ St! dd& aJlllch 4 4 jo IIUIIWJ!JJ! UB f q gaaqpJ are s+Ima ~%uoq%uo~ u! t q d r asaun~rq p saldum WOJ I uaw sa&opp pre sawaux + m a a 'q lma r q ~ '(6'1.~1 aas) 61da~ahgdau e ww WM (,Mu a*nd.) uollsanb z q p s-qurad ap w!m iuauraa* wow ylay asautnuea
w@tq
.-J.uop J 'ON.
1Hd ' ~ W H:a
ol p;r;nl n M I,IW, ,!&Pol v ol 6gpol d l a d l a d gram mmw paatr-mr
&w
P 4tm8
WJ
p u
i v i d WTJ
:v
:uunsanb a n w a u e m Kldar n m d m d d ~a q alwmll! a JOJ-a pue y uaam~ -aq m w UM* i p m ' ~ J o p pamm!u!ur v WM pemlsnm are p-1 asunuas ap puoiaq x m E p ol a l v r v q a w t n d l u e ~ ;qq@tq .sltlapnls m !y unwurorr ~ fim s! PAM .(8u!wawns) prg OI a u lq IFW!~a I!,Syuseur parSor qmutp sun1 addl ~ o u ayl a JO amlor a+~ MIU~S ~ ~ U I B X J m q a q~ul s q % q~:srmra p d h 10 , F I I ~ U ~10 almm a q ~lean= OYB A m s=+ 'w*pn~rd u q ~ a t l o ~ u gol; v ) @ u g 10 s m q JW .alg@ a ~ Skin w w m yl!m a l q f i m aq ol papualu! m my 'lorllm I S J ~ a w hq trqod.;SE qs!lzua ys!~ua tro p m q am suoqqstrsn
~~
JlwureB anraH&um
B : m a 3 01
12 Cantonese:s corrpreh-ve
gamnar
University of Hongkong. The EnglEsCantonese vnIume (Kwan et al. 1991) pmvides mmanimd -f s l y . lyhii the thinesz+English volume (Chik and N g h m 1989) also pmvides &m?rders. Sidney Lau's Cantonese-English dictionary (15'77) remaim d u l . especially for the l a r ~n ~ r m k rnf m m p i n r l wmrls and dlnratinn? lntd. and hill th' advantage of being arran@ alphabetically. Huang /1970) is a -way di&ary, w n t l y out of print.
LEARNING CANTONESE Sewral mirses m milable w h h m l d bc u d in mruumtim with the grmnrnar. Cdkqr*d C h m m r by Keith Tong and Gregory J a m . ~nthe Rwtledge Colloqu~alseries. IS at the lime d wting the mrm !*date such course, designad far self-tau@ learners, A relative@uprndate and colloquial eleme~~tary course is Ewywlal Cnmmse [1980), p r d d hy the Extra-Mural Studies department of the Chinese University of Hnngkong. Thk cmme oompt-ises w t e mpesand a b k using the Yale romanimtmn. as dnes the dder C#mese m 100 Hmm, produced by the University of Hongkong Extr~MuralStudies Department. Of earlier materials, the Hongkong v r n m e n t course by Sidney Lau is prticularly thorough, consistinp of six volumes plus glossaria and a diionary; however. much of the dialogue already soun& stilted, clsting from the late 19Kk and 196C6. A h rhuruqh, though barely mwe uptcdate, i s Parker Huang and Gerald Kok'sW a k Cmumpp~pin three volumes (Yale Univenity Press): containing substanrial terns, it is pnkutarly lseful for learners without ready accfffi to spoken Cantnnae. The IJS Poreign Service TmMute murse M l e 1970) is relatively thoraugh and m i r a t e in its treatment of panmatical prints.
1 PHONOLOGY: THE CANTONESE SOUND SYSTEM The mind systm vf Q ~ ~ isR unfamiliar T rn speak- M Eumpean languages in several respats. C a m i s a tone larrgnage in which the pitch or pitch pattern with which a syllable is pronounced is crucial to the !denriry qt the word m syllahle (1.4). The syslern of tones, with a minimum of six dialnaive pitch pttems. is alm more wmplex than thal of Mandarin. As in Mandarin. however. the pomihle oombinations of sounds am d a e d by cumparison with Eumpean into syllables in Cantlanguages (1.3). This chapter is inwnded to pmvide sufficient background infosmation for the ppmmar to be used effecrively. rather than to pmvide a p h o n o w cal analyh of the Cwtonese sound qrwm. Fnr a fuller description, see Y-R. Chao (1947) and K-H. C k u n g (1986). 5om theoretical annlysk of th$Cantonese tone gsrem ~ p c o \ i c k din M. Yip (1990)
1.1 1.1.1
CONSONANTS INITIAL GONSONAW
There are sixteen initial oonsonants, i.e.
which may occur at the k n n i n g of a mml. TIkst: a r s l ~ inn T a l k 1.1, x m d i n g to their phonetic fatures.
The Cantorrese stop pnse: m i d e m b l e d~ffrmlty for the English speaker, because their distinftlw htum are different from tbsz of mps such as p and h are dfsrlngulshed by the English. Whew n h a s t in voicing. D k i n g voiceless and h m i d . no Cantonese s t o p are datinctively voiced. Rather. the mntrasr is one of aspiration -wvhet/ler or
-.
not a bum of air is emitted immediately after oral r e k in the prwimsof anicularion. In English, this feature is alm prem in that initial g k normally aspirated and h lmt; however, this crmhast is m t a d~stinchve ane. The result is that Cantonex h as in hti 'give' may be perceived by an E n p l i m a k e r e i t k r a s p ( b w v s e v f t h e lackofwicindmas h ( W u w of the lack of aspiration). This m h i m t i o n of features - voiceless and unwirared - in initial pmtion is unknown in English, maklng the Cant~nesesenes Mdlg difinilt to recognize. Many r~rnaniEa% system add ur the diculty by representingthem as@tIk respectively; this iwludes the m n i z a t i o n applied toplace m m . so that Kowlum. for ample, .is pronourn$ by English -ken with an asprated k [khl.' In the Yale system it wtild be GduIwhng. The labioelm cmmnanh gw and kw arc roarth&ed stop. i.e. the velar swnd g or k is articulated simultanendy with the bilabial w in p a -hanggand kw& skirt'. However. there is a t e n d e w to s~mplifygw and kw lo g and k respxhvely where they are followed by o or n, e.g. p k h n t r y ' is pmnouncal gnk, sounding identical to p k 'bl'.Similarly: Gw6ngjBu + GBngjau Gntnn'
@ +@'guess'
k & h q 'crapy' jeohn-gXn-kW + jeuhw@wku 'mhber band' L*hng
+
The simplified forms are u d q x & U y by y o u w r speakers and in less fosmal speech (see 1.5). Note that the d i W m c e ill pnunclation b=tween kwu and h, gwrr and grr is a rery slight one. w the l i p are m u n k d similarly for the m n d s wand u. The alveolar affricates j and ck pose pxticular pmMems for learners and for rumanimation sysems. Fhwtically, jn its] which sounds similar to the fmal consonants d the end of the Engl~shw o r d arls (1.e. od~rmfsemems) but l ~ k the e Cwtonese stop d, it is p m n o u d wifhmrvoking. Its a e r a t e d mumerpanis Jr [I?], with string aspiration, as in dirh 'tea'. Both j and ch are pronounced with lip spread, father than mundul as i n English. The p m n u ~ a r i o nof initial J , ch and s may be sffeaed by the followringuowel. In particular, fnr some speakers, the high front rounded vouel yr< [y] rends to carse palatalktion of j and dr tr~[tfl and [tJh] vqxctiuely: jyuh 'live' + [tJy:] (mmparej&n 'earn': [ m n ] ) chythn thnle' 4 It$%] (compare cldh 'tea': [hha:n
A similar p l a t d 1 ~ ~ r i oaffects n s. which may syij 'W + by] (compare si 'try':
J ktow yu:
[si:])
The mid rounrkrl v m e l wt may a& cause pamal p ~ a t a l ~ r a h oor n these consonants. as in dietmg king', @' 'mnw', &q kant'.' The sounds
resulting from this palatalbation s a n d similar to the oorrqmnding
Engli$h aaffricates. as in C ~ W I nndjrdgr. I This pronunciation should not be u i w l for] and rh thmughout, hnwever. as the palaralizcd mnam will bc mry u w ~ t i v e - l i k eif used before other vowels, a5 in jortk 'do' nr chdh 'tea';s c h misprcmunoatiom me in f a d charactenstic of Emgl'ishapeaking leaof Cantnm. Note alw thal the mv%x m n d s characteristic of Mandarin ch. di and sh are unknown In Cantonese. There are tsw semivowels whkh occur sinitiak:
-Id be distinguished fmm yu m in ssui 'finmy' ~hvhiFhq ~ m t s the high rounded vowel. Initial w is a h d ~ s t i w lfmm r k [url m d whim is pan of the 1 a R i v e I a r m m a n t sgw and kw: as noted abwe. these are wanhlated s t q , in whi& gfk a w w minds are formed simultansously . J,
Tn final *on. i.e. at rhe end of a syllable. s t u p are u n r e k d . For m m p l e , in fm! -law', the 4 i? f m e d hy the mgue muchi4 the dvedar ridge hehind the teeth, but without mr being released. In ngmp duck'. the lips are dmed as forp but rot opened again. This neutralizes the contrast M w n ar;firnterl and uwMrated msvnants, nnFe u n r e h d wnsonants c a n m k aspirated. Also, the labiielars kw and gw are not h n d in final -ition. Cnnsequently. there are only three such unreleased stop -p, -rand -k. The= a n be d i l t m Q i ~ ~ n g u i sall h ,three tending to wund like a glottal stop m an Endish speaker. They are neverrheless dislinctjve, as in the following set:
Some speaker5 rb not distinguish hetween unreleased -r or -k in f n l l m g words:3
baat
haat;
eight
hundred
tak north
b5t pen
These w o r d pin are o i b n pronounced with the same h a 1 u n r e l e a d conmants, usually both rr; -t. The mange from k to d has k e n noted to be a parallel phenomenon to the change from -ng to +I (1.1.3): Roth cases involve r e reahmion of a wlar as an alveolar m s o n a n r (see K-H. Cheung 1986). Hence Mk CAP 'jam car = trsffic jam' rvauld sound the same as sm dG 'lost car' if the final is pmnaunced or perceived as an unrel-d
4. This p
h e m e m seerrs to be prwalem amonp speakem of the youngs gerntlon.
with a low falling tom. then sounds the m e as the negative marker rhh. whib the numeral rirh 'five' h distinguished by its low nsinp tone.
1-13 NASAL AND UCWIO CONSONANl3
1.2 VOWELS
1
The three nasals, rn, n and ng are d g h t f o n v a r d to pmmnce; it i s meir diitribum which raises problem. Variation and angolnp change also I rmmpliitc the pichire. Initial ng prments some daficulty for Enghsh speakem: a l t h @ the m i n d is asentially that in English sinx, pronouncing it in word-inhal m t ~ as m in ngdh 'I't a k a m i c e . M m u e r . there i~variation k t w e e n ng and zem initial: ngirrilduuh 'ww'. ng&ml&nn 'CO mpwp'nnp TXI'. 'duck', etc. Cumnrly, many Canmnese speakers of the youngx p e r a t h & npf ~ p n a y r ng n in casual speech, using instead a glottal qop as in dh for &It 'Ume'. etc; conversely. those conscim of the ' m r r e c t ~ ' of initial ng in words such m ng6I1 use hypercomsl form such as n p ckyfihn formclryirkn %fee (see 1.5)." The mibal n is pmnairoed as a I Ry younger speakers, and hy older speakers in L s formal s p c h registers. Thus neTh "you is p m n o u m d rs 14ih, nlkn 'year' as Rkn. This t h a n e to I is still curreded as an 'ermrermr by some older language t e a c h . The n pronuncimon is still used in highly lormal registers and in some rraditional fom of slngng (wntemporary Canm-pop, however, often u s 0. Initial n- i s preservedin the demonstrative Form ni 'thh- for many speakers. Rut also vmimsly pmnumoed by other yreakers rrs yi. B or tFi:
ni p 'this' + li go. lei gn,yS gn nrdi'these'+ lid& ldrfi.yid n i b u h Kere' + Wmh. IEidouh, yldouh All thrm nasals are f w d in final position. However, the distindion b e t e e n n and ng is merged in certain contexts for some speakers, e.g. sdnrt 'mountain' w. m~ 'alive, mute‘ are both pron~runceds [Sen] (see1.5). For some speaken. this o a u n only hefore front consonants sin -(g) jbi 'give birth', while for 0th- ir is independent of the oontext. e.g. hnh+g) 'student'.
3.1.4
SYLLABIC W A L S
Tahle 1.2 ihrnw the eight ank u d in the Yak *em, i l r l v d i b t h long and short o (see 11.2). Note the foflmuing: (i)the table, following the I'aL wstem, b e $ nnt d i n w i s h m e n th&mts of r , zr and w~which are dknguished in P A i d some mmnimtion qslems; (ii) all these mvels have a mre&nt quality t h m g l n u t , rather than being diphthongized as their equivalents often me in En#&. For Cantonese diphthon$s, m 1.2.3. T-12
Vowels
rn
Cerdral
HW
I
yu
u
Md
e
eu
0
Back
am
LOW
The vowel systems of Hongkong and Guangzhou Cantonwe are c c i m p d in h (IW3). 121 VOWEL QUALITY
i as in dm 'string'. yiIu*hot' is similar to English p] in m.but the tongue p i t i o n is slightly higher. Before the velar a r m a n t = -k and ng as in lihk ' m g t h ' , Ilng 'ury', it is mute l i b the vmwl m n d in En&h late but is shrrer. e is a mid front
vmvel, more open than i. as in Imtg 'pretty. nice' and I&
'clevef. yrr is a high munrkd Wnhal m e 1 [y], Similar to French u o r German E bur pnounccd funhcr forwmd m the mouth- ae in e y i 'bmk'. d j h -thin'. I n British E n g l i t k &SBI sound b a after r. as m nibe. is a munrled central vowel, with two pronunciations according to t k following consonants: @u
A few syllables cm&l of a n m l consonant alone. m or ng. g.lhffe are k m m as syllahrc n n t n l ~ Tne . main examples are the negttive marker mh 'not'. the numeral @I! 'W, the surnames N#$ and N#I, and the verW noun n&-wrh -misunderstmd(ingj~. The syllable &I! is widely pronounced as bilabial fib. mp!hlly Ry thme p k e r s who do not nsz initial rrg (see a h m d 1.5). The surname N#,
(a) Wore t k velar m n a n t s k and ng, the sound is 1 4 m in jmk 'wear' w d c l m g 'sing. [elis allsa lncd in rkc few wads ending in -ru, such a the noun I!Eu 'hot', the verb @UII'slide' and the: dassifier d h ( ~ 9 d& fa 'a Rower-).
18 Cantonese: a m m i v e m a r
@
phonology 1s
(b) before rand n. as in sarn *belreven.and in the diphthong ani. rn in dui Ww', the m n d is Gmilar TV F m eu. w not unl~kethe wwl in British English her but with rounded lips.
oi cmi 014
Gi sBi pu
with dightly
Gml
gaau
o is similar to the vowel in British En$& hor, pronoun& rounded Ilps, is in cRdR 'si~', lohk 'go clown".
'west'
ei
s5i
%f
'waste'
mi iv
hi tiu h6u choi vnh
Wcr'
hengK 'W
uu
oi ui
Tump' *good. 've@ahb' 71red'
vmvel of E n g l i fwd. as in gri 'andent'. It is ako pronounred with slightly m u n M lips. Refore the velar msonnnts k and ng it is lower, as in sriIik "frrmilii', and can be difficult to dhtinguish h the stin h e r o. e.g. ChJak 'study' w. ddrk 'measure'. bring 'empry' w. hiim 'healtw.
Note that the long diphthonp mi and mu are distinct fmm ai and mi, just as m is ddistinafmm n (12.2)- Thtrc are no tfiphthonp: nore thal err as in sarn 'letter' is a simple m e l , and mi as in chCui 'blow' i s therefore a diphthong.
n is a Imv central vmvel, as in &t 'new'. It resembks the vmvel of English m n or German ha?.aa is longer m in Man 'hill' (m 1.2.2below) and more open than n. Tt resembles the h g a in 'British Englishjdm.
1.3
u resernbk
Long and short n are dlstincfive in dosed syllables, e.g. s i b hew' TS. 'hi.The d & & applies equally to diphthongs containing a sounds: thus, @ 'chicken' with a shorl diihthong conh.;rsts wZh @ 'street'with i i a long diphthong (an$ the s m tone). 'The actual difference in length depends on the syllable: m a clmed syllable such as haak 'dint', the low w u e l in Cantonese may be no longer than a s h o n one in English. The: two vorvels also d~fferin quality. short a is s~milarto the vowel of English cur. while long nn is naore open. like that in fmher. But m t e mar the difference in vowel quality is not found in diphthongs rrs in *chicken' and mi Ptreet'. Note that mrrranimtions pnerally do rot distinpnsh betrveen a and mr at the end of a syllable, e.g. the classifier M and particles such as B are pmrounccdwith a long vowel, but wntten with a as the length d i i is not dininctive in this The length of other vowels varies aoowding m envimnmenr. but the difference is not dishndive:
bns
s? p x m " & 'mu& fu +master'
SIm sTk 'know' dohk measure'
fiik 'bksHing'
The following diphthnng [sounds consisting of a wmbimtion of two vowel sounds) occur:
SYLLABLE STRUCTURE
Likc M n M n , Cnnmnc~has n relatively sirnpfe syllnble structure: the pxsible wmbindons of sounds are severely remitted. No omsonant dmers (consecutive consonants) occur," hence syllables typically have the fcnm (C)V(V)(C): (wnsonmt) - ~nwsl- (vowel) - (conmnnt). Moreowr, only two x t s of consonants can appear at the end o f a syllable: (a) nasals: -m, -n, -ng (b) u n r e l e a d maconsonants: p , -t, -k
Traditional descnpliom of Chinese did* the syllable rot into individual m n d s (phonemes) but into m b m a t i o n s which m a m m the kginning and end o i s y l l a b h initiuls and h l s . The lnm'iak are the mwmants d~scwx.din 1.1, Ihe fi~lalsare the mmbinatiom of wnvel m s o ~ n t which may occur at the end of a ayIlaMe. I ne w i n c e m tnis cla.mcat~on s that only a oerrain number of kyically possible combinations actually oaur in mtablished molphpmes. For exam*, -Ip and -up occur regularly as finals bul *-@IF does not.
+
V+i v+o
lu
V+m
im
V+n V+ng
in ing ip
Y+p V+t V+k
it it
I
Our ofa v i l e si-ollr combinations of vowels and final consonantsr rowels, only fifty-fvurm r . and some ofth-. such usar, are very rare. These gaps, and the p i e d i n a t i o n s . appear in the Table 1.3. Note that all the sirnpk vowels (i, a, yu etc.) occur a s h a l s . with t k exception that a &es w t contrast with QU in final position (see 1.22 n b ) . for standard morphemes. Allhough #hisrepremnts the conventional (essentiallv thrm for which Wblished characters exist), additional finals occur in cdkrquial ~ e c h : (a) in onomatopaeic sounds, e.g. -em and -UP: 14m-18m-leih lick-lick-tongue 'lick one's lips' fb) in loawwords, e.g.
Whptmip tiu bop-bopi"~ 'beat bopbop' (hear?)
a, 4n and m:
heui wi!t (verb) 'go out md have fun' hbuten (adJ.1 Wends wlrh' him ( r m n ) 'prmp'
These are not induded in Table 1 3 as t k y arguably do not fcnm p r t of t k hesound system. Nevertheless, they show that the range: of +Me syllables is extendable, as argued by Bauer (1984). 14dditioml a l t i o m a ~ p l yto which tom can occur on which final? For example, the finals ending in u n r e l e a d conmnonnmsd l have lwel basic tones: yat 'one'
gigh level)
yaht
'day'
foms Mote: urn-ekued consonants are now widely seen as abbreviated munteiyrts of the three: level ma%which n m r ill OM m t e m Only six tones are clearly diYmUive in Hongkong C a n t o m ; an example in
whim the whole range of tones is distinguished is the syllable pa:
1nph k u t l :
ySu ' m r r ~ y ' , 'md7(irl uul~q.x~u~~rzs)
High rising Mid level: L m falling: Low rising:
f l u Wint' (noun): yau 'thin' y h h 'nil', 'swim7( w b ) yAuh 'haveve;' F r i e d Low level: yauh 'rrpin'; 'right (hand)' Note that in many mxs. taer or more words ChmWphOneR) exist w i t h the same tone. m e s t are distinguished by (a) the different parts of speedr to which they belong, and (b) armpound expwsblls in which they -. The system d six tones g+en abow:awmes that the h i W and high falling t a m are notdiktindive, rrp$nt which k ggreed b y r n m t M h m (see KH.Cheung 1%). There is currenlly umickmbk mrhim in the r e a k a t ~ mDT these tolwes.Many speakersuse them int&ngeaHy, rn m sin or A n 'new', hiiqhe~or luhtH& 'air.' T k d s are mwl m m l y pmmunxd with a high level tme, especially by youngr yeaken in
~mglton~~~mseguentl~,~htoraesareml~shwminthisbwk~ltha high level tone, whereas c b i m m h x wing the Yale system show m e wirh high l e d and othersmith h ifaling tones A high falling tone is, m e r , a'iindwely nead on censln sem&al pmms such as dn and am,and -times a h in mnbxteclfoms mch as sir'w$iJi 'th"irt)Ftm';t k e arc the only r w d s shown with h i falling trneg m the text (xeds 18,21).
(low level)
S y l l ~ b l en6ing ~s in nnreleased mwnams do not gemrally h w rising m ta111ngaaslc tunes (e.g. there are no worn suar BS *ydM). MR n risingzone: may aocur as a result of tone change (see 1.42), as in M U - j d t ' w a y = lucky day'; ~rthn-pft' p m a d q = seventh day of the Chinese New Year (also k w w n a.everyMy7sbirthdayk @hk-@ 'pickday = pick a lucky day'. Some of thse changed tone brms have become the usual spoken forms of words, e.g. nirtt* 'butterfly'.
Id TONE of Cantane~i s considerably more wmplex than that of The tonal Mandarin. which uncontmversially hrrs four distinct toners. Exactly how many tones there are in Cantonme depends on hmv the system is andysed. A w d i t~ u tllr. ~ 11udiliV11u1 C1&5mtiu11. (?dm~ly~&Im &ilk:distirzt tones whereby the checked syllables are consideid as bcfonging ro categories to be:contra&d with other tonal caregones. Flo-r. the d i m
lA.1 M E BASIC TONES Linguists p c r a l l y disringuish the basic or kKkrrl tonts, k d rdllhl Ulr: word is pmwnccd in isolation, from the chmtged or sandhi toms whim m r only when a word occurs in p r l i d a r phonological and mrphologicol mwxm (lA.2). The Cantonese tone sysrtrn involw t h e pitch lwek: high, mid and h.These three tone! exist individually w levet tones. which are datively easy to p m m m and serve as p ~ l ~oft reference f for the other three tones which fall or riso fmmmn lcvcl to amthcr. T h i s gircs n system of six rnnes, d i i l l t i n g a $ n variant the hiih fall@ tone (shown in paremtheses) rrs k c n b e d in 1.4 above: High:
Mi$:
' - 0) -
phonology=
Althmgh the system shown here is essentiallysymmerricsl. the actual pitch mmurs of m h tone rlrp mi. In rhinase linguistics it if Fvstvansry to divide t k p i t h r a n p into five levels and daraaerire tons in t W m of their s l d n g and ending pitch levelxR
H@ lwel: Mid level: Lorv leuel.
55
H~gh nsing:
35/23
33
Low ris~ng: Low frrllil~g
W13 2111 1
22
Note that swne mner h a w alternative representation5 in different @ems, e.g. the high rising tone is sometimes qxesznted 8s 35 and d m e s 25. Sirmlnrly, 23 and 13are h l h IIFA fnr t h lnw ~ rjsjrp tm and 21 and 11 for the low falling ton% Two particular a y m h e s in the tonal system shwld be noted: (a) The high rising and lmv rising tones in fact k g i n at arolind the: same pitch 1evzl.Y a d are didnguished by the pach level to which they rise: the high nsing tone is marked b y a very steep pitch gradient. and hence emily r e w p d . whik the Imv m n g rone tses only to the pioch of rhe mid level tone."' The name 'high &I!$tone' is therefore rribbding in thnt it rises TO the hgh l e d , rather than begnning high and rising further. some linguish psefer the term mid mnp tone'. (b) T k low falling tone is not simply the reverse of the lmv nsing tone, but starts at the ptch of thr bw lpwl m w nnrl h q - 6 fiinher, mdmes ending with a 'aeaky- v& quality, @ally for male speakers, e& the b o t h of the speaker's pilaA rnnge i s reached. The relatively slighl fall in pirch makes this tone diffimllt to distingrrah fmm the low lwel tone for the foreign learner. Furthermore. the tow falling tone is m e t i m e s prw nounced at an even pitch: 11. klorv that of the Imv level tone. As with the: hnunp m e a . t h e r r f m - Y is the ending r a m than the WrIing pitch u~hiEhis distincrive.
Note that the m t r a l
tone assigned to many pmnrntid words in Mandarin does not exid rrs such in Csnrmese: although many grammatical wmds have the mid level tow (a distinct trine). such m the pcmexid linking panicle gp and the experiential z q m t rnarker gwo. others have higkregister tones. mch as me adverhal(166. a m tne: pwgv%~YeaqwX marker g h Traditional desajpciorus funher distinguish t k er*ering tones (hi. level and low) whim occur bctore the u n r e l e d wnsonal~u-p, 4, -k. As pointed out by Chao (19d7), these are: phomicany equivalent to shon imntiarions of the high, mid and Imv level tones, i.e. sit& lose (money)'
.matter. share the mme low level rone, d M n g only 111krlglh. Some transmipthi systems continue to distinguish these tones, unnecessarily w m p l i n n g the system with a totd of nine or ten numbered tones. and srh
I 1
/
1 - 4 2 TONE CHANGE
In many varhies of Chinese, the basic toms change in pmhmlar environments. Tome sandhj is the change in the tone hought abwt regularly by the &ectsufadj~~ent im,a s t h e M a n d m tlird ( d i n g ) t m b e m m m arisng tone when it is followed hy another third tone. In Cantonese,lone change is restrictedto one main v s s w h i c h K notregularin this -, h u t m r s due to a number of mn@x~logkal and m t k factors. For the= r e a m . the antorex 1s p m l l y -d to astomramW than tone mndhii The funaims d this tone draw are highly wmplex. IIhe rnam tonal c h a n oaun ~ in cmpnmds and r e d u p l i d In which a m i d h i i risine, tone resuk. it oavrs p m a n i y where the sxmd syllable of a mmpound or r e d u p l i d word h s a tone:
-
p yauh+j&yiu left right 'about, approximately'
*h + ~ h h & d f i silly tather silly'
W I Bthr.~Imid lwle of JWUA 'right' is Imv level, lr manges re a rising tone in such wmpound expressions. Similarly, the adjective & has a low falling tone,buf when reduplicated the searnd q l b b l e tales the changed tun% Fur most -ken, the rewilting ming rone in the same as the h i h risine, tone; for others. it is r a m lower. k i n g centred on the pitch of the mid level tone hut rising pe~~eptihly as the vowel is pmnounced. In the Y a k spem it 1s w ~ l Z m 1 ~~1t 1p ~~ w l lbyMtllr. Iriglt 1 i s i ~ ~turlc. g The regular row-change phenwnenon appears in varium typa of & u p h i i o n (m2.2). In reduplicated adjectives with the [AAB] panern the tane of the m d element ofte~lunrlzrgws the dmr~p; kbhm-k$hm&g + k8hmkdm-ckng 'in a mad &' lahplahplyuhn + IrrhpWplphn ' m y , $ i p n & l ' In red~rpIicateda d w v e s a d verbs with the sutk 4.5 and in o n m a t o &c reduplicath, the syWk regularly tali- the &mged tone: Cikfkii-d&+ h h - W d & 'rather fat, chubby'
hhhn-hhhndd 4hhhtkhfi&i tamer itchy' mlbng-mihng& + rrihng-mlngdCi 'understand roughly' dh-ssheng + s8h4&ng -sloshing sound'(ar in raining) d ~ h k d i h k e n gi dihkdik-ei~g'tidtmg sound' (of dock, watch) In tenhtive or diminutive verb r e d u p l ' i h , exceptionnly, i t is thcfirst verb w h i d Eakes the changed tone, due to contraction of y& (see 2.2, 11.2.6): EI )fit SI i .s k i
w one try
'have a try'
bohng yxt h h n g + Mrg-Wrg weigh OM weigh 'weigh'
24 Cartoneae: a rnmprehansb gamrnar
hiF t taih
-
ai-tiih
mention CM mentim kntionabit'
mahn yiit m h n
ask one ask 'ak'
-
m6n-mahn
Thin pkmmencm also s o n where the adjective is reduplicated m iadjectrve] ydl [adjedive] (e 2.2): @hg
YX
cheap one 'very cheap' Ni di
pehngt@g-@hng Amp
p!ng-p?hng & m h ybhn daih ge la. ihcsc CL dathcs h p c h m p ail1 no orre lwy PRT PRT 'Nobdy will buy these dothes, h m w m c h e a p they are.' 8hm @t Rhrn 4timAhm 'very sweet'
R e m i siu dou timrihm @m, hbu h h @ a. s'he smile till so very lovely FRT 'Hr'q miline sn sweetly. Really lrrvely.' Tone change involving conof+ 'one' a h occurs in mummtive amstructions where [,m damfier] is reduplicated (see Whitaker 1956): when the: dyrSt be' i s m t r a c ~ dtore , change amnsin t l a w d ing c l a & e r resulting in a high riwng tow. yat p i pt ~i -.yW g6ui geUi one sentence m e Sentence yat dihp y5t dihp t pt dip dihp
one dish one d~sh yntgauhyatgauhaufl-,ysrg-Augauh one lump one lump
d In both m m of tune change with m M o n of y& 'one', tbe W syllable is lengthened. Note that while rwd speakenchange tone regularly in these: casa.the processis not necesmrily oMmgstoryforall q m ~ k mThe . change:of tone &en adds a t w h ofmlour and l i v e h n ~ to the uttenmce. Some 4 s may mmr with either s basic or a h n g d tone. whether or not they are: reduplicatecl or p r l of a compound. In these m m . the: changad tcm forms tend t o be more mnquial, as ~ngmh-phn-slh/gowhjohn-sf'in the OM dm'. In where the noun is & as a container c l m W (h.Z.2). the: original tone i s retained:
-
pt hahp jyiigiili!~'a box ofc h o m W bid ni go hsp 'thisboK' y ~dil~p t clmi 'u dish ofue@~blef' hrt g6 jek dTp Yhln dnW
Fu~rhcrmore,marry instancw of changed tone: me assonawd aith h i l i arity or intimacy. Chao (1547) notes that tone chmp has'a morphdog~cal
meaning, nnmely, ? h a t h i i m t h i n g ( o r p r m n . k f r e q u e n t l y actiun).one often speah of" '. Forexmple, it oppties to reduplicated k~nshiptcrms: bA%4W-bs
ms-ms
-
@%a gbh-@ 'ekler brother' daihdaih 4 d3ibdAi 'younger brother' gi-j61+ jaih-jrf$ii 'bttle boy' taa-taai mi-rn wife+
-
m&h-ma 'morlm' jt-jk + jkh-jE 'elder sister' muill-mmh + hih-mi5 lyounger sister' Itul-ltui Ibuih-W~tleui 'little girt'
'father'
-
-
!a'II+W
or he*ew' niece'
Note that the fim ~yllablblem l l y Fhrrngw t9 l w falling t m and the dto high rising or high level or remains unchanged if it i s a high tone already. These temrs of a d d m obligarorily take o n the c h a w d tones m daily qmkm Ontonme but -In unchmgecl wwhen t b a p m in wirren texts to be read aloud with Cantonese pronunciation. Tone change alm applies to surnames given the familmr prefar a- or the epithet h h 'old' (20.2) and Mlm of familar people:
-
Chhhn + A-Ch6n. hM7hAn; Jeh A-Je, &h-J6 ~ih-t3uh ,cih.t5u matter-hmd 'boss' Whm Enngtish names are referred to in spoken C$ntorme, they typically end m high rsing tone:
Fanny + Wnnl
Ndip 4 NFK
Many h - w o & a h q u i r e the high level or high rising tune. e.g. i n s u r a m + y i n ~ ; o r d e r + WA. Even names of familiar d+cb in m e ' s daily lives wke on h e changed tune (see Y-S.Cholng (1969) f o r more examples): chihdhmh mahn fronthack dwr
-P
c l ~ l h n h u hm6n fmnthck door
tin ttii + tin t6i sky balcony ' b a h y on rooffop'
26 m
e
: a wmpnhcnsivt grammar
-
j3u Wlk, run' + l w h 'md' jh-louh 'walk' bur j6~-16u+runaway'
@uh tiuh + yhh tlu
ail
a
'Chinese doughnut'
SMne
appear quite u n p d i e :
M m y i ~ h4 hbahm-ytl salt-fish salted fish' ( a h slang, *&ad body') Another contrast is that between the adverb gom meaning 'a, so' (9.1.3) and the form gdrn with the demonsrrative meaning 'like t h i s l t w (10.1.2). B d n g d i i r e n t w,they mw d~fferentgrammatics1 functrcms.
Another phenomenon inuolving me change. found in oertain dialects of Guangdong prov~ncebut rarely in Hongkong Csntunm. results fm mmctmof the aspect mrkw -16:
Sijaj-faahn M a'! eat-PFV-rice not-haue PRT
-
Sik-mhn &-FFV-r&
me1 a? not-have FWT
1.4.3
'Have you eatml'
The resulting verb with high rislng tone mcorporata the meaning of -id. As can be seen, tone change invdves altemat~ombetween a mid- or hv-rqjwr m d the high rising m e . l3ekw are m e m q d m of tone change which are rot as regular and predictable as the ones s l m
above:
-- -
Mid level: v p l n * p h e *g&g 'take p h o t d faat-siwyh 'fmgtic' Low rising: phng-y5nh -friend k 1 4'hddl Low leuel. wih-yih 'meet-dlsam =conference' atte~ldn d n g '
Law fdling: siikrnhh-yhb 'm oil'
@yh
-
I
'fill up with fuel'
-
PrJCih
'work day shifts'
+uh yeh -,jouh-@ vmk nighl
'wdc night shifts'
(Contrast the idiom y a h r j m k y e h p u k kork day and night' with low level
ron€s.) Note that the tone change is not automatic; i t is a sign that the mmbinmon is W e l i d , i.e. a fixed combination, often with a specidid meaning which c a n m be +ied from that of the two parts:
ge
mallap LP Wle company m a n w ' s maid'
16uiXyh 'woman'
jouh-pt
i m of t c w v m k i mmding to tlleir phonetic
One r e h t fador is the tone of the following syllable. There is a natural tendency to a n t i a m the next mne, affectme t h t m i n t pirrh contour of the I k t For emmpte, in si-si-mdhn-lrrdhn +gentlemanly' the first two flaMes both hwe high t o n s but the s e d sl may differ from the f c 4 si in Ih# it Pill tend b dmp vff duringthe -1 in antioptinn d low fatling tone of rrrdhn ~ m m d i t e l yfollowing it. A -d f ~ o isr & c h a t l m : tlle natural tendency for the p~tchlevel of a syllaMe m dmline during an urkGiven a mmbeT vf wnmtive syllaWeswntaininp a high tone. the m a 1 pitch level will not be identiwl, but WIII be p r o nwnoed slightly lower each h e (see W u fW).F w example: company
Similarly, m veth&jecl compounds (2.3.3) the original tcm uf the object noun may change:
j w h yam work day
a l d
environment.
An imppnant function of this tone c h a w is to i n d i i a compound: the changed tone indcates that the word forms a compamd expraslon with the p r d m g word. This alternation may be camped to the difference in m ktween Mdck Mrd m d h.kMrrd in Enghsl~,t k single stras on Mmkbird indicat~ngthat the mxnhmtion i% a sillf$e canpound noun. Fw example.
yhhn 'pm'
TONE AND NTOFYrTlMU
T ~ Em
I
findhn maid
AIthou* M n g the mme high tones. giung in @insyuhn wii be p nounced at a lower pit& tlmn @ng in @ n p i due to dml~nation.This doa mt affect the wwgitim vf the ~pnes,which is relattve to t l surrounding ~ tones sarher than absdute. aew, a w m a n P Im tone may be pre nounced a t the: same pitch a m ' s high tone, or indeed higher (as shown in Fok 1974). As & m e is a tonal language where pitch is used to difFermhate WX'I%, intonation a t the level of the sentence is -4, al leH by comparison with English. The lwk of sentence intonatition pattern is of aucial importance to the pronunciation of Gmonese tones. I f an English intollation pHtern is supenmpased on a Cantonex xntence. the tone of individual words may be obwnrred or w e n changed mmpletely and may result in incomprehersibility. For example. the fololloning qwstion has a falling rone both on the penultimae syUaMe @tin and t l fiml ~ p r t i d e Ah. which will be last if it is pronounced w1t11a ris~ngquestioni n t o n a h :
PtronolDgy 29 L&h
y
h h MBhgwok yhhn
arc A m c k You're American?'
1.5 VARIATION AND CHANGE IN PRONUNCIATION
#? I
p a w n PRT
As menhoned in mmy of the a h Wim. there is arktion between individual speakers, social gmps and grwp in m y ~ c t ofs pronunciation. Such varkion is a fact of all k n g u a ~but , is p r t i c u l d y &king in C a m , p ~ l -dw y to the lack of a widely mmgnned Wndard form of the lmguage. In p m h l a r of a phonetically k e d written form. to limit the raria~m.TIER is often mid to k -confusicn'ofmnds, as i n d i t e d by afternative forms such as ngmchyhhn for &i&flhn "safe', N@u]fira for AI@U ' E u w ' w h i i are 'incorn' in the m-e.e h t t h e words origidly did not have the inhid ng (sse note 4). S o r ~ of these KRms at the -It ot hypmmwtirn. as they typically m l t fmm
D q h the ~ m s h a i n t simposed by tom. some parterns OF i m m b n can be discerned. espe~~ally m the wx of questions and mtenoe p c l e s , which may be pronounced with a variety of lntonatiun patterm (18.1.1). These pttems are noI well understood; Kwok and Luke (1%) and K-H. Q~eung(1986) are mong the few sources to disthem. One c ~ intonation~pattern i s the c sharp rise found in efho guebtbns (see 17.1.7 for the relevant discussion). Another d h c t i v e pnern is an emphatic response to a question which often invdves ptch chnge w i t h a word:"
A: Lkihsek-mh-seIrl& mmiha7 y b n o t - l o v e y r mummy a? 'Do p u love your mummy?-
B: S%k! kwe 'Sure I do!'
This rising intomtion pattern on spk k c l e ~ l yd~stinctfrom both the high rising tone and the changxl tone. In e m 3 pnm depends on the basic tone ofthe syllabk on which it k mperimpoped;on a m ~ lml d tone such as i~ ilstrongly before levellingout at the end. Note that the w e 1 IS lengtheneda m s ~ d d In y d e r to mrry this pttem. The same pattern is used in providing assurances: A: Ng6h Mi di y& h€ il jouh dakjnh-dak a? I give CL thing you do okay-notirkay FRT 'I'm @vingyou something to do,okay?
B:
~m!
ta*
okv
change.
Nore that tli-
'Sure!'
A: Liih wM14hWSih Em lbi H E u n m g a? you mll-not-will return come Hongkmg PRT 'Will you be m m g bexk to HongkongT
B: ~ G i h ! will 4 artainly will!.
Anothcr pmcm, with a lcngthcncd wwel md rising intonation, may be applied in q h o n d such as dim, where the ris111gtone IS emggemtd (17.6):
D i i m syun a? how do PRT 'What shall I do7'
l
speakers using what they perceive to b e 'correEt' orprewige prcmu~ation. While the younger g e m i m of speakers (relative to the time of w~ting) has generally h t the lrntial ngthebmrd. many speakensill retain it and may have free variation w thew use d one or the other may be determined by the relevant registen. e.g. llse ng in formal registers and careful and zero initla1 m informal register! ma -1 speech. Many speakers have strong rim a m Torrect' prvnunaation. and some words such as Itih m y l x txto nPiA by some teachers. Recent studies IYeung IW). Bauer 1W2. &urge& 1993) have shown that this variation is quite seematic. following variables such as age, d m and gender. This distribution In many cam c l 4 y indicata s w ~ r d change in p-. Fur examplc, nt the hrne of wrlrin& very few speakers d the younger germahon use nfik for 'p': assuming that these speakers Hill n d switch from I& to m+h as they g m dder. it 15 likely that the nexr *gc or sound h g e will mxur whereby dl speakers w ~ luse l Kh. To this extent. to a~rrectthe pronunciation k h R &tempting m reverse an mevi-
Di-im g5i a? how explain PRT 'Why?'
wumd Jlnusm u l b ~ upput ~ lu bt. r m h rmd WIsystematic. m they affect individual wmck differently. For example, many -ken will pnounoe the sffond person pronwn as Ifih but we n in aiduulr 'hm'. Such a W n i s ~n f h r d~wkrmxlskd ~ u n cd h m in ~ prcgrm: rather than affecting all the words concerned at one fell s q , n affects one word at a time. eventually affecting the whde vocabulary and completing thc swnd ch~ngc.'~ The w i n changes and swrces of variation are as fdlows:
(a) n ir I, rn in ncim + Urn 'think': this change is so advanced that the words conoemed are generally shown as Iin thii bwk. n is h a r d primarily in formal registers wch as singing m d d i n g of written reJrtf. The dl altematim was f i ~dkumed t in Wmg (1941) and the phenomenon has been around for several decades (we 1.1.3). @) g w e p, m in pd ir gok 'counq': thii change is alm v q widespread. However, it n subjmt to corsidmble srylisric
-
variation, with many ~ k e using n gw in 1w c a r d myk rlndg ekewhere. One wnseqwnce ofthischange i s that the syllg w ,with its many grammatical fumuiom, hecomff homophonous with thecla&kgn(yee 1.1.1). (c) knw- + h-, as in krldrng + Mng'cmzy' ie a prallal &an@ (m 1.1.11. (d) 4 + 4. as in hnak + Boor 'hundred' and Mk -t bm 'nwth' (see
1'12). (e)
k + h. in the pronoun kP~rih(see5.1).
ng-i. [#I, as in ng6h -+ 6A 'P,ngkhn +k h n 'eye': m y y~lnger s p a k m do mt p n c r ~ r r e rhii 1nitk1in m i d speech, m U y r e w n g fi with a g l m l stop. Fw other qelrem, there is free variation between the twh e.g. og&?m~6* w Gamdom 'just now', n@k or ak ' h w ' and the tendency m uw h y p e m forms with initial ng tor words which do not have i t originally tor sociolinguisticr e a m (see 1.1 "3). (c) q + m. a5 in n.gh + Ifih 'frvp' ( d i ~ n w i i ~ hhydit4 hw risin~t c m ~ f r m the neptive rhh "no'). This change q i p m to predominate m g -ken who do not me Initial n~ (see 1.1.4). (h) ng-+ II. In .Gnng t .Gun 'pmduce': t h s change i s widqmad espxidly when preceded by the long vowel m. I t m r s more s p w a d i l l y dter slwn a w d other vowels, e.g. sciw-mihng 'life' may be p r ~ n w m d a ~m-mihg.This Fhange mum m n y v m d s
(0
to b e m e homo~lyms.e.g. srSarig 'dim' sounds idemthl to siron 'hlv and sOn Mng-mihg hew life' warld he pnmoumd as $anmikng (we1-1-3)-
Note that the last three changes(f-h) all i n v o h replacementoFthe velar m a 1 ng. I f brought to m + r i m , they m l d wentually lead to tlle losg uf Illin swlld TIUII l11cI U I ~ U U ~ .
2 WORD STRUCTURE: MORPHOLOGY AND WORD FORMATION Morphdogy is noncemed w t h the internal structure of rords - their form and campifion. &tones? would be described rypolopelly m an iwlailng languap, following a M i t i o n developed in the nineteenthEentury nnd m ~ ~ l r v r i wby x l S q i r (1971).
w h m h y Irm@impmp rl* XP mflecti~lal.agglutim~rgw isolating in tlleir w r d amre. Chinex in general, as Sapir noted, is one of the best mnmples of tlle isolating there m l~nle,i f any, inflertinn, wrl e h syllaMe la n menningh~lform (morpheme) in its own right. None the k s , the pucity w simplicity oT morphotm m Chinese has often k e n mwgmted. prtly as a result vf cwnparimn with Eumpean languages and partly through the perception that emdl written c h m t e r r e w r i t s an indewdent word. The dm that words are single syllabls has been termed the Mwmyllalnc Myth by de Frm& (19841, while there are few inAecriol~s w deriwtwnd affixes. rodupliwtion and compounding have been neglecred. Reduplmtion reders to the proces whereby a morpheme is repeated so that the orignal mtrrpl~emetc@her with itg +tion form a new word. Reduplication i s pnicubdy complea. applying to several prts of -& and performinga number of d~stincl g a m m tical fundim. Compwnding i s also a very productive meam of forming mns, ve& w d adjectives. Broadly Mnecl, i t w f m to the pmwss that puts two or more rncrphemes togetl~erto form a single word. h e morphemes are free. i.e. they. can independently as a 4while m l m are bound. i.e. they cannot occur independently but kto attach to anofher morpheme. There are three man meam by which words me h d in Cantone4e:
m:
-
(a) nffixation (prpfiwes and solRxes: 2.1)
(b) duplication (douM~ngd words or syllables: 2.2) (c) curnytlvndillg (&LIIG;II~I;VII cd imdcpnldtl~l( V I U I ~h Cu1111 a -11plex word: 2.3)
2.1 PREFIXES AND SUFRXES F'refmm and suffixes are 1wm11ybolmd fomcr which do not occur indepcndently. P r e M are attached to the beginnings ofmcxpkmm and d i k e s m the ends of morphemes. However. whal we comider as and suffixes in Cantonese may sometimes m a r as independent f a . Thus
116u-di 'good to look atk&
they m quite versatile m p m d with affixes in other hguages. Cantonese has relatively few prefms and a small number of mffixes used to derive related rwrds from stem. These are l i e d and illurnred in alpl~abeticalorder below. 21.1
PREFIX=
*@
to w
M u d h k ' g o d to eat' hau-mbhn 'n-ell~ng' hbii4r1'frinny, smrdng'
and k i t d i p terms. denmng familiarity
su-e Gik) a - U i 'Mr Lai'( h i l i m note charged tone of a-Ying (familiar rorm names such as M&-Ymg) *mbh ' p d m h e r ' a+ 'elder broth& a-yi 'aunt' ( a h w d generically by children for adult k a l e fnends)
fdan- 'ant-', 'counter-' form verbs, adjectives and nouns:
Ihahnxhsk 'unpredictable' Ilahndlng ognhmble' jth- 'msy' fomK ndj&
cmnteF*tt&
' m u n t e r ~ P(verb)
meaning
yih-tgi
' a s y to read, readable'
meam 'old' literally but when used as familiar t m s d address
)&A-
(20.2). the literal meamng is lost: buh-ydr~h'mate, hirlrly' 16uh-@h 'wife. hooey' (collquial)
The negative prrfix m- is d d e $ to adjectives and verbs:
f&m-waih tmtomsdl Yeel&k' (verb) fh-min tumfaoe 'hang countenawe, rum against m
m-syftfuhk'unmmfortable. sick' mpeidtik *Torget' (lit. 'not remember') d l d ~ a ' 1k1 ~qualird' 1 e n 4cw' (lit. 'not see') e
' (verb)
ap f m m-is distind f m n the negative fib marlimg mmce mh. althwgh the distimcm may be d h h to make in 1ndividua1mses (see 13.1). ~ r exm@e, w verbs p ? l i x d with m- may lake the a s p 3 marker@ whirh k iinmmpntihlc wth h h (1 1.2.4):
(zdj.)
NMh mgn-jb jek g8u.
faan-buhn
I
bPFVCLdo& 'I lost my d w '
p 1 t-
'rebell~oud(adj-)
burner-1'
. . . able':
Ibhn-mbhng 'unfbrgeAable' Ibahn-dn 'hard to find'
with the
yih-win %asy to find'
L6uMnn 'W hh-giing 'bed.hubby'
fhn-@I
fin-gHt turn-bone - a i l .-h--
Ibahn-t5i 'ugly' lhahn-&g 'W-sounding' lbahnsihk 'bad-l&ng Ihhn-mhhn Melly'
IIrahn- alsn forms negative adjective m i n g u n
is n prpfix used with n(20.3):
Q-
fam-gin*
&--g
(noun)
I ~ u - I ~ u I I ~' ~ ww G ~ ~ z ~ f (- w t fn f)d
fsan-mihn 'opposite side. reverse' (noun) h& 'able' fmms adlectives:
MPhn 'pitiabk' Wwu'detestable'
hM$hng m i b l e ' h & k m teliable'
hh ngoi 'lwsble. olte'
h b p' d d M '
h&- *good-and ,%?dm-'difficult' wim verbs of perceprion form adjxtives w t h w i v e and negative wnnotahms rrspectiuely:
y61
Uih mgeidsk-j6 U17 yw forget-PFV PRT 'Haw you f~~gotten?'
+ noun, literally 'having [a property, amibute]' d CHJIJ;II~
is a very pmductive
ad~tivu:
$uh-tin-fahn hamheavzn-prtinn Talented. gifted.
yiuh-hohkmahn time-knowledge
'lemd, culture&
ysuh-w"' hmayle (person)
'styli&
All t
k forms can take degret modifiers such m h h 'very', @ 'quite',i
etc.;
di
yhh-tfwfahn
qrllre b e h e w m p o r t i n n 'quite memed, g3ted' dub, the negative fmm of ybuk (15.4), forms djdjedives similarly
baahwfmt
yuhngfaat
solwway 'solution, way wt'
Y"usage,way of Using*
-friar a
h q p r s in a discontinuw sequence with dfm Cvp~~ng) 'how' and gim Cw%mg) 'thk way' In &scribing or questioning a &te d being w the way an &ion i s performed.
Ng6h h6u &~qHi hi3h ktrnh t h leng I much want see DEL her how prertr 9 very much want to see how k u t i f u l she really is.'
M. way
KCulh
a h Jfn@ lClh lam a? !$h 'e how tnck you way PRT 'In whd way did he trick p?' -grS '4H' i s a personal suffix. demoting a spGa1ist in a field: jW
21.2 SUFFIXES
The major sufFmm are listed d
i
g to their word &.
deih is the plural mffuforming pmnouns, but is not wed with nourn. with the exception of $hn (see 5.1): r @ M e i i 'wetus'
Elh-deih 'you (@tal)"
khihcleih 'they' yihn-deih '(other) pople'
-dmh meam 'degree' f m n g abshad nouns denoting measurements when attachd to adjectives:' @-hlh
t31ldegm
chhihnml~h long-*gree
'height'
'length'
Imhndouh
ji-mhg-dwh
dimlt-degree 'level d diffrcully'
km-name-degree 'degree of fame'
tai~faar ==-w-§Y point of view'
naveti*
'special&, expert'
'-list'
d-@ picrum&
wmngohk*
'painter'
'musician'
6hylhn-hhkjg lingu-&
souhhk* mathemt~an
'Ir~guist'
'rndl~ematician'
mlsic-ian
The sufiix -*suggests a oertain distinction, x i these term are not applied
lightly; wdgd. for example. suggm a professional artist rather than an e.g. w y v k k amateur. jya@ may be w e d by the field of -nix. jymgij
mumuom wrr.
forms names oT relighs (cf. below, dimmion of -jyw '-~m' which f m s d i i f m t iddrg-m);
-gaau '-ism'
t3iink-gaau Christ-ism
'Buddlism~'
'Cliriata~~ily'
H d n m &nfuciusim
Buh-w T&
'Confuciani'
'Tagism'
Way ofthinking'
Yandouh-psu
Mhhhn+pau
jmkfaat do-way k q of doing things'
India-ism 'Hinduism'
Mormon-ism 'Mormonism'
method': W k W 'way of sp5aking'
si~syutgs
BuWheim
-fwrI whikh as a wum meam 'law', serves cs s suffa, meaning %my,
gllll&i%t
F
spmalin
lhfnnl think-way
Faht-pau
-@ 'mhine' is a prductive suffix whiih continues to form new words:
28 Cantcneser a wrrprehensnFe grammar sei-yT-g&
Su-y%wgEi
washclaha-machime 'washing machind dihnsih-g hlevklon-m&ne "television set*
m-sound-machine Wio' luhkylng-i
~~~~~mahine 'video cassette recorder'
Wordsaudure 37 -jf m
n obligatwily in a m a l l number of wordx
leuht-ji 'che41ut' jhg+L 'seed' hhn-ii1-' ke-jf 'eggplam' (yst) fa1111-ji'a member'
yin-ji ~ w a l m v T sJ+ 'lion' hai-jC 'Aopidi' faat-jl k h t h , m e t l d h i - j i'scallop'
*hnjrn-gEi laserdim-machine fm-machine 'la~r-diw:player' Yaw machine' -hokkformr names of freldc of study:
Wfih another gmup of words, -j€is optional:
& m i - h o h k 'widogy' sarnlfihhohk "py.chodm id-hohk -phil-y' mal~tl€ih-hohk'physim' &hk 'mathematics' ycjhyihn-hohL 'linguisti' -jdiis a dirninutim suffix. X-jm: maning 'little X':
j y Q i forms n a m e of ideologies or principles:
fig++
bihE-jdi 'baby' swjhi 'hkleP
mSau-jA; %.;lla~' t6i-)SE 'little table'
16uhpbh-jC 'lime wife' ( a h slang for 'girlfriend') hd@ing-jC 'husband. hubby' (allso slang for 'boyfriend')
-jrii is also sumKed to m e s . typically suggesting intimacy or Fnmiliirily as with thr namm d children and teen id& Fmt-@i (the film star Chow Yun-Faat) Wah j B i 'Andy Boy' (the singer Andy Lau Dak Wah) -pis an agentive slrCfix also u d in Mandarin (ye). indiwtinga personwho perforns an &ctim. S i M ij6 t3uhfl ja Pmtfft-person invea-pmwm 'demonstrator. protesterr 'inwsc#' daaikwh-j€ "rry%erm-Pmn 'carrier of a dim'
hohkja
bmd-person
htmhr'
-jtis the Cantonese w t e of Mandarin -zi. but is not used as widely as -zi in Mandarin, which serves primarily to g+e a word two syllables:
Canfu~dpm r(ri
dang hhaih mah t beih(-@)
Marrduhk zhUa-d &ng-zi
We'
aezi
?.he
ubzi
3mk.
bl4
'nose'
'std
saam M r u h m 'three: dies' lail+(j~mmple' m6uh rnihn ji pr mduh m h he hoe' (mole the t m h g e ) p~hngchhn-jflyi cummune-ism 'mmulriun'
kMijysyi --ism 'soeralism'
I & ~ ~ ~ g l d ~ k ~ ~ i ykhnmtihjytiyi enjoy-pleasu~m perfect-ism 'perhimism" 'hedonism' d h i is the female l e n t m y a n of -jdi for h u m n tenrrs:
Wh&l€ui 'hby gifl ffi-ltni ' h r i k n i r l ' (lit. 'Rower-g~rl')
sailouh-lhi '@Is' (children)
-1Su is a colloquial suffur fw males, combining with nourn or a d p c t l w : !gvt6~1&1
de%w "(wdem) foreigner'
hiMaph
%pie=-+"' 'lng dmt'
flubchin-laU p-mo"ey-p"y guy' fingdi-b Wind-wter#
' v a n w '
-pbh is the h a l e oounterpan of -k
&ivbh doil-woman ~t0re;p(wedem) wom3i-1~
mi3ikyihw@h modiatelmm-wcm3n 'matchmaker'
daaih-thh-p6 big-sm-mch-man ' p r e p n t m a n ' (metone change: pdh baat-pbh (vulgar) eigllr-woman ' ~ ~ owoman, sy p~$' (d.b m t - g m "y3
+po3
word shuctue 39 4 denote an oganimtion: chEut-an-& 'publisher' If31ill-Wmg-dh 'uavel agency' -fi h f c a m s . oontrasring with w mnre spanallzed epert~wpemse:
+ (KCo
h ) which implim
keh*
ride-er
'@key' r4pi n plane-ist 'pilot" dlitgak1 design-
'designer'
-sing us w independern wad meam -mmre' or sex'; it mlnnes with d i e r e n t p ~ r bof speeEh to fwm ahtract noum denoting the nature or state of k i n g of the atem: +big a t t d e d to adjdjedives:
n&iih-him ' r l a n ~ m i f i - n&$ih-hid- 'dart@ juhngyiu 'important' + juhncyiwing 'importance' yihm-julmg 'scrim' + yihm-juhng-sing &riouswss'
-sing a t t d e d to verbs: @a + fit311 H 1 ) g memory' M l n + d m i h w s ~ ~'bwnclness' ~g
'(p)
n d u h 'mother + m6uh4ng m h e r l y nature' @hn W m n "4yihn-sing 'humn nature' sau 'lxast' sawsing 'beastly (animal) nature' muhk 'wood'4muhk-sing '& nature' &i W c P &~+ilig 'aqua(&
-
4ng alm forms adjectives in other
"bone'
W Ltone' 'hwr' 'steamed b r e d 'm' (mot v e g e m e )
-thh is a h lsed to hplace -s m miliri!Mn (7.1 1: Cenmn@se
m-tiuh &huh ngoih-t3uh dllhn-tiuh Ituth-E~uh
Mandark zhtiitnu nki-tcu whitou qidntw
Iltou
Many words with &h
flub have p-table' y6uh hme
have
'this .end" ?kte d 'cmtnde' 'in front' 'Inside-
m b i n e with ~riuR to form a d j e c h s :
t&t$uh see-]lead
y5uh l&-rA&uh have think-head 'full of (good) id='
pai-tluh style-head
$uh lb&-&uh have comehead 'have fancy hckgrm~nd'
'Mi,classy' #uh
and l o c a l m , as an alternative
cheuk4uh fmture-hmd
'full of attmxtive f e r n , marketable'
-sing anached ro nouns:
-
Cuntonesp .Wandwin gwat(4uh) pi~ou muhk(-tbuh) mutax sehkt-tbuh) shitou jIlng(-thuh) zlwngtw maalmduh dntou wuh-tau yi~tou (narc ~m h g )
-
( w e adjeaival &a).
- r M m q m n d s to Mandarin -IOU, heing rebted to r k k 'head' and applying to x&ms Mkpditems. As with the suffa. -ji above, the distribution in Cantonese and Mandwin $ws mt dwap wind&. In many words wllich in Mandarin requ~rethe suffix -m, the Cantonese -rd~this optional: in &hem. both Mandarin and Canronese require the su&
The Lct that C a n r o e m k e s Isfi mrensive use of the suffixes -jf and -rd~rhthan Man& d w s d -ziand &u d a t a to Illt: wnl* ill 1hlt-s a11d final m n m a m s . Mandarin has lost m n y of the fmal mmmmts which are ~ e r in dC a m . w d has iwr ton- moppcsedto six In Cantonee. Hem-, Iluz ptublatt 4 LMmqdI(dkl~t;dl-mddid*-1 b mime severe in Mmdann: the addihm of suMrxes compensate for UISS (Li and Thompson 1581: 44). Cantonese i s thus not under m much pressure to W d Iromophony by having dnyilabic wwds as Mandarin is.
&i is a M m ad-.
x dwith r e d u p l i t e d adjectives m d ?hiveverbs. Used a the resulting fol m has a dirninuhe meaning sim~larto '-ish':
I I
agdt4ng chbhnwhhn +e 'uiCim cycle' h&hmhhclci
rnashn Yaw‘-
sng-F3w
itchy-wish
'a little itchy'
scared-xared-sh 'a bit scamd'
mihng4ngdG
jFpd€i
understand-understand-bit ' u n w a n d rwghly'
know-know* 'know a tit' (about facts)
stun&n&i
zii-d.-&i
bdieve-belieue-bit 'believe: a bit'
knowknow-bit ' k m a bit' (a-
4%a t t d d to nouns:" l i h W m g ge sihhHk histor-ic LF moment 'a L ~ ~m~ i ~ ' i c chybhn-kbuh4ng n@ih@i whole-world crisis 'a 1aisis'
8 prrson)
Note the tone h g e of the semnd reduplicated elemenf (1.4.2). Reduplicated adwith the sufh & rnw a h l x used as adverbs
geihseuht-sing (ge) mahnlhih tcchniqw LP pmhlem 'technical problem'
IRih 6 h h W i fan IS. )Ql gl o ~ ~ - i sdwp h PRT
gmijit-sing p behng seam LP illnes S e a m 1 illness'
' S l q well.' N@h &kG jiingyi ni s5u @ Fk. I so+& like this CL song PRT -1'm not roo keen on thrs mg.-sik Style' forms
verbal s ~ o c e s '-, -ify' b a causative sufh forming verbs from nouns and adjectives:
W i e d to furniture, d i n g , etc:
-fa $0
-2 'coloured' is used with mIwr rerimwhen they Mually denote whurs:
mhg& 'red'
h a & 'bk' Ihahrn-sik 'blue'
m h M n g behng slvw dk?lk 'chmnic disease'
luhk-slk 'green'
The &x -$Fk is not uPed in the numerous m e t q h r k t and idiomatic uses of d o u r words, such as hdk meaning 'dark, secret' as In hik n i %lack market' and kirhng 'h,fashionable' as in daaili hZrhrng flhn, litelally "big red perron', i.e. 'smr' (in enterlamment cirdes, politia. etc.).
I
with nouns:
f&fa
dihnl6uh-h
me-sutta.
wmpurer-lze
'incinerate, crernete'
-complte~ize'
heikehk-fa drama-ize 'dramati~e'
-sing combine with different Btema to form adpctives functioning like -y in lucky and -aI rn in seasonal (we also 4n.q fwminp ahrtrad n o h s under 'Nwn wfies', ahme):
En#!
-
-sing attached to djeuivcs:
ngdr 'malig'
ngdc+ing lk malignant tumour
knaliiarn turncur'
c h hb
ugly-icc 'make ugly'
Wordsbucase 43
in& cPten with the +ng amsrmction ( c m p m b l e to Man$arin bd: 8.3.1) bemwe they are rwt used transitively:' j E m g HEungg6ng mhnthih gwokjsi-Fa. government pur Hongkmg pmblem ~nternarionakize 'The govmmear h Inmatlbnaliing the Hm&mg q e ~ o n . ' Jingf6
g gin sih fiwhpfa? why pc~t TL mutter cmnplicate 'Why c o m p l i t e the matter?' Dfm@ai h
(9.13, may be infixed intonot only single morphemes but also morpheme boundaries, compound wwds m d phrases
a single rno'pknx
#with
-
kuhnjeuhn t l e u h n - m + h n 'downrighl clumf gihbhn m, stingy' gu-@i-hbhn 'downright h g y ' y u h k m n 'ugly' 4 yuhk-gdi-spJn 'downright ugly'
- g m f I b e l ~a stml (e.& a verb) and another afF~(e.& a
Verb forms with the mfix -fa m n also tunchon as nwm, m m q m d i n g to nominalimrrons In tnglish:
keuih ~5i-gw8i-jb h6u loih la. slhe di-I-PW very l q FRT 'He died a long time ago.' (Didn't you k n m
Janggwdc ge yihndoih-fa China LP m o d d m
i n v d m n t LP plural-ize
Di
'Ch~na'smodernimion'
' p l m l i o n of invemhmrs'
auhji
ge
whn-fa
In addition, the asped marken @n. jyuh, @. gwo. ht%(w ch. 11)would be regarded sutunder most criteria. In prricular. they am bwnd fwms (i.e. they may not occur without s uerh), and may rr4 be separated from verb? Verb1 parhcles (l1.3), by comrast, do not behave comistently s w f h x e s : although m l l y oecuning directly after the verb whrch. they modify, they m y be separatd from it by the negatrye mk or the modal h-k:
Ng6h bi5ng mh d h 1Cih. I help not V-PRT y ~ 'Ican't help you.'
or 1
N&h Wng l&h mh d6u. 1 help yw not V-PRT ? mn't help yw."
A few v&-prtjde combinmons mtra be seprated in this way, e.g. syij . .MI w d d f g . . mhn%laate':
Mi k i h s i k gwai
ear
saai h.
devil all
FRT
The d hhave been eaten up by him.' (Toobad. notlling left for yw.) -@with
oompound vmmk: 4
da-pwai-ybh rnll-dwilentra % damn ms& of time'
ma-@h what-stuff 'what'
+
mB+-y€hlkihp? whatdeuil+mff PRT what on earth is thk.1'
li&h
+
Wn~gdih? which-dnil-place 'where on earth?'
*ybh rnucr1zrha b waste of time'
whiil-plm Svhere'
@.may be
Mher expl& words. m y more offensive than the r e l a t i d y mild be used in infUred similarly. Gwdi is rery vmwtik and
Kkuihdeih qii d8k MI. they lose can up They can afford m lose.' N&h ding inh m n g6 jahm I b a r not V-PRT that C L '1 can'r m d that smell.'
mihn
CL & by him
w mad@:
many other con-
meih. smell
in 11.3 are thus clearly not suftixes. a l t h q h The verbal prticles -bed MUIwritten rts w h in thc Yale s p t m .
Gu$i ji
dwil know PRT a l l y tlw d ~ ; knows.' l (i.c. I d d t know.)
M i tRh jI
ah?
devil not know PRT 'Only the devil d o m ' t know.' (i.c. Ereryhdy knows.) mhnp I&% heui! J t ~ i l with ~ l s u go 'Only the devil will go with yw.'(i.e. I won't go with p u ) M i
In colloquial Cantonese certain arords may be infixed inside a m w p h m e (stern). The expletive M i '&I, gk&, llsed to emphasize adjectrves
such as q&m for rhetorkal etTects: re?
word smchm 45 m&ty& 'what' (17.3.2) may he inserted into oompwnd w m k . especially m m w n d s , with the meamng ' W h do wv rneanT w 'What's the poim?' to achieve a certain rhetorical effect:
B: 5ik-sii-dei je. know-know-ish PRT 'Just a little.' Dkctiond verbs (8.3.2): @uhn&hk
.tist-fd' + &~hn~-sPuhng-lohk-
LI*h:
Ni paaih these days mg$h (often shortened to mF& or M)can alm be Mowed by gwrii in all wntmts: morwver. the w h l e cmqAex infix ma-gwli-yPh, whweby $mir cs m n mr-and -ym, can be mnxed prducnvely. Ihe tdknang mdem illletrate different pmsihilities: Chwnpmt(y€h)-pSi@? sing?vhatdevihong 'What do you mean. singing?'
CheungmBt-gwfiiyel-@?
An-imqflh)-gw5ii-slm a? indimewhatdevil-hean PRT 'What do yw mean. bimd?'
Mtgw5i-@I-@m a? i n d i ~ h a t ~ l - s t u f f - h e a PRT rt 'What do y w mean, hi&?'
sing-what-dev~l-wuff-wmg 'What do you mean. singing?'
In some Hher rhetorical expesims. with a different mmnce-finaI particle:
@
Gwsan lEih matye1 sih a? m m you what husiness PRT Tt's none of )pour WEB.'
can be suhtituted for m-rph
Eih gw5i m i ah? concern p u &vil bmimess PRT 'It's nme ofyour hvsiness.'
+ Gwiian
2.2 REDUPLICATION Reduplication, the doubling of a word or sflakde. is a characteristic a d productive feature of Ca~~mese. It is particularly important in the mod~ficationof adjettiws (9.2). H-, many wrrrd c l a m can be duplicated:
-
Jek-jek (maau) &u leng. (Eat) all p r e y They (the ~ l sme ) all pretty.' SJWWwrfu (8.1.2): sik 'know'
h h l b h n g6ng p. ( d i o ) very hard say PRT 'Tlrwe d+s sham are g h g up and h w n , it's hard to say.' Adjeaiw~19.2):
dl\
-+
. . -.
s"h-&l
silly-~lly-ish h t h e r mlly'
wan
-
&n-wind& dkydky-ish 'a little dizzy'
Spseui + srlp-s8pseui 'trivial' or ~ p s s p p e u k r u "miscellanwus' i Ccinpre the following:
YHt g~ yuht gsau s.4 b m k mtim @l&h one CL month pay fwr hundred ddlars management
$. PRT 'hying four hundred dollan of management fee p r month is ~Mdihd~.'
Ii,l d u
dp-dvul
fee vmy !tivial
N&h y h h k u CIFI tSp&+wi#ni ge #h yiu dam. I have wry many miscellaneous LP stuff need dump 'I h w a kd of miscellaneous stuff that I need to dump.' As these examples show. the fudm of reduplication are h a e m p e o u r r . TI iypiCally Writ$ 16 mud;$ the ~ i af the~umd. as g ill the GX d adjectives, but reduplicatmn of classifiers demes quantification. Reduplication also occurs in A-nd-A questions (17.1 2). h d u p l i t i m &n musts a changc of tnnc. I k d u p l i c d adjceFircs wirh the m x 44 take the changed tone on the m d reduplicated
syllahle (1.4.2):
+ &-snide7
A. LCih & - h M ~ ~ I yw know-nor-know slide'Do yw h o w how to ski?'
@piu s€ung4un~lohk-lohk. C L share &3rlSe-d@mp
-
J
' h o w a liule':
=? U I PRT
Rih Lt
4
Gh-fM fat-m-kh 'rather fat'
~
A diminutive farm of verb is a h formed by reduplication and tone change. in this affecting the first reduplicated syllable. These f o m
word me quivulent to (oroontractions of) the mnstruction [verb -@? - verb] (sae 11.2.6):
yh-rn m
w+yat-Sou --t S b - m U hs-
-
These exprewith sehg form n w r y prcdric?ive pwnern and rrmy f u m i o n synktically as verb, m n s or adverb, erc.:
*-A
IRih jouh m a K i +hmyging4q a ? (verb) d01 whaf here rnumhle-mumble-mse PRT 'What are you mumbling for?'
munt-nne-rmlnt 'have a count' Similar@with h k n g W :
tii-lhlmgtfti 'take a mu+ of looks' @ n g l f u h n g + n g 'exchange a owple of words'
-
Rcdypliratirm a h m r s in lhc & ocrm m ia [adjcctivt -)GI adjecti.~] which serws to e m p h a s i ~ the adjeaive, and the ccmtcdon ofpa caum the first adjediw to change tone: cMh fit ddh late me late 'wry late'
-
chfMh
Wngseun c M d h diW meihgei dw. CL lener late-late stifl not mail am= T k letter hasnr arrived though it's very la@ aheady.'
Ft
~h yeh late n ~ g b i one 'very late m night' Go h i
kwk-knwk-swnd
kbh-k&&g chuckle-chuckl-nd "make) a chuckling mnd'
3 my'
&@it&
gohk+keng '(make) a knocking m d '
si-ySt-si--t s k i
"ablmh'
$7
- **
+yeh
d m meih fm iikkei. lwtyet back h m ~ 'My daughterstill h m ' l returned home thou@ it's so late at night.'
a dilvghttr l8wlak $till
leng yW leng 4 Ihg-leng %ry beautiful' Wuili dAhn1rh &u I t ~ ~ - k n t g s711 l ~ u ipukifi. she groom till pytty-pw then go date 'She makes b I f up lxmn~fuflykcfore going on a date.'
Reduplicatmn also appears in rnwmtopxk e q m f s h , often with tone changed the sarmd syllable (see 1.4.2): ngfthng-ngbngmg murnble-rmmble-I& '(make) a m u d i n g noid
N@h ychmashn e n g d6u di gohk-&&ng. (noun) I evening hear V-PRT some k n m k - k d - s o u n d 'I heard a knncking m n d at n~ght: K h i h @hng-I@g h h s h g yahp lsh. (adverbial) mumhle-mmhle-noise so walk in oome 'He ~ a m ei l l making a mumbling noise.'
slhe
Go Mhbi siu d m Mh--8(resuhmive mmplement) CL haby laugh till chuckleshudile-swnd KFllr baby in d ~ m k l i ~ away.' ~g Further rypes of reduplication o m l r in b d q d l k register, the language m mrl m d hy small h i l l ; in prticular- the @ect of vwb-ohjm w m p n d s may be reduplicated: heui @ti* ge street-street 'goout'
yhn Inai-lfiai drmk milk-mrlk
lmhk lei-lei
fm+uhgsu
Eatch h i i h i d e Play hide and mk'
*P'
'drink milk'
or ganuh-@su-jyl
Children also reduplicate c o r n n m s (tMt-tMt-gdu 'doggie-d kinship terms, as in yi-yi'aunhe', @h)@ 'grandpa', eC. An idiomatic type of trduplicatim involves the pottern verb - @ verb - mtih or adjedive -gmii - adjective - mih which is quite pmdrrtive in wlloquid f i i ~ t o n e s for e rhetorical pl~pixxs: ~ - + w ~ ~ t h ; - , d i t ,,m n ; ~ h i i &U ,,A; IEA I& (GI,,,~ pckvil-phwse PKT anywhere also m-need go PRT 'What's the point of ping? T h m ' s n o need to anywhere.'
48 Canfflnese: a comprehensive mmnar
Word sbmlure 49
S i h k g w f i 4 h k - d h mi?? Lihn ySt yW d6u m h h . eat-devil-eal-hwse FRT wen m e dollar also rot-have T o way to eat. Haven't got a dime.' pehng B maaih Mi l&h a? dkxp Iril x l l Lu ytu PRT 'Did she sell (it) to you at a Eheaper prim?'
A: Keuih y6uhuhm6uh dlc: lia-lwl-limc
B:
Rhng-gw8i-p41ng-mdh, jvhng gwai+ flm. cheapdevil-cheap-horse still eqmwive-W PRT 'Nor only ilocheqxr but w e n mexpen*ve.'
23 COMPOUNDING Very b m d y defined, amrpounding is the ownbinnth of two or more independent morphemesto form a single new 4. the meaning being not always predictable. For exampk, chring-!?uhng ' w a s h 4 = showerrand
23.1 COMPOUND NOUNS In c o m p n d w u n s the head noun (of which the compound denotes a type) m;ry appear in either inihal or final position. The following mmplm have their head in the final pasition: pu-dim wineshop 'h*l'
$u-lbuh
$hn-lihk person-mngrh 'mm-power'
maht-lihk materialmgth
hEung-hi Tragrmt-water 'perfume'
hEung-pln fragrant-lmf 'Jasmine (tea)'
h6-g -harbour 'h-r'
h6i+ng
wineflat ~tislnarnt'
TBWTCe5'
sihk-)?In -eat-ripreue = m k e ' rre owrjpwnds -e they refer to sill* events and behave like single words in the ways d e m i i d helow. In oontrast, chijng cbdh 'make lea' and srhk yarkk W e medicine' are not wnsldered compounds but treated as a phrase wnsistiq of a verb and a
Snme crmrprrundnnunti like fnnd and animal re-
diraa ob*.
In the initial pc6itions (rree Y-S. Cheung I W ) :
In Cantonese, as in Endish. compwnding is a very pmduaive means of fmminp nollnn. n d k h mrl v d r i Thpre m. M m i t - ~ r d d r yww to differentiate compounds from nm-compwnds regardless of what criteria one invokes; the controversial linguistic issues related to m m p n d i n g in Mandarin are diwsped in Li and Thonpm ( 1 9 1 ) k l o w we d w s s t k pmpetries of ~ompwndsa&ng to their pns of speech. Nouns (2.3.1):
Adjectives 0.3.2):
g-&h l e m d 'holiday' g0u-h rall-1'tall and sturdy'
Verbs (2.3.3): glm-cahlate 'estimate'
SVutgwih mow-cu~rd 'idrigerator'
h8k-baahk Mack-white %lackd-white'
sea-vlew 'w~iew'
h a w their hewl nnunna
flh-mg Wraw 'raw fuh'
bi9hk-m pigmat-dry 'pwk jerky'
chni-@m veptahle-dq Ury vegetable'
ngiruh-yrihke mmeat-dry 'beef jerky'
e-gUng chicken-male
chicken-female
TcmXer'
"chicken'
iuo-sm
jy iyo-ra
pi~inale 'mde pig'
@la
pig-female 'female p i g
hahppk unitework
Note t h a i the Mandarin coumerp?rmof the animal nouns have the m e w
"w'pemte'
order,e-g..
In addition. v&-c@m compounds wch as diu-yd 'atchhsh = fishing' are h~ghlyprodudive (see 2.3.3.8.2-4).
WEB
male-chiin 'mterer
mu-ji femalhcken -rhiikrn'
&i-b%k w e s t n m 'northwest'
Other examples with the k a d in the initid pos.rion: fih4u rest-hand 'handmil, annrest'
Note the m&r northhlth.
A m m m fature ofwmpound nouns is the change oftone, whereby if
+
the sewnd element of a compound orighally has a low-register .or mid level t m , it h g w the midhigh rising tone (see: 1.4.2):
(c) n m adjective. jihselfprivate
ji 'reswrce' + Iluh 'material' 4j$Ifa 'data. informatition' j m @ m 'middle' + yihm 'person' +jhngg@m+m 'middleman' As in En@ @en h d w g&lmetse, where the change to a single
-
'AM' thh-ngoh stomach-hunger
shas indicates that the compwnd f u n d m ss as angle word, the s e d element of the &tonee conlwm~dloses its original low-register tone to shw,thw it 1s m longer an ~ndependentword. f h r p u n d nmn5 may also be formed by raking one syllable (not n e m a r i l y the first) from each of two hisyllabic nwns:
-
Hmngg6ng Slup + M g + 'Miss Hongkmg' Ajzu Slup A jt 'Miss Asia' HEungpMg Daaihhohk 4 G6ngdaaii 'Hrmgbq Uniwrsity' JCi~rgmbhl~ h i h h o h k + Jfingdaaah 'The Chinese University" This is primarily a deviw
of
wrirten Chinese, much used in political
CMltexps:
Jurrg-Ghg mahntzh 'the ChinwHmghmg q u ~ i o n ' (bunggmk 'China' + Hhnggbng 'Hongkong')
of the points d the w s s , emthest wmirrg before
'hungry'
+ n w n t adjective: chi-Sm hSk4rn crazyheart black-heart 'infatuated' 'malichm'
fa) adjective
slusSm small-hemt 'careful'
fB-am varying-hean 'philaldering'
adjeaives m y be j u x t a p e d to form an (b) adjective + adjective: adjective expressing a oomhination of chamerirtics:
h&u-hur~~g-hul mouth-thirstneck-thim ~ h i i '
23.3 VERB-OBJECT M3MPOUNDS I
Tl~r.yrvi imrvrpmdirnm vi d~&&t (* 82.4) in a crcm p o u n d verbs, known as vd+b+t wmpr*lndr;. The resulting m e m ing .often does nor fully reflea that of the object. mrresponding to an intrmsitive vcrh in English: duhk-S* study4~wk Wdy'
G q
h-g-huh walk-mad
@uh&ui swirwter 'swim'
'walk'
Adjecrives are farmed fpom various mmbinatioms:
jiidaaih self-big 'armgant'
jau-mkifiuh wrinkkyebrm
Trown' In cdher mes the ambination hm predictable from the two pts:
Iwk-book 'read'
faat-ptihhei
g,"smper an idiwnatic meaning, which in not
haapchw sip-vinegar 'be jedws'
ySmih3h drimk-tea 'have lea' (denotes going to eat dim sum)
j5u-tbhng leave--
'skip c l a w '
52 C a r t o m : a mmprehensiw g a m m a chEut-mhu wt-r;at %heat' (in examinations, etc )
Nu @ chi Mhng leave a-few time cl& 'skip d m s few times'
Mi-
(d) certain idiomatic verbobject m between the verb amd nwn:
open-kmte ' ~ C U t m ~ t i G n '
~
n may & take a1-
object
ng6h Whhei produce me anger 'get angry at me' hi
sihkydhn-faahn eat&-rice 'live off s m a n "
Despite the close relationship between verb m d object suggested by Mi meanings, these wmpounck may be separated in v a k conlexts:
(a) qmt mnrkers mdverbal prticla (1 1.2,11.3) mbetween the verb a d ohject: duhk-@-Hudy-PROG4xd
The) awl%' y8ukh&&i swim-DEGwater 'have a swim'
duhk-@hnsy[l studyfinish-book 'finish studying' @uh-faan-& swimagain-water
'go swimming again'
(t+ certain d ito thz noun may be inserted:
9uh-fi-dui wimearly-wzaer -gofor a morning swim'
y5mhah-nihehiih drink-nfter~~oon-ten 'have afternoon tea'
ddm khih simmer him mush'&~im hill\' ( t m p l o ~ )
(e) the m p o u n d r
he split up hy tt.q5raIiing the W
t (see 4.2). e.g.
duhk-sryii 'study': yatdihng yiu duhk d8k h6u %n wAn hnnk +finiWly npprl 'il~irly ARV wll fimt fird Syii
d b hiru guns. V-PRT good job "You muy study well in order 10 get a good job.' ylk-nsdh 'emigrate':
heui-yeh-gaai gn-evemngsheet 'go for an evening walk-
Chln m d i @hn g u n dG, mshn jauh yatdihng money nwneed eam so much emigrate then definitely
a h k w yeh-jak 'have eaten I-night wngee' (idiom: meaning to have s e m d me's qpimriceship in a matrid art) =&uhveui swimdry-water 'play malljmg' (idiom: refento motion of mixing h i ) (c) an e x p m s b n of duration or frequency may intervene (82.5): duhk l h h n g go jiin&uh dully tuzl CL hwr 'sludy for rwo h m 7
k h i fiuhy~S fry him squid 'Are him' (employee) (alternarively : ckhasr k#dk ybrr. with tone c h a n ~ )
Ehbu
qii bmk
yiu
flh. (film)
wed emigrate
.Never mind earning money. we have to ernigmte.' f i n - g m 'slaep':
Chbhm-msahn m u h gam h6u fin. (film) Imt-night not-have sleep good slsep '1 didn't sleep well IH night.' -V oompwnds should be dlsnnguished hpm mmpound verb, winch are nc4 separable in any of these ways:
54 C -
a cwnpehemlw grammar
&amdm burden-heart
paanam
mre-Reart
v
'km e d (about)' dn-sihk seek-eat 'make a living'
rsuh-ji
thmw-mrces "invest'
These wmgounds may not be sqmrared. except by the iniixed mdwh 'what' (2.1.3): D B a m m S p B m a? 'Why wwry?* I auh-mstyeh-gwsi-ji? 'Why on earth ~nvewl' Certain 6are variable, e.g. w~aiy& 'retire' snd ylhmdkn 'ernigmte' whiih may k sqmratcrl or nnt: tari-j&y% or teuiy8uj6 'has refired' ylhjClmihn or yihmbhnj6 'has emigrated' It shwld be med that verbobject oompounds can function not only m intransitive but also as m u n ph-. They can occur in s u w t and object p i t i q s where noun p k s m r :
Chht-mZau h6u nghihhim cutcat
ga.
very dangmw PRT
Cl~cdik h~ vcmy tlm\g~~q-.~
Ng6h h h d u n g thih ch€ng*m ni yeuhng y9. I not want mention irrvite-drink this CL thing 9 don't w n t to mentmn having a banquet.' When a verb-objeci c o m p n d is sepclrated by a c l d e r or measure phrasc. the i d i i n t i c mcnnings arc ofwn low
Ngshdeih #mjb h h d6 biii chlh. we drink-PIT very many CL tea 'We F e k many mps d tea,' K h i h silk-+
Euhnp. w6n
knt-PFW two hmvl 'She ate two bowls of rice.' the
faahn. rice
W h i i ~dm-chdhas a w+&@t mmpound means having dim sum i d b mahcally, ydm g h hZ &MI refers specilkally to drinking h Similarly, sihk-faahn as a ve&+bjwS w m p n d denotap havhg a MI, sihk giY wlvPtr fmlm refersspecilkally to eating rice.
3 SYNTACTIC CATEGORIES: PARTS OF SPEECH IN CANTONESE Thii grammar is arranged p r i m m i by pmmaricsll categories (pwm d speech. such as nouns and verbs) and sewndarily by functional and mtional categories (action and motinn. oomparison, etc.). Thh grammatml rqa1117Mmn k 1arply fnr mpl rrmv~nipnrp.nf Wwtpm wa+m mi+ romed to the= wregories, and some explanation of the catemies used is d l e d for here. l i k e the m o n m y l l a h i c ~ r othe f lanipurge{see h.I), the difficulty of distinguishing pmts of hin Chinese has often been maggemhi, sometimes eve11 to the p i i t d denyng that Chihm distim parts of sp#ch in the Western sense. Camtvmese is nd very &rent fmm English in thkisrespect. The d u d statusof -hs (3.1.3) as verbs and prepositms has parallels in English: d s such as $ i furdion both as prepmitiom (as in a * I& party) and as mmjunctions (as in n@r WY /&).I Similiirly, the f a a that rn adjmtivm may be used PS verbs. as in$&-p 'ha hemme fatter' IS hardk more remarkable than the f a a that English verbs such as run and cur may k med as nouns. or that box or shell may be used as verbs. Bcdh English and Cantonese allow limited roawrsrSm of one part of spemh to another. H m r , the rwn languags differ with respeu to the range of psihlilities of m i o n . For example, while any verb in Cantonese can a p p r in suqiect and object positions w i h m Ehange in fwm. v m in English generally take on afhes if they are to appear In these positions: cnricix criticism; swim t swrmmnK &stmy +
-
clestruction.
EngIkI1
Swirnmi is good for you. He accepts ywr criticism. The detilvnionofthe ciry is a a d stwy.
Canmm Yhhdi
dmi Kih sSntC Mu. p u r body $ood 'Swimming k g o d f o r yam body.' swim-water
for
K h i h j i p u h ltih ge placcPpt ycu LP criticism 'She accepts y w r criticism.'
s k
56 Cmlonese: a comprehensive gramnar Cantonese a l l m an extreme case m n - a d ~ v mrnpounck e
-
+
Syntd-
of wnversion involving the use of
leng 'good-looking' j6i "boy' lengjsi 'handsome boy' yihng 'stylish' jbi "boy' a yihnpjdi Ltylish boy' k k .clevrr, m a n leui -girl' + kkleui ' c h r girl'
+
+
'lie resulting nouns may he rsed as adjectives, l v h i has no pralleh in
Endish: U i h go jsi gG wi wo! p r CL son quite good-looking FRT 'Ywr yrclly 4 - l w k i n g ! ' K h i h h6u yKhq!jgjB he very gylish 'He's really got styt.'
lm! PRT
The cmnpwnd adjejearvs may k used as v&
to denote change of stale:
Gam loih m6uh gin. lengjii-+5 w! so long m-have sm handmw-PFV FWT I t ' s k e n a while since I saw yw. y w k bemine quite @looking!' LGh &hng go IFkkFui-j6 wol (I7Jad.J you whole C L clever-girl-PFV PRT 'Yw've turned into quire n mnrt link girll' Svch-of~rrprrsentmremwhythepmdspehm difficult m pin d m . iwming a wntrover?ialarea in Chinese linauisk. On the dther had. the u& d proper noun as pdicativr a d j w In Cantonese dwi have parallels in English: U u i h go yhhn h6u a-KTU p1 S/he CL p m very ah-Q PRT 'She i s very aha!' (Ah-Q is a character in Liixiin's mlwtm only a r e s for spritual ~ t i s l c t i o ndespite being regarded by orhen as stupid)
SyntmicaIly, h h o-KLN is wmpclrable to M u lengjdi and n-Kiu can take my degree modifen thd am adjmtivem take. I n English. with n x p i to style or art. brand names arm proper names, tor example, can w r m the same predicative positions:
That suit i s redly YSL! He3 so XO! (TV ad.) Jack and Annie are very k Angeles! Similnr wsn arc pmlble In Mandadn. e.g. rl4nk6ngf&hdng A\lh WE sky is very Greece'. I n these creatim usages the pmper m w sand For charzwmWic pmpenies uith wh~chthey m conventionally associared.
3.1
57
COMPARABILITY OF SYNTACTIC CATEGORIES
The extent to which C h i m pm3m3es the same range d pam of speech (syntwc mtqmies) as the In&-European languages has been tte subject of much disaersion in linguirhm. The Chigmrnmatical M i t i o n recognizes a rather different set of a t e g o n e . Hmvevcr. ior E ~ ~ g l i h speaken i t is clseful to describe the language m terms of the familiar categories d Eumpean languages. n a u(1947: 41) makes some rehalit remarks on this q m o n : While Chigrammar proper should deal only with the ~ r n m ~ c a l f e ~ t u t f f&ch om found In thc Chinw itself, nn En$&qxziklrrg student cannot help k i n g cmvamd h t how English grarnmarical categork will be translazed in Chirme. This is a perfectly healthy of mind, proviM the student remembers the FWI tha cvcry gnmmatical feature d om lamyage does not nemsmily cwr~spondto some familir feature of another langua~.
Thm, while the drapter and section headingsof this book are d & g d to help the reader to find ways ofexpreswq what i s expressed by the relevant English parts of speech. they are not intended as a claim that these cakgorie exkt in Cantorrese; indeed. there are several cases where the equivalence is questionable. 'Ihus, when wz speak of 'adjmtives' we refer to the wwdf which are ehpressed by adjeaives in English and winch may te lhought of zs adjpdlecnves in learningCan-. the t6e of the familiar term does nm, however, imply that they should be regarded m a dktinct category in analping Cantmlvlese on its own terms. The M k n g &ions review the mimportant of t h e q m i o r w of ~ p o i ~ d e n c Iet .will he seen that there are alternatiw view. which occasion some mntroversy within specific mdels and theories of grammar. The arjassion invMvescomplexIinguishc arguments, and hence bcmmes relatively technical at times: readers not wnoemed with g e m 1 linguistics may peterlo p~over thee q m o w and use the famil~arparts of speech hlWlTly af CollWnRnt labels.
The hstinaion between verb and adjmive is wt clearly drawn in Chinese. rt can be argued that hoth bElon8 to a single category of predicats, and indeed in traditional Chinex grammar. adjectives are mated as mtive verbs. Alternatively. verbs and adjecrives m;ry br: hated as q m a k cmegorie; statiw verb are then iiltermediate berween the two. sharing pmpertIeswith both mregories. I n many respects verbs and adjpdjeEtiws behave dike. Bath can take gspeft markers and verbal partick (see ch. 11).
68 Cerrtom: a wmppehensive gamnar AdpCm8
Mi-j6
MU+
paylgiw-PFV 'hm paid1Pi.m'
thin-PFV 'has bemme t h i n k
tai-gwo
l~~-gwO
BEXP
pretty-EXP 'used to be pretty'
'have seen before'
*durn'
h a m fm happy back 'be haWy again'
nhk mi eat V-PRT 'ed up'
Wnpu Sggj ditty V-PRT 'all dirty'
wllnhn firm return k k
These may he seen as cam ofcomw&m. involvingw e d an adjective as a verh to represent a change of stnte. Thc distinction k M c n ndjoctivcg and zhbuc vcrtn i s prtiollmly diPfi cult to draw. Words which might seem to be a d j x t i m can take obi& like trans~tiveverbs, such as the word suhk w s u h k d i k l i m ' and &jPtlng Ng6h mhaih h6u whk k&uih. I ma-be very familiar him 'I don't know him very wen.' !%n
GhgdGk yu
Ktuih h6u Gnjeung di Mi. she very n v n w CL daugRterc 'She's very concerned a* her daughters.' Adjecrims used as pdicates are normally modified by an adverb such m hdfr (see 9.1.2). However, this criterion dws not distinpish adjectives u ~ nddhnwi l 'q~rr', w l l i c l ~inlay ahu
k modified with R6u pronding that they represent gradable mnoepts: h6u j0rigyi
h6u tilhngyi
very like 'very much like'
Very-
'wry much agree'
rurtner. reduplicarion of adjectives with &i stisti= wrh:
SIarirr I& $7k+'k&i, F-ji& 'know a little' m i h n g - d n g 4 'undemmd a
such as qu&ions with extent wmplemena s$kng or slhng (17+3.7)crcaa wlth either v e r b or djdm: Tgiihsh
sP
&IQ
dlm.
m-DEL wash ehtent how 'Let5 see how well it's washed.' T5i-hsh Muih lolg sbbng dim. see-U~L srhe pretr)r extent now 'Let's see.hnw pretty she is.'
To summarize, if verbs and madjectiniuesare f m t e d as disfimrt tategorim. as in this hook, then it mmt be gcknowledged that:
[a) Adjectives and verbs share many m m m chma3mkIia. and may w a r in many of the same constructions. @) I n particular. adjpdjwtives denotingstatesm y be u x d as v e r b verbsoting change of state. (c) Statbe v d x . in Ihenarrow mse lsed here (see 8.l.Z), me mterm* ate kmem verb and adjein their gmmmlical pqxrt-les. 3.1 2 V E W S AND AUXILIARIES
suhksik Ian* rnahntaih. new Werrmr lwed very farniliat-knw China-HK q 'The new p e r n o r must be familiar with the ChineHongkong quesrion.' h6u
rnrm Snlivc =dm. suc11usn lrkg ji'rly'i
M1443blimesi~ &&ch-d6i(+in) -a hit crazy-
(4.2.2) also applies to m e
Whereas English auxihafv verb such as ran and will are distinguished by morphological d syntactic pmpertk. their Cantonese counmpam behave for the n-mit part like m k wrbs.' Functiollally, there are modal auxiliary verb d as wfih will, wwld'. hd@i 'can' (12.1). Unlike other~erbs,they do n d take w d markersw verbal partick, and must he m p a n i e d hy a m i n verb to form a mmplete -ten=. Auxiliwa es used done only when s main wrb is c h r l y given in the wnteht: A Bingo wdlh j i i e ni jung y&hn ge jSk? who would like this kmd p c m PRT PRT ' W I wwld like a p m like that?'
B: K&h
jauh rrMh laak. she then would PRT 'She wwld.'
.A" A-UUII
dmiuyil-s1I1 m11t h u l - d d d v Ah-Levn another-lime sure makemoney 'Leun s sure to make money in the future.'
B:
Ktuih jauh &nghaii dung 1s he t h ofaurse w~ah PRT "He'd like to. of a m . '
GO j&i Ghngyaht Wu CL xm always all
finjywl~
k i h la-dauh.
follow
his
dddd
Them always gws a m d with his dd.'
The cmerhR m y take aspea markers such a s p and verbal prtides such a3 ddu: Whether prepositions exist in Chinese i s a130 an open quesrion. FunEhonally. the rde of prepmitiom in exprepslng r e l a n d p s henveen m I n phraws is played by rwo diit'erent types of d: 'cover% and ' l o c a l i ' (see 3.1.4 below). Covcrbs are so called b u s e they typically arur r q r t h ? r with amher verb the m h and its nhjm wrving to modify the following verb:
Aqmvniurkp~s (11.1)
Ng6h lihrrgg8n
w~th-FROG her 'I'm talking to her ' Ulh
K
Ngdh mhng ktuih paakgsm. I with him date-FROG 'rm going out with him.'
Ng6h gin-hii k h i jwh-~1. with-HAB her &-work ?'m wed w working with her.'
Although the cwmh f d o m like a prepmitional phrare in English. this pttern resembles the serial verb wnstructlon whih is a basie feature of Ch~msesyntax (8.3). The question thus arises whether the coverts llre functioning as prepmitiom or merely as verbs. The main Cantonese wwrb at isue are: -to'(giving) g *for' (helping)
things
hlll-gwu rrgdh UkEl f'an rnelh? at-EXP my h e sleep not-yet e you ever slqd in my hwse?'
Verbol parn'cles (1 1.3) tGhg mh I with mt
Ng#
h
talk
I
Uuih M S &huh ylmpdnmg. she a1 there rake-photo 'She's wer there taking a phdo.'
bM
k € i h g6ng *h.
I
heung - r o r u M (direction) hihng 'with' (topetherwith)
h i70. towards' gan (jjwh) W h , following'
waihub) Lfor the sake of w h 'with. wing'
gihg 'via' (itinerary) hhi. hhng 'at' (location)
yuhng 'with' (inshumental)
The meaninp given above refer to the 'pqxdional' functions of the wverbs. Many d 'them ako haw: distinct mean in^ as main verbs, e.g. hPi 'give', wdn Smk for'. g.3~1 Lfollow-. glng 'pas by. Even in thew contexts where they corrapond to prepDsihonsin Englisl~,h e words behave like Yerbs in many rffpeas. Apart Fmm tuhng. they may readily m r without a fdlnwing velb:
Luhk Sang ylhga hhi hohkhwh. Luk Mr now at sehbnl 'Mrluk is at schwl now.'
Itih yw
d6u V-PRT
hewin go
'1 m n T go with you.'
Ngih rX j6i I d w;d my CL hoy at all *All my six6 are ahad.' LRih g h mhih ng6h yw with V-PRT me 'Come a l m wth ~ me.'
rlgolhguvk forrigixmntry heui
go
la. PRT
They may alm be r e d u m in an A-not-A qu&ion. dpctiva: L€hi
tbhng-fnh-*hng
n@h heui a?
yw with-not-with me 'Are you g c i n with ~ me?'
go
PRT
The potential conshuctwn with dak (123.2) may m h h tbhng mk H h &-fin. not wilh ahle yr*1 many 9 mn-t marry you:
N@ I
like verbs and
r with cove*
(film)
Ng6h hh hsl d8k HEur~&lg &hng I not at able Hongkong long 'I can't Iive in Hmgkongfor wry long.'
jyuh. live
The use of reduplicated adjectives as adverbs (10.1.3) also omrrs d i f y ing WWM;
GI
(go)
you
(CL) sister PRT
hiru-hivdti deui ng6h good-gmdish to my, 'Bcg w d tu IIIY ( ~ I I I ~ ~ zi>lem. I)
LEih @aigwsai-da
mfii
1%. (hlm)
Since d a can be used independently as a noun meaning Yaoe', the h l i z e n whir41 mwin them a n k argued to be nouns (see Y-H.A. Li 1Y9n). T k typical locative StNCture allustrated above may t h e 6 be analped as p r q m i t i ~ n ~ ~ t i vert-mm-pMpmi.tion. o n , prepc&ithHmumoun w wrb-mun-nwn. The u s of thm construet i m i s && in chapter 7.
h 8 ILkk~ la. homePRT
pod+-ish at 'Be good a d sfay home.'
ycu
ml
All thew properties are of verb rather than prepoaihs. Whd lhry s u m is that in so far aa ~ ~ i t i c v & m in (hntn-, t k y arc a subclass of v e r b which may be raed as r n t i o n s . Alternatively, the muerbs may be regsrded as verb in dl their manifesrahm, in which case thcir hmwkristic llsc rn invariably invdvcs a semal vevb constnMion (=a g e d hy McCawky 1982 wth i q x c r m Mandarin).
An important part of speffh absent in Englishare the noun ~~, also k n w n a6 measure words. I n English, measuressuch aspound and* are dearly nwm, and are llsed only wim unowntable (mass) mns,as in a pound of md a fml qf clorh. Can&ikrs are a distinct catem of words w h i i are u x d n d only to expmss quantities of mass nourn. but also in cwnting and referring to wuntaHe nouns:
mfi
Teuhng bohng ng8uh-phk tvm pound ax meat 'twopoundsdhoef l~nguistimas k d ' t m r s m elrpressions of The words kmwn in Chilocation which may. and in m c n s ~rnusr, be accompanied by the morphenw m r h 'face' .or bihn 'side' (apart from Ileuimihn. hihn or mihn are u d interchan@ly): seuhng (mihnllbihn) 'shave' chlhn (mihnlbihn) 'in fmnt of yahpmihnlbihn 'inside' lhih-m~hnWihnkith~n,among' I n general. the= expe&ns
hah (miinfbihn) Wnder' hauh (mihnlbihn) 'behind' -1-rmhnlb~hn 'wts~de' deuimihn 'opposite'
serve two main functions:
Sam jek g5u thrss CL dog ' 1 hree dogs'
Mwzmer. in the m of cwntable nourn, the choirr of dawfier is determid by the noun, jek goes with gbu 'dog'. I n addition to these wunting and quantifying funhorn, classifiers are grammatidy r e q u i d in w a r n contexts such as with d e m m t t a t ~ v e s(6.2.1): n7 go mahnmh this CL prohlem 'this problem'
g6 di h o h k r n g those C L &nt
'thwe studenb*
F l a m e r s alse haw moreW m -pedalid n r& ' i g functions. such m in possffsiveconamaim (6.3). relative c l a m (6.4) and in the expression ot quanhtmhm (14.13.
Di fR hsl p m n Cl. Rowen at inaide The Rowen are i d . ' YslqMm y h h hhu di3 TB. Id& haw: very many Rowers There IWofllmwn inside.'
m,
@) fonowing a noun like -m. In this hnaivn, t h q are typically w d in conjunction with the locat~vemverbkdi(3.1.3). Thus the hsic expressionof location is coverb - noun - locali~er: IGi Uh lvrul~bil~~r a~ WU behind 'hehind you'
llai l w l ~ k l w u l& ~u i r ~ ~ i l ~ ~ r gt x h m l .oppcsire 'opposite the school'
Cantonese rn a number of -om to exadwrhial mod*d o n ; there is no single -s of forming adwrlm c c m p a b t to -Iy in English. The drsesr C a n m e mmes m forming adverbe hwn djwlivts i s the use dreduplicated adjectiva. with w withnut thz &x -dei (9.2.2), m adverb (10.1.3):
meahndan hlahng dcwsllozv walk 'EV glWW
hh-ha&
fan skep
'deep well' s i m such reduplimted forms are also usad as adjdives. reduplication canwt be termed categorically a meam of f m i n g adverbs.
H-er.
64 Cantmese: a c a n p r e d grammar Adverbial mdifiamon of verb is also enpressed by diediva in specific cofmT4tions:
(a) the comnwtbn [verb] - dnk - [adjective] (10.1.1): Go $ dak mi faai. n driver drive ADV m fast "The driver's going too fast.' (b) [ ~ c t i v t-] gbm -[verb] (10.1.2):
Go sailmhjsi Mu daa-g @m &-W. CL kid ~"ery big-woice so speak-things The kd spoke very loudly.' Adwmkswhich malifythesenterm(a9oppwdtotheverbph~done) may be divided irrto two a d i n g to thcir fiacement in the sentence. Advetbs ofquanrily & 8sjllhng'stnt'cmd dlW 'also' must wme d i m l y before the verb: L&h juhnp y M h d u h sill All? y m still Chink not-have m a m r PRT 'You sill lhink there's d h i n g wrong, do p?' Time vmds reduplicated to form alvab of frequency, e.g. 1Nm-IUln 'every yeaf (10.3.4) also mme before the verb. A s e e d gmup of sentencedwbs sudr as ylhs 'now' and w nalsw 'perhap' are sometimes k n m zc? 'rnov&le' adverbs, slnce they may come either inmediately before the verb M at the beginning of the sentem:
Ngbh yiIg.3 f%an hohkhaauh la. 1 now return schod PRT 'I'm gohg m r0mw: nhga
di
Ihihjfii yuhl
Wh
yuht
CL girls more come more ' N m v d q s girls are i d n g l y capble.' naw
Whghnggon.
@le
There are rwo sels of items in Cantonese whjch are hSul here as
v:
-
(a) verbal partides: [vwb] d6u. j4h, saai, ea. (11.3). m in Mu d6u 'recave', sikk #kn 'finish eating'; (b) sentence pnicles: o, & ma I.etc. (ch. 18). 'J he Mandann wor&3 ~ o n ( L 1 n to g me verlxd pTkk {a) are d m m q h w W s in Li and Thompson (1981) and termed rewrltatlne some l i I 5 t i stdie. T k e partick resemble those found in En@&
a.
phrad re* & a9 $11 up and put S i m man of the C a n t o m partideawncerned ~ l s exist o as verbs. e.g. &Y 'arrive'and fmn ktum',it might be argued that they do not c w i t u t e a distinct syntsaic c a w . However,several particles am nor used as d, for enample f i meaning 'nwAf mrl Mrr rlPrrcTing rrcomplbhment. In ths mpxt, the mrus of these i t e m i s mrnparableto the particlesof English phrzsal v&. many, such as up and are also used as prepcsirions. b u 0 t h such m m v and mn (jn ~ritkh English) a m m. The r-kh set of pnicles @) w h i m u r primarily at the end of a smtam are one of the mon d i w i n a Ieatures af Cantonesa to indicate - h a typ=+ nx+i m q i r d i n n q nnrl w q i m . Mhidlnal h o r s and emotional wlounng. T h e have no direct counterpolrt in English, dthwgh comparable in function to queshcm tags such es ri&l vd dv p?In htframewprlis i t has k e n argrd that the p h r l e s belong to the category COMP (Complememiw see e.g. Law 19BO; Law and Neidle 1W)The category COMP in synmdic meory owitaim ex~ressiomlike the English conjun~f~an iht.which has m counterpan m Cantonese; this ecqdementarydistribvt~cm lends some plaus~bilityto the analysis of prticles sentenccfinal mmplementizers.
&.
. .
Spoken Cantod m s nc4 wdib m , v n phrases as English does with onb (many wnjunctions used in witten Chido not occur in speech). Conjundion i s typimlly exprmed by juxtaposition of phrases, withwt explicit marking of their r e l m i d i p . In t h a e a=,the m e c t i o n between the cmjoined items must be infertrd from the wntent of the phrases and the m t e x t . A juxtapoaitlcm d two mum or verbs may be read as mmjur&ion or disjuncrion: L€ii hsli Yin.ggw& yhh-m6uh QSnchlk p i h d u h a ? yw in England have-not-have relatives friends PRT 'Do)w have r e l a t l n or friends in En~land?' Such juxtaposition is especially 1d fried e q m & m s . following phused of share p i c e : m h i h maaih ga mhh h6i dii h y gel1 price n6t-have nfall "ng and selling prim' 'nonse w fall' SiMil%rty, a uentenoe oorsiYing of two juxtaposed clpmtd a mmlitional sentence (= 163): Lein mn seung ~u ~ I U hew ge h. p not want ako w d go PRT PRT 'Even if you don't want to go, yw &ill have to.'
such m the
may be inter-
66
a awnprehersivegramnar
-
Although there is no g e n d p u r p conjunction ~ mrrespding to t h . there are more sgerific wnjunclions sld w y n n d ' h m ' and SZ?+.ERA 'alth~gh*. TheSe, however, diRersubwmtiallyfrom therr English wunterpartn In that they require a matching conjunction in the fotlowing m h rlmw:
yawdh. miyihn
. . -1
'kcawe.
4 SENTENCE STRUCTURE: WORD ORDER AND TOPICALIZATIION
. . so'
. ..daahnhaih 'dthmgh .. . but' ji~hgwb.. .jmh 'if. . . then' jauhspn . . . dCm 'even 3. . . Sill' smllhm knqwn as dwbk codmrtiom;similar mnstrucThese tiom. such zs d W g h . . . hwt . . . are a conimon feature of Chinese speakers'Errglish. These sentence rypes a d the usage d cmjunchom are ( l i e in Ehapter 16.
mm,
As a language with little pmmatiFa1 relies k i y on word order m e q r m grammatical d a t h such a subjecf and WeEt. As a result. word -is W y rigid, ac rt 1s in Engliuh f a similar reasom. Like other irolating languaw. Canton- has the W+ d order [sul$ec&verh'bject], or is said to be an SVO language (4.1.1). The main sources afdwiatmn from this rigid order are:
(a) [subjem-vat] (b) [verbsubject]
mdet (4.1.13: order or subject-wrb inversion (4.12);
(c) righldstocation,which i r r v o b ptting an element last w W n g it acpnrotcly from tkc & of t h c ~ c n t n c (4.1.5); t (d) to+akAion: the possibility of making variws elements af a sent e r n the sentence topk by plGfingthem first (4.2). Another W
c
d feature af Cantonese is known as t o p i ~ p d n e n o e .
The diiinction bdween subjm-pmminm and topbprcaninent l a n m wm introduced by Li and Th(19761, who amsider Mandarin Chinese as a prime example of a topiqmminent language. T h i s distinction k an e l a h t i o n of an insight exprmd by Chao (1%8). who noted that the baric Chin= mtence strucnm:m n s h nm ofsubjea+icae, but of t-ment. 'Ihe topic & a phrase which the crmnrpnt says mmthq a b t . The sentence topic in this m s e n e e d not be the subject, and indeed n#d not bear any grammatical reldim to the m r n e n t :
-
B6r &h, deihtit jeui faai. sea PRT undergrmnd m m d fad 'As far as m G n g the h a r h r is m d . the undwground is fa$te%.' Gwo
The relationship between g w M 'mising the h a r h r ' and the undergound k m g his a m a n t k one oi assomnon: t h s 1s a -1 top~cc m e m relationship in ~~, which in English can only be enpressed by an elabotsde p e r i p h r ~ swith as far as . . . Note a h that the topic in the C a n t o m example i s w e d from the mmment by the polrticte dh and a slight p u s s . The pmcnce cf such gramrndical m m t m t h s makes h r o n e s e a 'Icpb-prwnineri? langwge. The value ofthi classificanon is that m t relates weral other prqmtk to the r d e of the sentewe topic. A number of grammatical features relak to the mle of the topic in the semcturt of the
Sentencesbwiure 69
m t e n c e , including the m i & of suhjea and objed pmnmu where these refer k k m a topic already m e n t i d cw ~llnrlerctood (4.2.5) anrl the &nt that subjedsrnlst be definite (see 4.2.4) z6 well as topicalkahon mmlmdiom t h - h (42).
4.1
1
By amrrast, 'the object ( u n k topicalized) m w l M l w the vet%immedik l y ; Ille uily iie~uawhvfh may inlerwnr. m ~ particles and expresr;iom of duration or frequency:
BASIC WORD ORDER
order of the simple sentence: subject-. Since there are no dat~ncnons or w,even in pronouns, the awd order alone indlcares grammatical rehiors:
K&ih yihprq duhk *hn
b~ nhn Ym@. l m - F ' F V e ~ g h t years w i s h 'Tve been learning English for eight years.' NgWeih gin-gwo gQi &chi mihn. we see-EXP a-few times face 'We've met a afew times.'
same rime, me frc&m c# wid Order Is ia* w m h n In Englkh. In m l a r , several regular patterns d m a t e from the SVO form:
N@h Ymggwok meih
am-
1
heui-gwo.
1 England nor-yet guEXP '1 haven't been to England.'
Ngi5h fik-frlk ws &I %hllg m8aih. I C W L picture all warrl buy 'I want to buy d the piaura.'
I,
@) O t + x < w b j e c r m hoplcalimrlon d rhe objea: see 4.2)
Ganyaht gp sung ng6h yii$ng mfiaihjd la. tmlay LP fnnd I already buy-PFv FRT 'I've already b g h t food fortoday.' Di
Sam d h C L clmes xu
I I I
1
saai la. aTl PRT
The clothes have all been d d . '
Note that the sub@t may or may not be pml. As In Engtish, the subjec~may be separated hthe verb by dverbs Wih
gWngyahr
d a ~gang
du
ge.
always all speak joke PRT 'He's always makingjok.'
s%e
phm]
4.1.2
I
ph'w
ERESUBJECT ORDER
(1) with verb a dm:
GBmyaht laihjb h6u an d m 1 Ep16uh. today come-PW very many big shot-guys 'A ~ c aot t q sntxs c a m may: dit-gwo @i go ssilouhj$i lohk gaai. befm fall-LXP a-few CT- Fhildren dpwn street 'Jn the pst quite a few chlldrar have fallen down onm the street.' Yhchihn
(2) O h -her
Ylh@
verbs:
W-gin
Hh.
fall-FROG rain 'It's mining now.' I
(gEi chi = frequmcy
With &n 9 ~ of sintransitive wh. w b t q p a r s m be the wljea mars after the verb:
now
dother edwrbid phrases:
(bwrhhn = duration
I
At
y tnpicalizatwn (4.2.3) and in
( ~ u l f i n- v d l prtide)
N&h hohk-j6
Iwe me
'She loves me.'
(I) SliI+m+hjm+erb (in d r shuctiorrswith & (82.3. 14.1) ):
syii.
marker)
slhe already study fmsh book 'She's finished her d m . '
Khih ngni ng6h. s%e
X C L 111ark~~ke75, verhl
Np5h f"t>li-j6 ySt go beimaht. (jd = I dismver-PlT one CL s e m t 'he discmered a secret.'
SU&IEFT. VERB AMD U3JECT One respe~tin w h i i Cantonese prnmar resernbk English is the d 4.1-1
N@h ngni M~nh. I love himher 4 101% hw.'
Ng4h hah go s?ngkk& fong-ga. T next C'L week tmke-leave "rrnp i n g ar leave next week'
me [ m b b - ~ d ~order ] is a h available: Y6l1 lohk dSk M u hih. d n fan ABV very blg 'It's raining hard.'
-
-
orders are pcmible with the
and $--verb
Similnrly, both verbs*
fdbwin&' dB dpam & E MI d4u @i. blow big uind oul not V-PRT gtrPet 11 m w tm i o d y Ihai wr: cuulddl gu uul.'
Kghmpht d4
yestaday Y '-
h are known B ergdye wrk. Awarding to the 'mgative' analysis (see Y-H.A. Li 1 W for Prlardmin), the nmm phrase bearing the role of theme or of the action i the underlying objed of the predicate, hence mrs ormrrence m k r the &, in p i t i o n . in Ihe ( n ) msenrenoer. In the (b) senmm, the game noun
The verbs involved m (14) a
ling di dEk h6u danih. wind Mow ADV very big ~wind E is Mowingw o @ y miside.'
Npihmihn mhde
T
(3) dlh verbs of ,
Glim
p
p h r a appears (see 4.2.5).
d b p p m l c e and -ce: halsingia
yat
gihll gwaai
morning
mefter
A1 a RIGHT-DISLOCATlOM
'A phwk ~ p m tday.' d
hhdauh.
K k ~ n i Cijb
she die-PFV father 'She h a her iklher.'
~~y~
KEuh *h slhe
gi-jb. die-PFV
father
'She b t her hdnx'
Tht: u~wrlalla&, is ukm usrxl allwl s;;;b USA a an emphatic e
l
particle (113.2): N p h G hhih Id hunger die her PRT 'She's swing!'
yshn la1 die people PRT 'Everyone's~todd~!' Muhn ski
bore
Thc (1 4) me dcmly related: dl in& verbs w h i i denote u which undeFgoea the hmgz Ehwge ot state or location. The noun of state is invariably e x p m s d as the subjed in E q W ; however, it may in Cantone either afler the wrb (as in the (a) emmph below) or before the verb (intmduoed by y h h ifindefmii), B in the (b)exam*:
-+
a.
(a) G H ~ Y ~ yw gihn gwaai tday h e p p e n - W one strange m a w 'Somethingshanb happened today.'
-
(b) Gamy& today
e u h yat gihn gwmi have one CL -ge
d~ famiQj6. matler h a p - P F V
'Samething shmge hnppxbed today.'
(a) Thh
Wn.
go
upon
CL person
Y3n the smge appeared a man.'
H h E k wo. Eb! W - ~ T y o u 'Yw're so man!'
CfhYn ghh.
G6
M6uh-liu-dou &, k d m PRT CL book 'Prerry vaatols. thal book.'
Wh! PRT you 'You're w!'
lmg wo, di s b n .
quite nice PRT CL dothes 'Nothid. thase*'
m.
As these examples mgge3f this word order is rypicany used in ex&ma-
~~,AmIht:p~CBLr:;Splauollhhtmph~rmdthca~ldded to mmplete the sentenoe. The same position m y a b b e used for djem:
Yhh-dub
mhih a,
have-nut&= buy PRT 'Did yw buy that d
a
& 7 a
Note fhal the d i s w gubjeQ w f h am the sentence pm-ticle, w h i i dnormslly c a m ai the end of the mor clause (18.2). is a h a common position for m d d vmh a d adverb (see 1X1,1X2). w h l d ~are often added as & e n h e : Krhh n@wwn@am jungp tauh $ung. siht m h i h she justjm wbPPV first prize sure buy
giim daaA nk
8, wiYk (TV) big IIOUX PRT wiu She just won Mprize; she will sllrely buy a big hollse.'
n
seuhq &Eutyitu-jb yiil wr-pFV
-
Another departurefmn the t y p h l SVOword ordm in mlloquial@ is +k4$bca&m. Typicany. a nmm or pmnoun w h i d ~is the w e c tof a clause appears at the end of a senrena in a d l e d dkkmwd e o n :
GHmyaht dEutyihmj6 y%t 6uh ayah. rday w-PFV one CL shark (4) wifh the verb d 'die':
subject. i n d d by ydrdr 'have' if it is indefinite
dl.
h a p - P F V one CL wnnw '!hnething sh'ange happened this morning.' this
(b) Yauh yHt gp f i n chEutyihn-$ h i i tbih seuhwihn. h m one Q person appear-PFV at wge u p 'A man appeared an the stage.'
SERltenceshwlme73
72 Cantonese: a mrmeterrsive grammar A: U i h @he hsibin a? your brother is where PRT 'Were's your brmher?'
B: Fm-j6
am,
dGm~. rerumPFV home probably 'Gonehome. probably.'
4 2 TOPlCAUZATlON AND TOPIC PROMINENCE C h o (1'368) dLi and Thompson (1978,1981) pcinted mi an i m m t oontmd between Chinese dE n @ ! in the s t a h of s u m and topics. I n English, i t is apmrmiid requiremerrt that every sentewe must have a mbjex~.Hence. a mbjecr dws not dwsys reprrsent the performer of an m i o n (ugem) or what the sentence i s about (t@t); when there is no such mtional s u w present. the expletive w *dummy' mbjea $ i s used, as in Ir irf&d&n ro mh. I n Chi=, there is no pronoun corresponding to JI in t h i sense, and many s e n t e m lack an oven subject' The role ofsmtenrp h m r , is central to Chinese grammar. The notion of sentence topic with reference to Chinese is a grammatical notion, referringto a position in the senteme with particular properks (nwmally the initial powtion; an e-on 6 -dary topicalizstion: see 9.2.3). It should be dimingushed from the noflm of d i m r s e topic, whih refers.to the o w d l topic of a text or m a d i o n i n the everyday mse, a d is equally applicable to all lanpuagw. Zi and Thompson try to relate the sentence topic to the dismurse context by requiring that i t represent 'old' information, i.e. something already referred to In the text. However, a 'new' topic d dismurse may be introduced as a mtence topic. N w is the s m e m topic m l y what the sentence i s 'abwr. although this is typKarly m x i case.. A more geReral OeIinitKm grven by Lhate 15 usetul: 'the topic s m the sptial, temporal or other framework in which the flredication hdds' (Chafe 196). That is, the topic spsifiw the time, place or &cumstto which the rwt ofthe sentenw applies. As Chao (1968) p n t s out. the notion ropic-comment includes that of subpxt+redicate: w~thinChinese pmrnar, the subject-me con&on Is a spedd case of r q h m m m e n r . Hence, lf no orher elemenr i s topicalid, the subjed bemmes the topic by default. In a simple with the order s u b j e d e j e c t , such ac ngdh ngoi Wuih illlstrmxl in 4.1.1, the subjecr vgdh smws sirnu-1y as the rcpic.
m,
T o p c a h d m in general refers to the placement of a wmd w phrase d the begirmingofa sentence or clam making it the -topic. The effect
issimilar tothatoftheEmglishconstrucrwnarfm.. . u m f m a s . .
.b
cmame&For a m p l e : Chin n&h M m g
lBh h h dbu laak (film) help you n d V-PRT PRT ;As far as mmey's c m m e d Ican't help yw.'
money I
In d k m & m of Chinese synlax sentwith t m l i z x d elements e m often g l m d in this way, although i f nfrm dnm nnt rmdt in w idiomatic English tram4ation. The m& m m u n and s h i g h m r d form of topbliition is that in which the abkct af the verb is displaced at the beginningof the sen-:
Ni
di yeh mbuh y3hn sit ge. this CL sluff m person knows PRT 'No one knuw this &uW &%q 5
Eih fcmg h4i bin a7 CL ppcr )pou put at where PRT 'Where did you put the piece of pqer'?
Tqicahmtion of an &jed i s also widely used with& a djed, where the i m p l i t subject a unknown ar g e d i
G m yhng p #it MI yTnmi g6ng ge. such rype LP th~ng not shwld say PRT 'One shouldn't w y such things' Ga c N jfng h6u la CL wr make good PRT The m f s k
n repaired.'
Note that E~ngl~zh typically uses the passive to make the the subjed (and thmby toyic) of the mtence, where Cantonese simply topicalizes the object. Such topblizafions thm often rorrwpond to passives in English. Li dThwnpm (1976) note that the rebt~vely&-ICted use of the e v e is a further c + w a u e r M c dq m q n ie tn xi languages: it should be med, howma, that Cantonex also has some passive comtructicm which are not p0psile In English (8.4.1). ~ n e ot me main communicatrve tunmm ot ~ q n c a ~ i ~ ~Int m , Cantonese a in Endish. 1s to contrast the topicalmed wwd or p h m with anmher which is mentionedor implied in th; wntexl: Syii Baak Dahk ng6h sehngyaht tEng ge, listen PRT. Schubert I always
jmh slu b la. then little-er PRT '1 listen to Sdrubert a lot, Schummn rather less.'
S y l Maalm Schumm
74 C m n e s e : a wmwehervsivs m
a
Sentence shdue 75
r
A Qlx4dasrelationship holds k h w n bFjh and hninjek in the following exampk jauh mi heu-gwo. tlwn nof-yet go-EXP 'I went to H o n g h g University y C h i University yer.' (Note the formation of G&@mih k m g University': =2.3.1.) 4.22
~
~ buty1 haven't , been to me
fmm Rmgqt@ D u a i i k ' H m p
OOUBLE SURRXTS NW HAM(;ING TOPICS
One of the more s t n i n g "ropic-prominent' features of Cantonese is the pmibility of srmtcncc * m having no grammatical rtletion m the predicate:
ge mkl jeui yih eung-fang. LP areather most errsy m t c h a l d 'It's easy to catch a cold in this weather.'
(TVed.)
now
The topic ylhgige E e i i s nd thc subjed of any w+-tion,but m d i i e the ammstances ('in this weather') to w h i i the predicate 'It's easy to catch cdd' applies. A .subtype ofsuch sentences are sometimes known es douMe sub@ cnnmructionc. ss they a p r to h m two rn-
HEungghg 18uhp gwui dou di. Hmgkorrg Rat-price dear tlll die Flat prim in Hongkung are ridiculws.'
Here, Hmllgg6ng is the topic and liuhga the sub+&, Heungg6ng serting the frame in which the sentkto be ~ n d e m m x l . ~ Such ropics are not the subjed or objea ofa verb, but have s l m r connection to the ptedicate which f d b , such rn a part-whole
relationship: C h i a h j h 4 ng6h yl# gm1 d h h h sli p. {radio diiogue) Chiuchow-ese I one p h m also not know PRT "1 don't know a single wwd of Qliuchow (d~alecr).' FIere the t q i c C h h h j d w i and the *ect pn geui are relby a pmt-hde relatiunship. Sirmirly, thew is a part-Mole relathship between ngh riuh yd 'hve M'and @ & %mv many' in the tdhwing example:
fl lsuh g& & b?i MHmlh silk a? five CL fish kave how many for mummy eat PRT 'athe five fsh, how m m y shall I leave for Mummy?' Ngn flub
Eih jeui p g y i @m kin in a'! l x e r p m m l ~ k e drink which CL PRT 'Whichkindofbeerdoyouprefer?'
B-
I
I3
Tn a n d h e r form of *calieation.
the topjc wmes after the s u w :
U m h Hhngghg ]ihn-h Cihulahng. !#he Hongkong only hww K o w b 'In Hongkmg she only knows Kowloon.' have a grammatical N d e that the d a r g topic HFuqgrkg dws a pm-te relation with the object relation to the verb sfk, but Gdrdfihw. uwy much as In the topSc ~huchvefilluftrsted In 4 2 2 . Similarly: N&h GhlGhng mhaih @i Hk louh. I Kowloon mt-be q u k know mad ' I don't know the r c d s tm well in Kowloon.'
Ek hnih 3mg $4. nmt dam is steam fish 'As far zs r s k i n g is concerned she's M at s t e m d fish.' KEuih
s(he
h o l m jeui
cook food
By wrNe of is p i t i o n , a secondary topic ha9 lesser prominentx than an initid topic, but has e n f i d y the same function of setting the range! m which the predicate is to be u n d e r s W . 4.24
VERB TOPlCALlfATlON
When a verb is ropicalird, i t is typblly rep+nted in the comment;the dibced verb is followed by a pause (comma intonation): A: U I ~ m
)aur
leu1
CL daughter so
sk,
haau aw sure p s V-PRT
saw
phhp ~ h h o h kla. enter university FWT 'Ymr dau&em are so mart, they'tt sure to get into university. B Mohng jauh (hail) @m mohw 1%. hop then (is) so hope PRT 'Well, that's what we h ~ . '
A- Lkih g8m-ihh-giim
tsi h6nsee horror
yw dare-nofaare 'Do ym dare watch h o r n filmsl'
B:
pfn a? film PRT
g h ; dm~w jauh rPlh f ung I d . dare then dare wsnl then not want PRT 'I dare. but I don't want to.' M r n jauh
The mplla hoih may take the place af the lepeated verb: A: M h ak h6u do Jungmzin bo? yuu knm mwh (hinese PRT 'You know a lot of Chinese?'
B: G6q jauh haih; lhi
jauh mhaih. speak then yes read then no 'Yes. aa far nr v k i n is~cmumrml, nFa mdiw.'
The same consrmaion@ies
ta ad-
A: U i h gau-rllh-gm chin yuhng a? you enough-imtenwgh mmey use PRT 'Do you have enough money?' jauh mhaih fi gm.. . enough then nd-be quite enollgh 'Well. it's nor quite e m @ . . .'
E: Gau
Another pnqmq relared m topicalieation is the mnsrraint that au+m must be definite in Chinese. Rather than introduting an indefinite noun phrw as rhe subjecr a7 in a rnm m m in, the exiantial marker ydvlr ia added to i n t d u c e a new topic (see 15.5): n u h s i n y6uh (*I) go yshn yahpja lhih. just-now nave (me) CL person enter-mV come 'Someone mme In just now.'
Nrd an topics are definite in the sem of the Eqlish definite article, however. Cemdc noun php w i b l e mtence topics: Mmu h6u
are also treated as definite d h e m as
jcngyi sihk pi ge. eat k h PRT
cat much like 'Cats 11h t o e a fish.'
m u mduh ylk ge. beer not-have nutrition PRT "ris.notgcdforyw.' T h e words mdou 'at' and &Fhr km' used w i t b t a (6.L1)are understood generic9ny. i.e. m referring to c d s and beer in general? Moreover, a dassiher with a m u n m1-us pition a M a w m e s d&nitems (see a h 6.1 for d i i o n of the distinctian between definite and indefinite n w n phrases): Jek m&w jh+ yahplbih. CL CXI walk-PFV emer-come
The cat came in.'
The same mbination in obpctrpmt-verbs1 @tion, howcvcr, an take either defmite or indefinite reference: nau-jr5
jek man p h p l h i . walk-PPV CL cat enterme lAnhe cat came in.'
Why subjects shwM be required to be definlte in Cantonese invites comment. The &finitconstraint is one which naturally appllm to topics (sisince a topic f a d -i must be an identifiable entity d hence definite), mtherrhan ro.sA u s e h l way ro thinkofthe phenomenon i s that in a Chirese m e there should normally be a mpic: ifthere is n o other tqkalized elementpesent (such as an object),then the grammatical s u e t ( ~ fovertly preset~t)is made the W i c by default. Hence, the c w r a i n t that topics shmld be definite extemk a h tn subjects. 4 2 6 TOPIC CHAINS
The notiun of topic chain refers to a -es of conneued senterrces or clsuaes sharing the same topic! 'Ihe topic of the first dam may serve as the subject w c$ject of several foltowing dames: Giin BHam
CL
bl-
h& a, n&h ltng very pretty PRTT
jim~&gv; &U &i. Uilt like till death yw
r n ~ ~ h m ~nghh l j~k? buy-&-buy for me PRT "That Mcuw i s nice. I like (it) very much. WilE yx~ buy (it) forme?' The topic giAn Mam "theblouse' serve red only a s the subject oF& Ieng Very pretty' but alsu as the &jed of@& I l k ' and of m h i h 'buy'. me topic of a chain i s -1ly introdwed as a sentence topic,us in the abwe
example. It may be introduced, however, by an existential mtenoe (see 4.2.5 &we and ch. 15) w a an object:
YQuh go ImhMang MI dng h m C L student
very
ge,
5 PRONOUNS
&hnaaht mdm y€h, zsk things
bright PRT always
h8au4 i h u 16 h6u g611 Em ge. time4me takeexam also get very high mark PRT ' T h m ' s a studem who's really bright. alwap askang questions. gets high marks every time (she) taka an exam.' chi-chi
(she)
Here, the indefinite noun phrase go M k W n g 'the srudent' is i n t d m d by me emtentml verb yrkrh 'have' and m e s m e o o p ~ otne t fo~~mng 'chain' of clauw. f u n c h i n g as the:subject ofrnahnpFh '& things', dli 'takem'a d 16 @ufr?n 'get high marks'.
5.1
PERSOTJAL PRONOUNS
Persand p n w r s are the only items in Cantonex with distina flural f u m . regularly frrrmed by zddirrg the MlPfix -de&: ng6h 'r ltih 'yw'
ng6hdeih 'we' lbhde~h'yw (plural)'
ktuih 'helsherfl*
kkulhdeih 'they'
%re is no gnder distincrion ber\lwen k.shr and if in either spoken or mitten Cantonwe (whereas in written Mandarin, male and female rti take different radials). Altflmgh &TI ; a d pnnuwily lv I C ~ Ilv p q d e , ir may refer to ~nanimate objects in some d a e d contexts (xebelow).
I n addition, the word )dhn 'peKon' can also take -$eih lu mesin 'people' (cf. Mandarin ~ ~ r q a k ).p ' i a the suffix 4nX. ydhdcih may lmrt sihgw lar or plural reference depend~ng on the &em. I t i s rypically llsed in the following wap: (a) 'other people'. &ng YBhndeih pap-chin
to people mher than the w k e c
sung y€h Mi H h , {subject)
people
pod-money m d stuff give yw 'People are ptching in to buy you a gift.' U i h yiu dseun G e h flhndeih. you need write-letter thank people 'Ywneed to write m thank these people.'
(directobjecf)
Dim gsai Wh wa+h flhndeih W n g gam LE? how m e y m for people muifice so much 'Why do yw d f i c e so much for others?'
A: M h dim
Mar
fhh
ch-
eng a?
y w how come nm q m k out FRT 'Why d d t p u say something?' B: Yahndeih m u Hma. people shy PRT 'Well, some people are shy.' (i.e. I am shy)
Morhw to swr (referring to m ' s girlfriend w8ide):
(nbpt nf c0ue7bJ
80 Cantmew: a canpahem grammar In msny -,
D h p h i h h cEng yahndeih yahp lhih ch6h a? enter come !d PRT how come not invite w l e 'Why don't you invite the guest n i ?'
jek &ji I CL finger "myfinger' @-I
-deih m n o t be edded to dher nouns. as the Mandarin plural form -men can be added ro bkyllablc words, e.g. xubsAFng-m kudents' hnor * l d h g - u E h . The Mandarin word -mprr, msd i n Cantonese as mrilm,
(a) Many ChWwme speakers do nc4 p m n c e the initial cmwnant ng- (1.51. The lirst person p o u n ng#h is therefore
often heard w 6h. usually with a glottal stop bcfomthe! vowel. (b) Idh is will p o u n c e d as &I by d&r -err din f m m 1 registers. The a m n t pronunciation Itih is regarded by gome
(&h
la.
Mh6u h& don't
ng6h I!
scare nie
(@!I
"Don%frighten me!' K h i h sung-$3
dhe
Sang-yaht ldihmahr Wi ng6h. m me
relatinn. the linking parlide ge i s &en used betrueen the pmnmn and the possessed entity (6.3):
I
duhfaaaar LP W h a i r
ge
'my hair'
refer to inanimate objeEtsand &tad
ngdh ge glhnhbg s h e LP health 'my health'
entities:
Ng6h *ng tii sa9 Wuih Hn wAahn. I want read all it first return 'Iwarn ro fink& remdingit More I return it.'
(h%h
= the bmk)
m a a l j i bib. (M= the car)
you detinitely need sell-PW 'Ym really have to sell it'
A: N@h a n g whAh 1 want @DEL
it jek onmrnn yeuhk. this CL sleeping pill
slhk ni
ear
~~tm~ral;ingmishdofs~ngpill.'
B: Ng6h d6u
k&~ih ga.
h i h slM;@n
I also am eat-FROG i t ' I t e k e n taking that one t w.'
(kt~tih = the =me lnand)
PRT
This usage is e s p i d l y m m m in i m p r a k 1
Faai-faai
To mpmm the genitive!-
ge is u&
d l yrefers a animate (humm or animal) nouns but may also
&A
Leih ptdihng yiu
(@ = indirect
send-F'FV birthday gift 'She gave me a birthday gift.'
ngdh
I I
= d i m objtcr)
PRT
jsi
Wmh haih nedh ahnghohk lCihg. she is my ckdmate PRT *HeBhdsmy cksmare.'
= subjed)
1 leave FWT 'Pm going.'
CLm
'my son'
Similarly for y m . his. hem, b and h i m . the oorresparrhng pronoun + ge m tmd: Icrh. ge, W I ~,pI?~ana kprrihdda ge. IPih 'yw': there i s no d~stinctionMween h a t and inf-1 you' (though sex the ncte a h on the pronunciation oT 1Pih)k61irh 'helshe": note f h ~ dthere i s m gender distinction in the third pmn:
pronunciation of all three tpomurrs:
Ngm jsu
go
I
'This car is mine.'
h ~ m o ' n f bw n :ongoing swrd changes Fead to variatwn in the
The pnxlwm have a single form for subjxt or objed. Them are no separate forms for the genihve ( m w ) lwmoumcorrespondingto the English mylmine, purlpun, rhrlrh&s, etc. The first penon singular ngdh corresponds to ?' or 'me';
n@h
To express the English mirrp in Cantonescl. n* Ni ga ch€ (haihl ngbh ge. this CL car (is) mine
may be wed in formal register, e.g. ttllrnglrohk-trrrlhn 'fellow students'.
hgung~ &cm m on error. though &dy p a n d a sound from initial n- to I(see 1.5). change in (c) Wuih is often pmnwnced zs Muih, with initla1 h substituted for the qirated ph]. Thic p m n d a t j o n is cunemly w m m among younger speakers, and may indicate an i n o p h t sound change (Bwrgerle 1990).
the p m m is fdlowed diredly by the classik
cheui-cheui sihk srai k h i h 18! ( W h = the food)
PRT
quickquick crispcrisp eat up 'Hurry up dfinish it up.'
it
Dsng ng6h g h ~ ddikm
la! ( k h i h - tlw tu~k)
khii
me manap V-PRT it 'Let me handle it.' let
PKT
82 Ca-se:
a mrrprehensivegramw
K6mmRrefers. m dxtmct entities in the following:
taai h6u la, Ni p @mih Eih y~ this CL qpxmnity too good PRT p muW Jins7c h i h a. {Wuih = oppwamity) trrasureit PRT This is a yery goal opportunity. Y w have to trmmre it.' Khihdcih mhsih jHnhaih tmihchFung mlhnjy3, they not-are really advmte &=racy
bitgw bur
lBih ng-k-faahwsihk ge j~ (Mu3= use it come cheat-PRT PRT d e m W ) TThe)rrenor really advocating dem~cracybut uslng it to make a living.' yum
Note that Mirh referring to inanimatethin@and ahtract entities is found primarily in m t , rather than subject, psition. In colloquial speech. k h h referring to obj& is alm wd ~ a s t i m l l y to v e i n h e u MunI
Giu A-Wng
s5i
.iai di
k L IS.
Warn
all 7 4 rknh 'Ask Ying to wagh all the clothes.'
PRT
it
Mgs5 cheung4an j h g y i t h a k mSn 7 k h l h B. please change one hundred dollar note it YKT ' P t m change thii me hundred dollar note into smaller m.'
Drraiha -king y r y m e drink-cheer Clwers. eveiyom!'
Mlh B! it PRT
Nde t h d k M h in this m-tkme is not immediately peceded by any n m n in the other ~cmm and does not d e r to any p t i a d a r cause of the tmst either. mis pleomstic use cd kPuih also mcurs In the idbmhic t x p c x i u ~ l a ,wuti j? kduih ( w x 16.5) lmd Strr-jd k81tIh:
Ng6h W
h &j&khih rather die-PFV-it 'I'd rather die.'
1
h6u
gwo
la.
than PRT
tli di-jb-khih hi 18. (film) qukk bit d'kPRT-it PRT PRT 'Tell B i g F d to go to hell quickly.'
Giu Dmi-Sah faai
ark bigfaal
Paul ktuihdeih ch€ng ng6hdeih flm-chhh. Paul they invite w drink-rea 'Paul and his family have invited us for d ~ msum ' The meamngof this elrp'esion is flexible: it cwld be "Paul and his family'. 'Paul and h s frienw. 'Paul and his colleagues', etc. It may be mnhacted, ze in Bdufbh-kih (using B M & as a Cantonese ~ n c i a t i mof l Pmfj. Ronours which occur in the relativized paritim in relative clauses are known as resumptEve p w r a See 6.4.1 for the relevant dimmion. M.1 OrulllTEDPROMOUNS As shown in chapter 4. the subpcr or o w of the m t e n c e a n readfly be omitted where it is a l d y esraMished as the topic of the discourse. S u m and objebjects m y l r oniitted in Camoclffe t~ndereither of two main conditions:
Uih sihk maaih fluh fi kkdh IS. you eat up CL fish it PRT 'Eat up the fish.' ar;k Ah Yine wieh
A name Mlowed by W i h d d 'they* ~ forms a mllerrive errpremim:
(a) The omined subject or oqpct has hthe t q i c of a p v k u s sentence, quemm or alalwue: A-YTng @-lin b%tyihp ge la. Yih@ lmk-mehng Ah-Ying thls year g d l i a t e PRT PRT nmv strive
w3n @g. find job -Yiq-s graduarlng hl5 year. IShe)'s louklng hard Rrr njvb nuw.' A Leih jung-hkjongy a h k Chiuhjslu choi a? yw like-M-like at Chiuhow food PRT
'Do you like ChiumoW W?'
B: Ganmaih Pngyi la! dclikc PRT 'Yw,of course 1do.' @) The rrference is clear from the ccmxxt. This applies espenally to firsl and s m n d person subjects. and to third person subjects which are prewnt a t the time of speaking.
1n6ulr S m g 6 teng-sw a! PRT m-have heart hear-PRT -I dun? feel like listeninp m Iffturn!' A;*.
(cxprcssinglhc ~ k t f - s hiin@)
P m m m 87
This emphatic mge csn also w a r in serial verb mnstrudnncl, i.e. h e m e n ma +:
N@h yuhng n@h jih&i m i h ) p u h sllMylhm. I use I self (come) do ~riment "Irb m m e l ~ l wilh s ~~~ysrl((iirs a guirlm gg).' DAng k€uih jihg& Um baahnhat let herhim seif think &tion 'Let her think of a solution herself-'
Both jfi@i and pronomi
+ jih&i
151 PRT
mn aappear in g - = n i t i v e I e
mstructbt~s:
N@II s&-+ win piianya jihgei ge s y ~ . I write-PRJ U a h t wlf LP bd( '1% written a lxd( a h t myself.' haih ki jih@i ge sii. tbg CL i s you sclf LP nintter Thii is your own bwiness.'
Ni
SZlaih daai Mahleih fian jih&T @an fing.= Sally bnng Mary return self CL m m 'Sally brought Mary back to her [Sally's or Mary\] mom.'
(Note that this example is ambiguous in English too:her m l d refer to a l l y or Mary.) In the W m n g sentence, however. jJrger cannot refer to the i n d i i objed but only m the higher- and Imyer-clause m-: A-fin w h a s a n Mi+ a-Ji yiit b h p&i yahtgei. A h J a n say a h S a m g~v.&'FlJ a h J one self tP d~ary 'Jan says that %an gaw JI a diary a b u t h e r l h e ~ l f . ' 111(his C ~ I I I U I W mbmuz. 1 k r e k x i v c jIh$i can vnly rc1t.r w 4 t h u~ JOn or a&an bur not a-JL the indirea object. H m r . k h i h jib@ in place of irk@ in the same W t m n could refer to any of the three Bnttrdt.111b. Thls as).mmt.lq s h thAl whlc jilt& 1s subject-enled, p m n w n p&i does not eahiht subjechrkm%th.
+
di
5 2 3 SYNTAX W REFLEXIVE PRONOUNS
T k syntax of the Canton* reflexives f i r s substantially from the: English. A reflexwe pronoun may k the subpa d a n embedded clame'
Ng6h gokdak jiig€i M u sbh. I k l self very silly '1 feel pretty silly.' Wrmwr. a reflexive can refer back to a s u m d c k the &us= in whirh it a p m A-Uhng Bar rnuhng Wakj&i jyngyi fih@i. AkLing have drmm Wah-boy l ~ k e sell .Lingdreamed that Wah liked h.' In these example, it is clear that the antecedent ofjhge5 is the subject of the main c l a i l @Lihr&, ~~ rather than of the submdinate clause. T b x are known as longdisQlrre reflex&; note that English uses a pemnal pmnmm rather than a rekxive here. Some sentences are potentially ambiguous, as the rpRexive may refer pither m r k I w 1 (neawsr) or w the long-distance antecedent: A d n h wah di h o h k s h g deui jihgi r r d ~ h seunem. Almir q CL siudt.~~t I w n n b XI( rlu1-11nv~wmtrlwlr*: "The teacher says & n a lad( confidence in him' or 'The teacher says students laEk confidence in themselva.'
!El RECIPROCALS: 'EACH OTHER' Thereis no rrciprocal pmmun -ding to 'each othei. The redprocal adMPbrf or wrrhsFrmg. alw w d in Mandarin. may be used in formal contexts: Sing-FFng wah yiu Wihi Eung-ngni. Bible say need mutually each-other-hue T h e Bible s a we ~ shwld love one another.' LRuhng-giing-p6 yingg6i wuheung chinjnuh. mhusba+ife should mutually accommodate 'Coupla should accommodate each other.' In dloquial speech, a reapmcal wnstruction is forrnd by repeating the &use wlth the subect and objed rewrsed: Np5h M-min E u i h kkuih Mi-min ng&. 1 give-faw him he givr-face me 'He and I respect each mher.' Wgu M h ma1 MidOUh, l13h
mohng ngm. n@h mohng ltlh. CLCL st all here you srare me I stam you 'Everyone a sithng around. stanng at mch other.' U h h6yii b g ng6h ng6h hbyih b g Ikih. )mu can help me I can help y m 'We [muand 1) ran help e x h chher.'
The nwn
89
6.1 DEFINITENESS AND DEMONSTRATlVES
6 THE NOUN PHRASE
Cantonese has n o artides equimknt to a or tkp. The wmlyC?#'one' may be u d like an inddnite arnde, refking tu an indefinite objed or person: &it) gu chi. j6jyuh p clmt-11h. have (one) CL car block-CONT CL exit-mouth "niere's a car blocking the exit.'
Yduh
The nnun p h m mmim nf a nnun and thwe item w h ~ h ampflyw modify it. T k o d e r of the elements of the noun phrase is as follows: dem&ve
- numeral - da&her
- adje*
-(gel - noun
The liking prtkk ge ( g l d as LP in the examples), f i i c h occurs in several t y p s of noun phtase, a m e s betwen the modifying erpressirms
and ihr noun i k l f (it may he nmittad in wmc
see 6.3.6.4);
$6
sZam jek hlu dakyi g~ g h j 8 i that t h m CL very cute LP puppy 'those three cute puppres' ni h h n g jiing &h ge 15mqaat thii two kand over-time LP thnk-way 'I& two outdated w a y s d thinking' The overall structure of a simple noun phrase is thus similar to the English, with rhe d~tmrnoe,mat a noun oxssiner is q u i r e d in many oomexrs (see 62). Note that the noun (the head of the nrmn phraw) always m e s at the end of rhe phrase, after dl t l expressions ~ whiEh modiFy it.' ThesP chancterisrics are also seen in the folkwing more c o r n p k rypes ofnoun
p m : Powmiwm?mminne(6.3): gb Ham go aailouhpi ge t o h d t h e three CL chiklren tP parents 'thnse three d-tildren's parents' nr 'the pmnts of c h w three Children'
Hi go yhh-chin-Mu
ge EhaPlEdsan few C L have-money-guy LP property 'a few r ' guys' ~ propeny' or 'rhe property of n few rich guysguys
Relnzhv c l a m (6.4): @-cM h n hnhk ge MMarrg drive-car return school LP student 'mldmts who drive m school' "$bh hi! ge FYngYa'"' I hire LP maid "the m a ~ dI hire'
yiu w h bit) go -. Ah-Ying need find (one) CL lawyer "Yinghas to find a I-.' A-Ying
Howem, the word p is oprional: ga eke m gu I P Y ~ - W be O sufficient U~~ here. To a large extent, the da!%hers (6.2) prform functions of the Engllsh articlesi n indlvidmtingentities. Wlwn tlre h u n pll* & a subject or a topicalized onbjsa. the prpsence of a claswfierdenotes a dehdteperson or object (sae also 4.2.5 on T h e debnitenem of mpics): Ga chC j6-jyuh
go &t-hfiu. car ~ock-coma mt-mrh T h e car is bloclong the exit.' Inut'A mr is blocking the exit')
n
Go 1yiu h6u Ek S n dak. CL lawyer need wry srnm only-okay "Tkc la-r had btrrtr k p n y ~m8m1.' ( r i d 'n IZIHTFT~
By wntrast, a noun with cl-r indefinite:
following the verb may be definite or
Ng6h tingyaht ~ i w4n h go I w M . 1 tomwrow will contact CL lawyer 'MI w n M dthc bwytr hnwrrb~.' N&h
yiu h i d l ma& fm g$m iikneed fast* buy V-PRT CL house 'Iwant to hurry up and buy althe home.' 1
L1.1
DEMONSTRATIVES
The demomtmtives m-'this' and gb "tat' are used for de*& funaims such as pointing or refening b d fo noun phrases. Note thal they must be acoompned by the m a t e claGher (see 6.2):
N @an M k h a u u h this CL x h ~ i
gb
deui f i w h that CL couple
91) Cantonese: a c o m p & d
gmar
The Linking panicle gp is sumetima pleonastiFally following the demonsrrative and clawficr. rain n i p gr.jirmrrhb 'this pmprammc'. @ jringfl g6mgok That kind of feeling'. 7hk usage generalis the fundion of #n mark~ngprenomiml alification. as seen with Httribut~wadject~ws (9.1.2). p,skbscniucr (fi.3) and rclativc claws (6.4 1).
A-ghng mi g~ Gi yhhn je-j6 chin mh 4 a h n ge. d i n g this CL bad person hmw-FTV money not return PRT That A-sing is a bad guy who h m w but c k s not return money.'
f l o w ni 'this may alsu be prvnoumxd as 6. rollorring the general change horn inirial n- to C (1 "5). Qthm alternative forms of riiare lei as In IFi fi'thex' and yl as in yrdorrh 'here'.
niand @ mn alsa m u r mth time expsions pointing tour referringback m a specific p e n d in time: nt @nihl*i this period 'these days'
p5 pbiWpiai that per'd 'those days'
of
g4m @ung This way' gAm (ytung) ge srh 'such manerSnerS
A c k d i k mth head noun mm0ut a aetnmtiw in
subjea pcdrlon
m y be used with a demonstrative force:
Go jii h6v bsakyim. CL boy wry naughty 'Our son is very naughty.' y6
g6i dnsTn w. quite h h PRT Thb fish sh quite fresh.'
Wuh
n
fish
This i s alsn hue of fhe dassifier & whim applles to plrlral or uncountable items (6.2.2):
jmih mat a? w l e do what PRT 'mar arc thcse people up m?'
IK
$hn
CL
&am dbn h8i hndouh a? CL clothes p t at where PRT 'Where shall we put these clothes?'
Di
IIC
hohksiang h h
1Idahn ge srudent very lazy PRT T m e s t u d e m are really lazy:
CL
n T go I-
every day four fmrroc ' lodc this CL time 'Every day at four, 1 always drink tea.'
that per~od *th a days'
Note that *nijd~n!jdndoes not ormr.
g8m chi ?his time' g8m-lln This year'
Siu Waih nT go d n g hfwhih h6u rmhk dm. YU WII tms LL name seem very tamlhar so 'The name Siu Wai seems familiar.'
MOih yaht sei dim
p5 jahnIsihYin
I n addition, p7m and g6m have a dem6nsWtrive value m -&OMS tlme and mnner mvctively:
A demmrshgtive noun phrase is often used in appogition to a mwn, a time or place e x p r r s h . I n fact, the types of phthat mn have an appition relation with a demrmmative noun p h r m arc quite d l e (see belowl. This p n m k apenally common following a proper nmn:
n&h
saln firncta8h
g;l.
I
sure drink-tea
PRT
Snhphal s u i II? gv Ilh+ llnilr jcui gnn111gnni gc. eighteen age thii CL age is most embarnssing PRT 'Age eighteen is the mmt embarranjng age.'
Mi H ~ u n m g ni go c&nii,sii flhn h h Fnyiu $e. i n Hongkong this CL w e l y know ~ o p l uay e important PRT 'In Hongkong society. connections matter a lot.' Compre the expletive: use of dernonsttatms with place names xs in G6dAlrrrrg Mthn 'over in Kmvloon* (7.1). A verb nbjaa m p n d (2-3.3) used in a generic sen= rnny also be followed by such a demomtratiw, phrase:
Hnhk flhylhn nT glhn s% ih hiukjaahp ge. learn Imguas this CL mner wry mmplicated PRT ' h m i n g languages is a wmplicated matter.'
Ng6h c h i 1
tiu-maih ni
t o w a h dancing
this
ymhng
CL
JPh
m6uh
thing not-haw
mw hingcheui. any Inrerest 4 have no i r b ' d in (thi) dancing'
Moreover, a clause a n also mke such a demqmhative
e:
Meih
git-fin Gang-jfii mbuh gi,m ge m i not-yet marq p r o d d a b y this CL matter nothave m a chEutkCih P. any surplse PRT 'Tohave a baby withour getting marri=d is not surprising at all.'
The noun phrase a3 Reduplimtedadjectives ofkn occur with a dernonstmtive phrase: Uuh-khuh-ktiMtih m @ng bai8ouh dfm hbyii slnp~+mFT this kind attitude hmv mn jipauh a?
Jouh
gihn aam yiu
ni
yuhng h h
dti
bou.
make this CL dress need use very much cloth 'It t a k a a lot of material to make ths dress' SYNTAX AND U W E W CLASSIFIERS
m p r PRT
62.1
'Hmv can one ucoept this lond of sloppy attitude?'
A c l a v i i k ammpanies the noun obligatorily in many rpmexts. I n general. Menever a noun phnse refm to a specific &&x, i t is a c c m pnied by the cladier. Unl~ke in Mandarin. the classifier and nrmnmay be used wilhout any demonstrative ad+= or numeral:
6 2 NOUN CLASSIFIERS C I m v i h b l m called m r e m d s in 4 s vn P i n e d are an important element in the syntax of n o w . Fach noun is aegned a prtimlar classifier, mudr as mum are assigned genders i n many Eumpean languages, While gender k h l y based on 9, classifiers are b a d on distinaive features of shape, natural kind and -on. There are over sixty different chifiers: and the choice of classifier is often not predictable fmthe meaningClf a nvun: hence, dictionarmtypically provide the a w p i a t e clmSfier(s) in the entry for the noun. There are orten two or n m alternative dasslfiers for the same noun (6.2.4). The n m r d equivalent m &hers in English are wordr; used in oounting which are ppecihc to certain d of nourn: f & hpas of &, ?WW pain of shm but a h c e qfpkmunrs. I n Gnlonese too, a major furdon d classifiersi s in oounting or ermmmtiw. as in baar Itulaggrinz 'eight t x l s of gold' and Ihkrrg jek &an 'two egg$'. However. they are also u d more generally In ind~viduatmg m m , as in mjpk ddan 'this egg' (see 6.2.1). It is M u 1 $0distinguish two typff of classifim3
(a) n ~ ~ s or u memural r ~ cksifien. which denote quantitiesof an item, such as 1denoting pluralfitpm unmuntable s u W m s . or the cdlechw referring to n pomp of people (6.2 2): @) type o r m l ddfmm which belong with the nwn and da$sify it In terms of some intrinsic feature, e.g. kJr denoring lon& thin rmch ms fish (6.23)? I n general, masum dassihers are used with uncountable nouns denoting substancesMcollectively, to refer to quantitiesnf nbjmts; -1 classifiers . lllis are used with wuntable nouns referringtoindlvlJua1V ~ I FJxwevt,. dgtmction i s not abdute, and some n m can be used in either countable or unmuntable senses. Thus bou 'cloth' as a oountable noun may take the sortal dassifierfnuidedng a Aat surface as in nIfQni borr 'this &t1h7. while m an uncountable noun referringtothe material 'cloth', it a n ethertake a medassifier such as &it 'Mor be left withuut a dasifier:
M h yiu g€i CE chek bou a? p u need how many feet cloth PRT 'Haw many feet of cloth do you need?'
Ji
A. write W i t h a l pen is g o d to wnte with.' M L
I& 1 1 t h
CL pen @ g o d
I n this usage. the presence of the classifier indicates a specific o w : mthcut it. the noun br?r would be u n d e m generically. i.e referring to pw in general: Yuhng h h n g bat d h &. use red pen wrire @ a-bit "lt's k n m to w n k with a rerl pn'. The following contexts requim a dassifier: (a) following a numeral or quantikr: ICuhng @k pkSu two CL dog
mhih ga
chi2
GMA
mr
-11094'
'each mr
n
With the relafivequantifiers de'many, much', sitr 'Rw, little', dmrh &mu 'the majority (o.)f' ~ W S Igwo I I jwhr~n'morelless than Mr. etc. the classif i ~ ;a , ~ p b ~ ~ all^ al. ~;lll urn aGdmk4 t y p d J~CI(LIR.
@i
d6 (go) mahntiih qu~te many (CL) problem 'quite a few problems'
h6u di7 0%) yWly1hn wry m n y (C1 j lnng~nep 'many languages' h a vty
siu yhhn few puple
'uery few people' (here the dlrssifier go for y b h
'mis always left
E k h n g j i du sy0 g6ng nT jGng duhngmaht pe. extremely f a r bwk talk this kind animal PRT 'Ertremely few hoda talk about this kind of animal.'
Note that the dassifm is required with mnaete o example:
m in quemions, for
fib yiu g& ji Mt a? you need how many CL pen PRT *Howmany pens d o )ou n e m
Ni @an h g h6u dash @an. this C L toom wry blg CL T h i s tpom is a big one.'
@uh k i h d 6 bat. I have vxy many (CL) pen '1 have many pas.'
Wa!
N m that the classikr is not needed for umountable entihes:
do cMn Mi go d6i douh a? you have how much money b e a t CL pocket there PRT 'How much money &1. you have in your pocket?'
Mh yRuh gfi
Jiing yi ge. Chinese &or PRT 'As oH1 as J am, I've nnever seen a Chnese doctnr (herballst).'
Wk wB that CL plaure
-that picture'
This construction occurs with any of the d a d e n . but not with a d j e c t k other thnn daaih nnd mi.The $rnses nai ,9p and duaih ~ r k are used i d i a t i m l l y to desmii people's w e or physique (note the anusual we of these cladfiers refemng tn pmple):
. . .d6u 'any'.
bin t w hei? which CL film 'which film?'
K h i h mhimtli h6u d kip ge. slhe sister very small CL PRT 'Her Gster i s very small.'
dZw dBk. w M l CL (mrauranr) alsa t h y 'Any (restaurant) will do.' (jhlhuh)
Certain catemries of noun d o no! take specihc (i.e.
Note that the noun ifself nwd not be otprasad where its identity i s clear from the context. The oomtruaion may also be used t5i-pm i & meih Ng6h pam daaA go h I so big CL gid atill rwtyer see-WCP
@) following the demrmstratives niand gd:
@an
Gam sai Jpk! wow! sa mdl CL 'What a tiny rme!' (of an animal)
Rttnily:
K h i h k ~ h m r n b h n yArn h6u du j8u. slhe last night drink very little wine 'He drank v q little wine Iasl night.'
gin
in ni
used predicatwel)':
N@h
(c) with Wn 'whim'or bh
ES
ItHom: with the adjeakes &dh 'Mg' and sa( 'man', dasitlers are
Compare with the fdlowng:
m fp yhhn this CL perwn 'this person'
The d y cllrssifien used with such nwns are gemrk dasiiiers,
jdng mdknjvfr 'this kind of demaracy' Cmgu m6hnjyu does not exst).
cia-
hlu drlrrih jek ge. N@h ghh@ b m k vety big CL FRT ?y [ c l h ] brullds pretty well-hflt.'
(a) time ergressionssuch as pht 'day', Rhn 'year': g-6 yaht 'that day' (but: & p 18ihbaai 'that week') d i h nhn 'each year' @ut: mdih g~ yuht 'each month') (b) abstraa entities such w mdhnjyd Wemocracy': Mihnjw h i ng6hdeih jeui @n$u ge. demmmcy to ui rme~ qxmtan~ PRT ~Drmm-aqis mow i-nt m us.'
An important funmca Of classiliersis to serve BS a s u M t u t e for a noun. like the English pronoun one:' Ng6h Mu jiingyi ni go. I much like t k me 'I like this rme a lot.'
The noun p h m 97
a
pk g& d6 chin a? that one how much w c y PRT 'How much is rhat oneT
Similarly, where classifiersare reduplicated with the: m n i n g 'every om' (14.1.2). the noun itself may be omitted. the c l d k r serring to identify it in context:
Gwgn (yhhn) &u dung m h i h 1311. CLAX {vpeople) all want huy Rat 'Everpne wants to buy a flat.'
I t is a h w=cl for air fliihfs and for referring to the bus or tmin smeduled mmiuel~rt: U i h daap bin bnan @ a? you cat& w h i i CL plane PRT 'Which Raght are you taking'!' Huh bsan & yiu mhp fin@ng hmh sinji dou. next CL bus need ten minr~res later then arrive "The wxt (w;heduled) bus aniva ten mimum later.' kwdhn b a more formal cla&ier
Mhaih pk-jek (&nu) dm u l n sing ge. not-be C L X L (share) all will nse PRT 'Not all (sham)me going to rk.' Classifiers air also used in p m s i v e mshuctione (6.3) and relative d a u m (6.4).
h-t -amount' is used
g6 bst chin 'tha ( w m 4money' k h i h H t jaai 'his debt'
rhkm is used to denote a meal:" y8t
62.2 MEASURE (QUANFTTY) GLASSIFIERS rlassib denote quantitim or nmounts of item nnd substnnces. Some funaim like collective nouns. while others are names of wntainen. Thq. are metimes referred to zc? -re words- rather than classifem. but shnrc the s y n m nfdmifiers =&mbed in 6.2.1 abcwe. The sarnwt rype of dmiiher are measures of wizht, quantity or size, such as M r n g 'pound' and the C h i n e measuresg6n'catty'. Iiuiig'~+el'.etc. Tkir usage resembles that of English m-ures-
wi
M
y i ~ gin
EhoiGm n@h.
plea%
give m e catty choisum me +Acany of cfmisum,please.' (a Chi=getable)
Ni
A
yir
Mam m l n
Ihng. this CL f& three dollar one tnel 'Thst fish are h e dollars a tael.' yfd
k remaining merlsure cllrssifiers may he divided into thrre t y p : d e c k.ccmtaimer and gene+ classihers.
mew resemble English m l k t k nouns: n i Man hohbBang 'this d m of 5fWkntS' g6 b a n h i h j 8 i 'that bunch of girls'
for -group'.
w denore a sum of money:
m
one CL 'a meal'
n hnhn
rice
c h r 'bunch' implies a grwp of objects. hnked together: &ichau tAihji 'a few b u d of grafles' daaih chsu &ih 'a big hinch ofkeyr'
dm@ denotes a 'pile': fir daahp b u j l 'a pile r# new@qxrs' fit daahp s u n 'a pile of letters' d m 'patch': rat dad &h "a pld~ of land' y%ldaat jX 'a pcnch of stain'
&i 'heap, mound' imphm a mica1shape' yHz di% sfknggw6 'a pile of fruit' yiit &i laahwap 'a hmp of rubbisW
d m i is used for items which come in pairs: h h n g deui faaijI'm pairs of cboptkks (singuhr: yilt jek faaijfj j w k deui mn h h i h %car a pair of n c w s M (singulnr: yfit jck hhaih) yst deui fiifw 'a oouple' (husband and wife)
However, not all objem w h i i are mated rs pairs in English are so treated in Cantonese. For example, a palrot tmmers d0-3 nortake dmr, but e fruh f i r . the classifier denorang a long, thin object, while n pir of 5Cism is
bl.grselrjfti, using the classifier for twls and instruments-
The noun phrase W & i s used, like Englkh s o w , to denote a quantity of either m m b l e things or unmuntable 3uhUamxs:
g6dicha 'those cars'
mm 'parch' is u d for liquids: yHf @an dui 'a pFch o f water. @dl<
mrr xnu as a wlleclive cla~sifiermeaning Wt':
di d h j i u - f i n ' t l w h m e pepper m
$i 58irnanjSi
-thelsome children'
r~
y
a 1 .1 1
'+d ~ l u t l ~ i n ~ ' )
'5uitR(LWI~I~LS~. gj1111 G~III
sihk m u chsan 'ear a set meal' It ako applies to m
i n nouns as a type cl&er
[ ~ D I Ih ' qlm').
dihk 'drop' applies m liquids: yiit dihk hyut 'a drop of blood'
gEi dihk yiih ' a fcw drops of aid pnn gom with the following nwn, w l l y abwrad i n n a m to refer to a cdlective unit in formal re@iers: yiit k n syutwah@inp@ik
'these wmddadvioe as a whole' yHt faan sZmgW!duhlihk %is effodhard work w a whole'
& lump' suggests a d
i d mass of no prkuiar s h a p :
ySt gauh sehk % lump of rodi' ni gauh l a a h p a p ' t h i i lump oT rubbish"
Conlamer-i N w s tkruuti~~g m
-ate
~ u ~ ~ rd~ n i pl ti d~ h -11 container a q the measure c h i k
biii 'arp' dihp -disW d o ~ h'hag' gvmn 'can' ha h@h% 'box' jB rar. jug' p u n 'bottle' lsahm 'basket' ILhng %kt-
+age'
h F n 'drrle, round' applies to game%
$hn 'basid
dB g6E w n mhhfik 'play a few rounds of mahjong' $h 'bunch' suggest9 an irregular group: &nng jah yann -a w h m h n c h o f people' y3t jah jeukjai 'a Rcck Of b i d s '
jnot 'bench, bunrlle' d e n m a lnlndle of itma tied tapether:
mfiaih fl$at f3 'buy a h n c h of flowers' paai yHt jaat h j l 'deliver a bundle of newspap' pht 'patch' rrpplis to shape& rnmm: ni peht l i i h -thisparch of soil' ySl peht y& 'a lump of %uff(referring to an ugly thing Or person) p-u h n d ' ( a h p d h ) is di n games:
juk yB ph@hn k& 'play a game of chm' wAan g&i p6ulplhn 'play a few pms' (e.g. on a video game)
Wng bucket' win -bowl'
85
C
d and drink rake the
jam Wi chbh 'pour a cup of teag u &hp choi 'order a dish of vegetables' yat h h laahpap% bagful ofrubblsh' ltuhng gwun l%@u 'trw cans of traei gi hahp yuhtMng 'a few h e 5 of m k e ' (lurkp does not change tone as classifier) g u yW jH bCPu -order a jug of beer' j a m jEun heidui 'a ( h k of) soft drink'
fit lbahm SidAan 'a basket of egg-
S a m luhng chMu-bsau 'three baskets o f p r r k bum' yiit Ihhng jeukjA119 mge of birds' yiit @hn shan $3'a basin of scatrered sand' (idiom) yst phlm dlu 'a basin o f watei literally. also ?en t h w a n d dollan' (slang) &i thng stui 'a few bu&m of w m r ' Euhng wun faahn Twu h& of rwe'
Nnte that these m t a i n e r damfiers may also function as noun5 i n t k r own right, in which case they themselw m k the classfier go (go brii
*
'rhhe cup")or@ (jek dip +&he dish') and take the danged z v v applicable (golrup 'the box'). A few are a k o used as sortnl dwbifiers.e.g. yi huhp lulrkying-dbm' 'a video tape'. so class~fiedbecause it tyyimlly cwnes In a bm,
Any nounwhichcanfunchmas~~~nt$inermybe&~~a~minthw way. For mmple. body prts may be wed as c d l e b k n n l % n e r daP h l ~ g mihn fiii whde Face dust 'a faceful of dust'
yat
&uh
yTn
one k a d smoke 'a head full of w o k e ' (i-e. in a sate of m m i l )
100 Cantonese:a cwnprebmw g m r n a r
fl ngaak
Note: the nounwith pmhngis
hohn one forehad m a t 'a forehead full of sweat' s2in pu-meih one body wine-rmell "abody smelling of wine all over' ySt
g6ng heui d311 haih Khldcii g h g Ihi they talk mme t a k go dl is
an ngdih one body ant -a bDdy full of m'6.e. trouble 1111over)
8 F. PRT PRT "They talk m r and owr about the same few things.'
ling "kind' may have a negative motation:
G6 ting @hn seun ihh ~ W O ge. that kind pffsrm rmst not w d h PRT 'Penple like that are nol trustvm-thy.' tzng @ fi yih-waaih ga. this CL machine vety -broken PRT rhis kind ofmachlne easily goes out of otder.'
N1
&hng Ok I€uih@n whok house mmun "a whole houseful of nomen'
9 w h k p5uh
'lit. a wak M l
gb fhswrn 'that [#sign of] dress' ni fhn~hahn+nj? 'this pair of
8f bubble
N jek
= full nf trwblc' *c&
This group of das6fiers. denoting types and kinds, are intermediate b t w r m m a r e nnd type classifie~,often functbning in both ways. Fbr example, the generic dassiher jdrrg Is the type clawher for nouns aach m yfihyihn 'language' but with other nouns denotes 'a k i d of as inyiirjfingffi k~nd of Rowsr':
~ r h n 'kind' g
h6u d0 Wng flhylhn -many languages' ni @ng fa ?his kind of Rower' gir $ng behng 'that (kind of) d i *
&ssep
jdu *this {variety 4 wine'
g6 jek phihfl'that brand'
pk
h i h 'genre, species'
dassifi~ for & t k , etc.:
ffin 'pattern,design' k used us a
s€hng deih laahpsaap whole Row rubbish 'a whole floor of rubbish'
jhg -kind'
@ this few
kind
s€hng t6i syi?i whvk table b k a' tablehl of books'
'3
96
rwhng
The class of container cl-ers is rnm openended, vwy much as wff~x-fd may be added to English nwns. Nouns such as Bk 'house' and rdi 'table', which would not be listed as classikrs, may fundm syntactically as container dassifiers:
Sirmiarly: (idiom)'
often omitted:
Giu sMm yeuhng dak g: la, M? (at restaurant) wrder three kind okay FRT PRT PRT 'Thrce d k will be enough, right?'
[daignr
~ j e chE k 'this model of car' g6 jek maih 'that kind of rice'
is aPso used in dloquial Cantonese to refer to whcrc t k hcnd noun ia o k n lcft out:
u t).pe of m l e or
Ng6h jiingyi W d a a i h d a i h , sI&mhhn-mihn I like lall-tal!-big4ig gentlernanIy
gb
jek. (oonv.) that type '1 like the mll. gentlernmly rype (ofguy).'
gi hhih ji Hhng @ jek. C L madine is most d ~ a pthat type 'Her machine is the c h e w KBuih ga Her
(m.1
m.'
n1 leuih duhngmuht 'this (species of)animal" J"it h i h mahnthih 'mw n m d pnhlem' ni )euhng y6h 'this thing' Gam yeuhng sung 'tl~reedishes'
These classihers, rather than denoting measures or quantihes, rrRe* intrinsic fegtures of the nouns with which they belong. As with gender in
The m n phmh r o p e a n langusges, the choice of ctrlssik is to some extent predibk fmm the meaning offhc n w n , especially where the shapc oT thc object plays a d e . Other cam saem idlosyncmtic and must be learnt indrvidually; many dicrionaries provide the dassifier under the entry for the noun. Somc nouns mny tnkc two or morc c W h m d i n g m tlw wnse in whwb they am used (see 6.2.4). go is the most common and neutral classifier. It is lsed wth all womk dcnonng people (but see 6.2.4 for altemnhve clasif~ers):
9go chyhhsi 'a chef slam
hohlcrsanx 'three wudents"
~~ positron
jEung jl Ishwt of ppei
c u n g dang " m t , bcnch' flung ffi 't&ett'
fiik @ice to rectangular items:
gauh sehk -stoneT
ngon 'that (legal) m7, 9cklhq? 9%'.level of meaning', y% ~ i n hmehng "a ( p h y h l ) life'; also the mure absrraa w a n i n g uf desriny ac in:
classifiers and pt 'one':
BIIL ~WIII&~I~
one line hope 'a ray of hope'
gauh chaat@au 'rubber. maser' g i h ~'v'. applia to wrre ahtract n o w as well 9s to oommdties:
gihn Sgmi "piece of jewellery' $6 gihn ngun 'that case' (legal)
LRib tluh mehng janhaih fi la! p u r CL life m l l y bitter F'RT 'Yorrr life is m l l y W r . '
fll
w t h h n g cheuhng -a wall' jPrrflg denotes flat objects which typically lie in a (contrast fm rekmng to vprridly oriented flat surfaces):
p r k ¬es n lumplike w irregularly shaped object:
but: flrgajn ~h 'this matter', gd #MI
n abstract nouns take +al
h J m g is the cider for a wall denoting a Rat surface (this h M be distinguished from the brrhng in ydr huhflgChp~n'h'a strung pungent smell' (see below):
fiik wA 'pinting' fUk &ng "phomgraph' fiik b w 'a [square piece of] dom'( a h pin bou 'mll of cloth3
y% go yuhnmohng 'a wish' nim t i ~ ~ j 'this i n challem' pl p &wih 'an opportunity' n7 gt kyutdihng 'this &don'
W
yiit kkdaih chdang 'a slice of orange' yw fa& c M a n g p e 1 'a s l i m of orange slcm'
jcung bhi Vablc'
go is alw used for individual items which do not m11 for a mme +tic c l a s s i k . Thus abstnn nouns which refer t o mmwmmHe emifips I&ng Fhysical &lures, generally bke go:
103
y&L 4. Gng-$i one line live-cham 'a chance of mival'
gihn daahn* pi- ot cake' ni g i n sih 'this matfer'
g h spplii to rnpicccs of doming. excepr the e l o n ~ t e ditems fi 'trousers' and k16f1n'skirt' which take f k l t .
jek has a v a r i q of meanings: (a) animal: )Sf jek p a 'a chicken', l h h n g jek g5u 'two dogs', (bl round obw:Ylh bk ekhuhiu 'your wrist watch', l h h n g k k g%dian Iwae e . : (c) one of a pair yatjek yihwsan ~ n earring'. e nijek Waih 'this shoe'.
'peace, safety' and gihnhng Note thai ahtract e n t i t k Sllch BS p f h g 'health' do not take any dassiher (6.2.1). M y mf the mme m m v n ddirssikrs define nwns in I m s of shape:
ipk also sznm as a ~ e n clasifier c mean in^ 'variety' as in flrfek jbu 'ths
faai denotes flat-sui+aced objects which are *rally auch m slices of f d s :
jiapplies to cylindrical items:
y a faai n@hpQ 'a steak' @t faai rnihnbsm 'a slice ofbrmd' yM fxai ybhsanng 'a piece of whimi' g6 faai mi'that window pne'
bm with oranges.
h i % is uped: -re:
verticany oriented,
(variely on wine' (6.2.3.
P kt -a pen' )at ji fa 'a stem of flowen' ji dkk 'flute' g€i ji j8u 'a few bonks of wme' ( a h jFu~'bmle') job amlies m some large itens:
104 Camtom: a comprehensive grammar y% joh gongk8hm $ (grand) piano' yst joh mn 'a mountain' Idp
d e n ~ e small s objects:
y8t lap Ihu -ri button'
ySt Isp tCmg -a sweet. candy'
rlrrh applies to long. thin obj& tiuh l w h 'road' tluh thuhfaat 'strand of hair'
. gdi 1Hp y c u h w n *a f C n pills' y8t lap ddu 'a bean"
applies to -1s
tiuh e h hake' t h h @ 'fish'
and i m m e n t s (but no8 mwical imtruments):
bA j E 'umbrella'
b4 Gng 'wice'
M
bAs6'1&
&i 'knife'
ga c l a d i s v e h c l s and cxher large machines:
gs
*
CL car
ga )ii+ CL clothewnudine
'car'
'sewing machine'
fPjgEi
CL fly-machine
ga CL ph-madine
'affoplane'
'camera'
$a
ch8hrg &an douh anlduhng fiing m n geui m n jahm jahn
fnlrn denotes a 'copycoW or 'part': m6mh fahn h j i 'buy a newspaper leuhngfalin prg'two johs cliim fahn W s a n Sign m insurance policy' fahn ybhn-gilng'salary'
A b-al
t&
~ t f & follbwal by !&ha h is MI-:
N@h fahn yhhn ji dub & m i h ge. (mm) I CLpersonmmrd-havePRT '.& a person, 1 couldn't a r e kss (about many things).' fahn yihn m6wh nCtt dim. jihnghaih K h i h g6 bhe that CL person not-have wliat how just giihhhn di
j3.
siney
PRT
bit
'As a person. lie is alnght but just a bt stingy.'
lPih b w h dmwi 'yolPr tamers' ni bouh siusyut 'this novel' y8t bouhjihdin 'a dictionary' 'volume' st b6n syii Write a boor milaill M n jaahpji 'buy a magazine' jfiu clihhng IAu 'rent a Rar' .bill' yHt dsan &ngyi 'an item of business' 'plxe' rGan b h mhhn 'dose the dow' yt douli deihffing 'a certain wee' w%r' y8t duling daa~lihali 'a mansion block' hestge' ~ 6mng seun 'write a lettei 'block. build~ng'@ g h n ngiik 'several Iiorpes' ni @an jaulhh -this restaurant' y8t geui syutwah 'a tum ofphrase' 'poll' y8t gvhn feilim 'a mll d film' 'men' h6u daaihjahm meih $ strong smell' 'bum' j$i jahn jaauhy6h 'a few s h o v e d yat p n n fung -a arm of wlno'plank' yst Iuk muhk % piece ofyht phhng n@h 'a mw of rewh' 'bar' yat p h i h jpgolik 'a chowlate bar' 'stem. trunk' p s p l i 'tree' p?fclici '&ln of regelable' 'tcxt' s t pm lnhhnjeung 'wrlre an artlde' h a d m d u @3'thas song' g6 siu "thatp m ' hwnd' deling g6i w h i Mi 'merve a few (wand) 'machine' 'wlume'
and animals:
A few da&ers are associared with funaimal fearurn:
W
Note that whereas fohn in the mst sentem can be replad by the cla5ifiergo. it c a n m in the second semence unlese the preceding demonstrative gd 'thatt is left outA numb of sortal classifiers are more specific in meaning, applying to nnly A few rmrm:
w
‘m
taMu' 82.4
ALTEWTRlE CLASSIFIERS
Far many n m s two or more alternative scmal classitiersmay be used. To some extent this is due to vanation behveen idwlduals, d a l gmup and varietim o f C a n t m e in the choice d dasher. For example. {Irip clndung 'an orange' is used by rnspeakers wliile others use go, the age and d i a k backmound a makers being imwrtant faum nere. I n manr caws, the c h o r i depends & the kind iOdm referred to w t k way the noun is k i n g used:
df
The W W j l ji &ng 'hda a gun' (classXed lsy cylindnnl shape) yuhng M &ng 'use a gun' (dassifid hy function as todhueapon) ni ga dihnlhih 'this mmputer' ( c l a ~ e d as machine) nT h u h dihnlah 'this computer' (ca l ssfied as moden ni go dihnlhluh 'th~smputer' (classified rrs object) ktuih M k u "her & (as instrument for speakmg) khih hiu "her nmutll' (as part of M y ) ySt dihk nghhnhih 'a teardrop' ySt lwh n@alinleuih 'a bawl of leanTS (idiom)*
16h tiuh lCui (slang) yw CL girl 'yow girlfriend'
107
(vulgar)
h h titih chci
yw CL xrpgetable 'your girffriend'
The use ofa clansifiw normally w d m l y of objeds and animals (see rirth. 6-23) has r dcrntaning effect. h c m rhr- slang uage. Slmllarly. when animal term are I& to refer m p e e for jocular or deriwse purpm. the dassifier jek may ht wed as for animals: ng6h jek (mdhllu) j4i my CL (monkeyl bny -mymnnkey d a boy'
jek g i CL cliicken 'pmstmte'
jek ngaap CL duck 'male m t i t u t e '
ga sNhn %Kip' [as large whiie) jek sybhn 'lxM (asmll object) tluh bydhn 'ship (I-. tllin: Ir%myusage)
6.3 POSSESSIVE CONSTRUCTIONS
yat go douhlPih 'a princiw dadh fiuh h h l t i h 'a maiorratimle' (emphasidng the exlent)
The pcmessor in~ariably mmw b e h e the item possessed. as m Englishmy mnrlapr's msiIePOne po&sr ccmsnuction resembles that in Mandarin. with gc ptrFmmingthc fuwticm d Mandarin d#:
fit tw hei 'a film' (lm 'set') yat dEut hei 'a film' An extreme case is the noun y& ~hing-which m y rake aEmosr anv clasifier. acmrding to the kind of thing referred to: @g
o ~ 'that h th~ng'(otqzct;iaimaticslly also uftwople) g6 jek yPh 'that thing' (animal. e.g. insect: also ofchildren. husbands. e t ~ ) g6 yeuhng yeh. g0 gihn y6h 'that thing' (matter. affair) g h g $i geui yell 'say a few things:(wo&) Slrh m r s illtmrate that t h ~rlmwifi~w.ire P. m l y determined by indi~idualnouns, lmt are appliedmeaningfulty to classesof nouns. I t Ej a160 p s i b l e to w a dassifier othwthan the usual one for the nolpn mcerned. m m e r m derive particular im@cahom. Fnr wc8mple. the neutml d k fier for t?eople is go but wdi is used in order to convey politeness and respea m r d s the md~vidualreferred to:
Ng6h eung gaaiauh n i w$i rnnngsin h i daaihp srk. I wish introduce this CL d a g u e for everyone know 'I'd like to introduce ths mlleapw to everyone.' Con-ly. M . whlcli m l l y classifies long thin item%. IS used of people in m e slang expressions:
gd
tiuh yAu (slang) that CL f r i e d 'that guy"
ng6h t~uhlgi (wilgarJ
Zy
boy mboyfriend'
gaausauh ge taahngihmt profPOSS d m 'the profesyorms ofW
hohkmng ge ggj€mg -dent pG$$ parent$ 'the student's parents'
aX
i s the Cantonese reading for Mandarin de, and is used in Canronese, for mmple In mg:
fmmml
Ng6h dik ySt G a n g dear P0$3 m e life 'my whole life' Ako as in Mandarin, the pos.smive markerge may be left out with kimhip t e r n and certain other mins where there is a close ( h k n a Y e ) link bemen the pxcwx and the nwn. especiam where the possessor is a Wmn:
@h saibju 'my yowngrr brothei kkuihdeih iikkki 'thew hme' n@ mgcihga 'my hrrband's Family' Klh (@an) g n w i -yourcompany'
cnmtruction uses the dassikr h&re the pc& m s e d noun in place ofp (exfor t h m n m s which do not take any An alternative
classifiers): my
@Ant
Lh
CL
house
'my home'
nm<
jch CL
'my font'
Fuh fmX
la3 Calbxse: a wmpreh%lrs~gmrnar k h i h W n syII
her
Wh
go boksih hohkwdi your CL PhD d~gr~e 'your PhD degree'
CL bodr
'her book'
Note that the pmxsm is not &ed bhb5an
p
boss n ~ 'thc boss's a'
g
to pronourn in this oonmuction: Aih-16u go daaih t6uhlShm fat-guy CLbi tummy 'Fatty's bg tummy'
chP y
A demonstrative is often added in this cunxhucth: Ei1, (+) di ?h@uh you hhm CL fnenck 'those frknds of yours'
jyjh
#h
wohk
cook thing LP wok "wolis for m k i n g '
seui ge chin mx LP mq 'money for paying tax'
p y
Strictly w k i n g , the verb phrases in these cunshuctions do not have a p+?$sor+essed relationsli~pwith the head n w n but they are assmgted in some way. Hence this construction is termed d - mby Li and Thompmn (1981). A s with the pos4essive use o f g , the clwiiercorstruftion is an alternative:
?ihk @
&
rd
CL thing
that
yhr
'things fw eating'
Potentially, there is thus a choice hehwen four p m w s i v e m s t m c t h s :
mu
Yi& g6 go gaaumuh England that fl prof'that pmfessor in Bntain'
Other constructiom inwlvine the s m r e (F head noun] include adjectival passive (8.4.3) and relatrwe clauses 16.4.4).
(a) l6ih ge w n m h you L P fric~lll 'yow friend(s)' Relative clauses are c l a m which modify a nwn phrase. Restrictive tclativr. dm= m e to restrict the reference of a m n pl~rm, as In Thr wu&m i know are r t r i w i d , which suggests that the comment mly applies b certain teachers. namely t b kto the speaker. Relative clarrscs in Chincsc h w the tkcrcvrrsc wdcr of thc English: fhc hcad mwrn comes ar the end, as i n all noun ph-. The order is thus:
(h) 16h phhnRysuh you friend 'ywr friend' Ic,
go pQh"gy$uh you CL friend 'your friend'
(a) ieih gb
go
yw that CL
(a) relative clause - ge - m n fi) relative c l a w - gd - CL - n w n (or@ m n )
psheuh friend
7 h r f r i e d nf yrwn'
-
The g m u r e (a) belongs to more h a 1 registm. the others (bdl k i n g more d o q u i d . The posseem onmtnrctiorrs h d e r funaim than merely indic s t i n g v s i o n . The phrase in the: m s o i w i t i m may be m a t e d less d~rectlywith the noun: nore that verb phram, for example. can W r I n ths powtion: sihk ge: y6h ear L P thing 'things for eating'
jeuk
~ l h ge g use LP m e *the time used'
&an ge yiuuhhei vay LP games ' g a r m for p l a y i e
ge
aam
wear LP clorhes 'dathes for wearing'
- CL -relative dauw - gc -
The structure is similar to that tor m v e oorsmranmdemaea In 0.5 ahwe. with the -me choke behveen ge and dernomharive + dassifier More the head noun. Relative clauses i n spoken Qntonese tend to be or Irmitd length. and some types of complex relative dauw used i n Engllsh n r e l y oaur; on the other hand, the use of resumpthe p m n m s permits some types of r e l a C1w c l a w 1Vhlch are na posslble in English (6.4.21. There are no relative pronnum as such, although the particle gr med i n o m of relative (6.4.1) fundim like En#& #ha. I n another type of relative, the demomtrative clarsiRer 1s used in place ofgc(h.4.2). There are thra two f m s of relative clause, -onding to the t w types of m i v e maruaim disclnwed in 6.3:
+
[a) (Gdi) sik ( t h m Cl.) knnw
dSk
Gw6ngdIlCanranex
ge hohNanpl hdau lhar sm&nts examine
within the relative clause:
h6u di.
ng6h sling fa Ei khideih ge behngyirhn ( i n d i m object) I send Rower to the111 that pabenls ?he parients Isent f-l to'
ADV well a-bit The wudenrs who knuw Qlntullew Jii a In1 k L 1 t 1 . '
(b) S k m B n g - w A g6 di hohlssang hdau k m Cantonese rhose CL students examine dsik hC* di. ADV wen a-bit Tim s1uk11bWIIV h.10~
Thcse two w
Such resumplive pmnms are q u i d 8 d n the head noun represents an indir& otged, objecr d prepxitionlcoverb. w &px N m p h
tPhng WRdeih IcmW ge hohliaang (objm o f w e d ) 1 with them chat that sfuden~ Yhe students that Ichat with'
q@
d~d a bit kttCr.
s are mared separately m the f d l w n g &s.
8s
they
have different mnpes ofqplicatim. Candoes wt have any dirW owmerpam lo the nmmtrklive relatise, as in The pmman, who is a frwAd of mme, m d . Howwer, eximlial and presenlative sentences (15 5) are similar to the existential dative 85 in Them urr pmple who Mikr irr d ~ n m m qThe . free dnth@ dzmw as in WIro dorm, wins is d k m d in 6.4.3, although it bean no structural resemblance b the restrictive relatives d i e d in 6.4 1 and 6.4.2.
ng6h jaahn chln & gwo khihddh ge @hn (obje~of I earn rnonq. more than the111 that people cmnprisicm) The people who I make more monq. than' Where the head noun is the possessor of a noun within the relativedawe. the pmnwn is optional: khlhddh Ouh kwhhn b u d$n ge ailouh-lid (genihve their (fL dress very shori that little girls relative) 'Ihe little girk whnse d-5 k very short'
As with the m i v e constndon. uih (Mandarin de) m y he used in flam o f g ~ in f m a l registers of Camonese:
This type of relative clause is similar in Fwm to the g powxive (6.3) and attributive ndjecriw mnsrmcrms (9.1). Corresponding to the relatiw
Yhhngylh sauheung dik WihyAn. easy @-hurt that woman 'Women who arc:w l y hurt.'
(song title)
dame constmrlion with dc in Mandarin. it allows relative c l a m in which as the subject or objed d the predlcare: the noun is unclen&h ge yihn know me that people 'people that know me' b&n
s14(
np5h
= whject of s7k)
ge yilin know that m l e "penlJe that I Imw' Cw?hn = &@Y Rf.ni>
slk
I
Where the head noun is nM the subject m d i m oQed of the predicsre. a rpsurnpt'k pmnoun must be used in the relative dmse to refer kmmd to & obiect: the head noun. Ths m y k done qionany in the case of a d
ng6h M g (khhkii) sihk-Caahn ge Whmuh 1 invite ( ~ I I I ) cat-fd that Criv4F 'ftiends that Iinvite fur rhnner'
A$ for the pcmm+e wmtm3ion (63). an allemative form of relative dause uses a dasglfier and, optimally. a demon~hatis.e.e:~ Ng6hdeih hdi Faat@ sihk di ye' @i hk-glhk ga. we in France eal CL fwd qwte pml-eat PRT T h c h d w ~ a- k in France ws$ pretty good.'
Mi n&h g6 di &ng h h leng. y g*e me those CL prlures very nice The pictures yw gave me are \wy nke: M h
This onmhuction is extremely mmrnon. being p r e k r r d in dloquial C h l l h l l ~bJ I I M C FvlllEIl AT' uuld~~li~l. l t &I t . ~ k d c sddlV~ clauw m be constructed which would he awkward or i m m b l e using gp. -11 as those with a demonstrative phrase as the hesd:""
Gaau l€ih t b h n M m g6 go? (film) wach yqu play piano that C 2 T h e me who teaches you fiano?'
K h i d e i h jyuh @%kwh h6u m - h @ h n . mey live thew ~ e r ynor-mmeniem 'Where they live is very inconvenient.'
Ng6h yiu i u n gir go y a n hh M h h . I nperl & that CL FMI not k r e T h e person I'm looking krr s not here.' (nor *N@h d n W d h g6 gu @hn)
(conv.)
6.4.3
Relative c l a m in whi* the litad noun frpncriuns as an indirect object. such as $he p k n t we .mu fimwm to. can readify te f m r d in this way: Ng6hdeih sung R M khih g6 go b e h n w n Mi we send Roww t o him that CL patient well Ban
aaai la. h c k all PRT T h e patient we sent Rowers to has temvmd mnpletely.'
Nore that a resumptive pronoun, k h r h appears in the relative: clause, referring forward to the noun Bchnsydhrr 'pahent', as described in 6.4.1 a m . Similarly. where the antedent d lhc rclath~c l a w k rhe possffsor. the pmnwn k h i k must be w d in the relative clause: Ng6hdeih t 4 . L khih fUk f - 5 ~ gt5 @ fihn we s e e - ~ hs r CL p m r e tmt u pT h e prim wliaw piCfllre w saw has arrivd.'
l h i . m-xv
Ng6h johng d6u N l h ga rhE @ go m y n i Mu I bump PRT her CL car that CL w m a n very h6u yihn ge. nice perm PRT 'The woman w b a r I bumpsd into was nice.' Even the o ~ d ma m i a t h e may be made the anteredent, resulting in a conshuction lmrely pobsible in English: N&h
I
w h H h leng gwn IrPnih g15 IA~iwi say p~ beautiful than her that CL girl
HEungg6ng %up. &PFV Hmgkong Mis T h e girl I said you were m m beautiful than has beoome Miss Hongkong.'
&mh-j6
Note that simpler r e l a r k . in which rhe antecedent is the sub]& or objwt nf the relative dause. do not call for Ihe pmnwn:
FREE RELAWE CLAUSES
Ree relative clausesin Ed& am I h wnuining a w h - p h w in placed k a d noun, m in I'll give yon who1 yolr wmr and You m n do w3raMvCrpv Iike. 'Ihey are 'frae' in the sense t h t what the c l a w refws to IS left u~l-ificd. 11,C h ~ t o ~ \ t srhtmt t , are t w typcs c# Ercc r d d v c . m s p o n d ing W y to t h with ~ and wirhwt in En#&. The: fist Qp? sesembks the relative clauses d i d in 6.4.1 above, hut w i t M a 1-d
-
naun aftat ger Ng6h &ng @ng ge & m6uh g6ng 1 m m ray 1.P d l 1 nnt-hve *at What I want to say I didn't my.'
dou.
V-PRT
Lkh h h n p i
g e h ngoi. want LP I Hgnt 'What y a i don't want, I want.'
you
m
H d hM-wbl gc ylhgTnl: jSu &. go havemeeting LP already leave an Those who are going to the m e t i n g hgve all left.' d8k h6u h. ADV well well Those we've taqht $id very wll in t k exam.' Np5hdeih g a a w g w ge &%I we reach-EXP LP all
hdau
exam
The s e d type of free relative uszs a questiond. corresponding to the Fmghsh foms ' w k r ' , 'whatever', etc. (see 17.3 for a list of the Cantonese qtestion words). The question word i s repeated in rhe main c l a w . giving a prallel sentence structure in which it aerres as subject or object of ofU~ dausps: Fmgo yauh &fn. Hi. who has money who pays *Whh s the money pays.'
I5hgil bi lkn'h@i jOngyi jeuk m%i@h,jauh jeuk mity6I. nw, CL gd i gric l lilce w e r what then w r what 'Nowaday girls war whatever they want.'
I tr Cantonese: a mpehmsiue m m w -
LGh k n g Ei g6i a. jauh h& & a. you want pay haw much then pay how much 'You pay howevernluch you warn.'
I
Note the use d j m h 1162.2) tooonnwl the rwo clamm. The r n m n e d f m s mu/'what'. dm 'how and b ~ n'where' are offen used in thii mstruaion. as in indirect questiorrs w h i i have a similar structure (17.4): LRih dung sihk miit, q6Meih s i l k mat. (mnv.) you wish eat what we cat what 'Well ear whamw yw want to eat." Nghh jGngyi dim. jauh dlm. I like h m then how 'Idu Ihins hc-I like.'
(film) 1
Yihndeih giu k€uih heui bin, k k i h jauh heui hin. people tell himlher where slhe then wkm 'He gum wherever Iie's told b go.'
7 PREPOSITIONS AND EXPRESSIONS OF LOCATION As dimssed in chapter 3, p r e v h s h rwt fvnn a h r l y d i * m class of words in Cantonese. The mwrk. which play a major role in e x w n g locdtion, behave in mosr m s l~kea subdm of v e r k they may take a m markers and verb1 prtides, and m n y may be taed independently he main verbinasentem.(see 3.13). Functionrrlly. howewr. they play the rde of prcposihom and may usefully be viewed as slrh. Like E~ngllsl~ prepcediom. they wrve primarily to expres ylatial relations of location. direction. dc. (7.1). and additionally to i n d i t e n o n s w a l relatirmsllips such gs thme of time and p q m e (7.2). The owertdpreposiths are used tmther mth the loEalim (3.1.4) to e n m more sped% spgtial relationships.
Similar indetiniteconstnKtim are u x d in m s i v e claws (16.2.4).
The most basic terms expming h a t i o n are compounds based on the dcmrmstmlives m i d g6 (6.1): 1
nidouh 'M miihn 'over here, t hisway' nlsyu 'here' nitiuh 'amind fils area-
g6dwh 'thereg6bihn "over there. that way' &-YU W3-e@tAuh "amind t h t area'
The= t c m are used hi the Mkiwilig wnys: (a) after a prepositidcwerb such m Fuji 'at' or yuuh 'from?
Di slam
dhj6 hdi *h. CL c r o t k put-PFV a1 there T k clothes are over them.' Yhuh nidouh heui Jiingwiahn @ fihn fmm here go Cwrlral how far 'Ilow Lr is it from h a to Central?'
(M
after a wrb of motion:
Ngohoedi yiu heui &bihn phiha2ui. we need go there queue-line 'We have to go and queue up wer there.'
a? PRT
-
Ng6h h6u slu lhih muh. I very little here-ahn 'I rarely m e to this area.'
h
@) followed by anMher verb in a $em11construction. Mi iis best tramlaled as a preposition: K h l =hhahn jauh Mi iikkh Ifi-syii. m-lei= then at h m e read-book 'He's at home reading when he has time.'
( c ) m sentence tq+s. fdlowed by ybuhlm6rrh 'them is (mt)': Nitsuh mhh ma1 &€&ng s. this-srea not-have any car-noix PRT There's hardly any IrafF~cwise in this area."
dk I
Ng6hdeih h$i Gsuhhng jyuh-56 e r n lihn. we at Kowloon livePFV three ycar 'Webe bzm living in Kowloon for three year$.'
Gbdarh Huh sBanggw6 maaih. there have fruit ~ l l 'There's fruit fw a& over thcrc.'
(c) with a localim alone. u d as an adverb:
Ga
N m : (i)g6dmh refe~?to a spec* place, unlike the rhem subjed in me English Hamlation which is a nmreferenhal or Wumrny' subject: (ii) a prepmition is not used before the demonwatiw at the beginning of the dause.
The car's outride.' Khih hhgong hfii ngolmihn flub go WihyAn. her husband at wlsae hss CL m a n 'Her h&nd has a mi'
{rl) t r n h p r with a flaw nam:
bi BuWhng g6bln ai Kwlom that-side 'over in K o w l m '
Colloquially. d&
K
7.1.1
h6i Y i n m k gWwh at England there 'over in England'
-
(d) with a noun p h a follmKed by a lomlizer. in t k ptlem hdi [noun phrnse] - [localiir]. wi6di is a very pmductive conmuah. The m r b hui serves m a general-purposepreposifion of location while the b l i i r express- the spenkspatial relatiomhip imlwd:
may mncl for+mh:
s M \ Mi ~ n & CL key at my The key's i n my bag.'
l t p
dwl~.
CL bag there
chi? h f i &tbihn.
CL car at outside
U i h &ui hbaih W j€ung b5i p i r pair shes be-at a table
I
hawk. tinder
'Yowshoes are under the taMe.'
SPATIAL LOCATiUQ K)1IWBS AND LOGALIZERS
hrfi 'bc atiin' m s p c m d s to Mandarin .didi t k gcnc,aI-pur~nal.kt~ of location: 'be bated' would be a more accurate -5, as it might he tramlaled as 'on', 'in' or 'at' d i n g to the oontext. As a wverb (3.1.3). hdi m y functicm ns a Ymb ratlicr than a p r q ~ o s i h ,a h u g h often corresponding to a prepsihun ill English. hdi is wed in a numtrer of difierent constructions to i n d i t e location in
w: (a) hdi akme omrrs with names of places: Kkuih y i h p fhh hG Em&mg. she now m4 be-at Hongkong 'She's not in Hongkong at the moment.' Khlh f i p g M I e n yal p ld~htaai. she already at hospital one CL week 'She's already ken in hapila1 for a week.'
Ididnuh or hh$w 'be hA-e' is used, far emmpk, on the telephone:
A: Chhg m l i n Chshn &ng reqmt ask Chan Mr ?s Mr Chan there, @me?'
B:
hrii-hh-hKiouh a? I~ere-mt-here PRT
Deuithjyuh. Chhhn Gang fhh hsrdwh swry Chan Mr nol be-liere 'I'm sorry. Mr Chan is mt here.'
w.
PRT
hiidw~ki s also uwd together with w h in a pmgrmsive m s e (11.2.2):
hadodl . be-here sew-clothes "Mum's h y m n g (wit11sewing machine).' A-M8 A-Mum
118 Cantonese: s oollprehensiw granmar M
g (not to be m k d with h u n g 'towards', 7.1.3) is a ~ r i ofhbi: a ~
lhh
tIkk.51 h€ung bindouh a?
ywr h m
a4
where:
Hdi s€jihliuh deuimihn yriuh @an jhlhuh. at office optwsite haw CL restaurant 'There's a mtaurant m k the office.'
PRT
'Whereakmts is your home?' The M i r s used with &or m follows:
W m i h (not 'deui or * d ~ ~ t i b i k'qpxk': n)
h n g i n cm&wfbm (c) and Id)a
h are
ydrpbih and I6whmrhrr 'inside' (ikuihmihn ~ d to Mandarin s Smiirrr. but /t%h cannor be wed alone like Mandann ti):
Fang seun hli go hsyl yahpbihn. lelter b u t CL boK inside "The lener's inside the box.'
a
H% ng6li (gel e r n 16dhmihn ji yduh yat go b i d a h t . at my (LP) heart imide m l y has one CL secret There's only one wmel in my kart.' chflntthrhn and ~zp'hrrrih'outside':
png esremially means middle' as in JBriggwok -the Middle Kingdom = China' Lwrt is u d in Modem Standard Chinese and formal Canto mcan 'in': Ng6hdeih p t s-arlg jung Huh msiu wr one Ilk muddle ]lave nor-* 'There are many difficulties in our lives.'
The spatial meaning'in the middle' is ex-
kwanlaahn. diilty byjEinw8ri:
Go gmgkhhm fmg h4i haak-Eng j0n~-an.
n
plan0 prrt at gumt-hall middle 'The piano i4 p l a d in the centre ofthe living room.'
~7gAm'behreen' is used with rirhrrg cwrdimting two plaws or parties:
Wuih
h% jjiludirn chElrrbihn d4ng ng6h. slhe at h e 1 olrrside wait me 'Sheis waiting for me outside the hotel.'
Ktuih jyuh ki Giuluhng~hng~ h n g Ggulth"g-s1hng B p . she live m KowlounTong and KowloonCity &tween 'She lives behuewr Kowlom Tong and Kowloon C~ty.'
Ngmhmihn l o h k ~ n @h. wtside fall-PROF iain 'It's raining mihide.'
N&hkih 16ulu11~ p jTgiha1 g~ hG~iI11til~ YUIII Eilt we two CL trerween LP distunw- more come
cklhnmihn 'in fmnt (fl and hukbihn 'behind':
HSi ga Bensi cliihnmihn y h h go leng-l6ui. nt CL Bcm i n - f m hm CL p r c t w d There5 a p r q girl In frmt d the Meroedes.' ChEpahrn h$i ni tiuh @a1 hauhhhn. car4op beat this CL dreer behind 'The bus stop is k h m d this meet.' .mI~rrgor mI~r!p~~iIui!bVir! 'on (rq,i
oy a
d l ~ ~ t t ( m i f ~ d'klw'; fih)
Go @g h i i tiih seuhngm~h h w m d w liaam. CL singel at stage on-top happy till cry The singer wm w happy that she cried on the stage.' JEung t6i hahbihn m b h ygh ge. CL U G l t u ~ ~ J F L 11V1-lln~Lliin~ PRT %ere3 nothing mder the table.'
yuht *hn. rare far
'The distance between the two of U I i s pmwing farther and Farther.' T k place expression [noun-localk] may h p n a c l a w . lullwd by thr existential \wb jduh 'have' or mtkrh 'nothave'. forming an exixistenlial locative construdion (note that no prepxition is used here):
Go cbji yahpbihn mduh d chfn. CL bag irk& not-hve all money 'There\ rw m m y in the bag-' Sing Ging lhihmihn y i ~ i hgo g u s l i . Holy Bod. within have CL w r y 'There's a story in the B i l e . . .'
k b h hear' may occur with or without an object: ElgOhde~hlewhng go ryvn clam hdu ban. we two CL live ADV very near The two of u s live c l m tqether.'
120 Cantonsss: a comprehsnsiw grammar Ng&deih jyuh b k Mu w live ADV very "We live near the sea:
7.1.2
- i s
b h n h&h-n. near seaside
haih yauh W n g o n giingsi go jitmtihk this CL pmgnrnrne is from Wing On company
M
$ahkyeuk*t. (Tv) e l l y brmdcasr T h i s programme IS W t s p ~ a l l by y the Wing On cmnpny.'
DISTANCE AND MOVEMENT
Rih 'away from' indicates the dhtanoe between hwr Vaces: Daaihhohk k i h 16h univenlty from ymr
ukkti @i flhn home how far
a?
PRT
' H w far ii~.the u n h r t y hyour home?' -1hiMhrn1expresses distance or maion 'from X to Y'.m i n g that one is l m t e d at point X: Mi
Hfii Leuhndeun heui Gimkiuh yiu fit go jiingCluh. at London go Cambridge need one CL h w r frnm I nntlnn tn rarnhridp ' 'It takes an hmrr tn H6i Jnnmahn hew SZm %ui 8611yhuh syiihn daap ge. at Central go Sam Shui Po have ferry m h PRT -rhere7sa Rrry fmm central to Sham Shui Po.'
dzihrig 'frmn' (Mandarin &ng) n a formal equivalent of ~ R f r h .used to inlrwdurx e a u u w d mcmcnt. or a starhng point In time: cliuhng n g o i h p k
lbih
fmm
come I.!' whcholar
a h d
@ihr
Vhnt way' snd r~fhiI~n 'this way' may he used
thief m-Pm 'The thief ran dl that way.'
Sam go jih. (we 21.3) Shnlin nced thrcc CL unit 'It take iiftcen minute frnm Kowloon to Fliahn.'
(b) referring m time: yhuh H m p h t =chi fmn $ d a y begin ' h - ~ n i n gfm today' NMhdeih yiuh sai dw daaih dm haih gam we From small until also be so
Mu
PhngyAuh. good friend 'We've k r i @ fhtnds G m ~2 WCX mll.' Ecj indicatingthe mm of respn5ibllity or spomonhii:
Myhuh falyuhng yhuh ngdh tuh@k. all expews imm me responaMe "I'm respcmible for all the e~perejes.'
m idicate diitxlwrnun:
h i ebihn.
(a) to expres d i m :
d m SBtihn y u
hohkjt
chbhng luhksahp bhdoih k i c l i i hnm sixty decade begin Ymm the 19% onwards'
-vhrlr 'from' is wed mainly in the following ways:
from Kowlwm to
ge
"scholars m i n g fmm ahmad'
Go chsak jAu-jb
Y3uh Ghulhhng
and emtmbns of location 121
w
rhat-..ar
harm^ m n s 'towards' in n drrectional sen*
(oontrast &I!.
22.1 ):
Ng6h h n g deihtit g6bihn hhahng. I towards subway that-way w l A T r n walking in tho direction of the subwny (MTR).'
Go fiing hemg-@n diingmihn chEui. CL ryphpnn mmbPROC. east-side Mwr The typhwn is blowing towards the east.' ~ i r y(RWJ : in a serial \erb convtruainnqmwa the rclatioo %a':
N@hdeih @g we vla
Ynndwh hi Yinggwdt. India go England 'WckgMng to England via India.'
Ga & ging m i h d w h heui H~un&@i CL m viir tunnel p Ahrdeen The car goes to Akrdeen via the tunnel.'
Note that gCAg is alw widely used as a verb, mearnng 'pa- @yy:
Prepositions and expressms of locsbon I23 -
chin dub pimp p. (film) I towards money not-have pre~udioe PRT 'Idon't haw anythingagmimt money.'
Ng6h deui
Gag-ah-ging Mghlaih yiydn a? pass-notpss Mary hospital PRT 'Do yw pass by the Qwen Mary hosml?' (wed on brrses. minibuses. etc.) 7.1 A
Hmngg6ng-@hn deui hatgwa Hongkong-people towards gcmp $uh
PLACEMENT
With trrmsrt-rtrve %erbs denonng placemt, a l w t i v e prepositional phrase (a?seen in 7.1.1) fdlmus the objcd: Eih Img bi yPll hsi thi wrhnpihn. please y m yn CL Himg at table top-mde 'Please put those things m the table.'
M e
Ng6h gwx fiik wri h h @wh I hang CL picmre at here 'I'm hanging the p i c k owr there.'
'Hmgkmg p m e are \wy mteresred in H p . ' dort with time expressions means until' or 'by':
Ng6hdeih d w yih@ dm m i h pi-gwo we until now still nor-yrt try-EX' 'We'.? n e w been SP p v r unt~lm,'
1G t l l i a day, I slin du11.l
chin
gam h h ~ . so
poor
UII&I~(~IIL!.'
@n, which rn a verh meam 'follow', alsu funchons as a prepition meaning 'with':
N o t e that the he-phrase is completed by a localmr such as s e u ~ r n : or h a demonmaliw mslch rn dolrh (7.1.1). An alrernativesrnxn~refor verbs of placement is the serial orrsmKtion with @ung (8.3.11:
Ng6h jEum
hmgmeUi.
have interra
Ng6h dou gZim dh p y a h t juhng h h n-dhng. I hll t h s time today still not understand
ngM jZi h~ go hap douh. CL money I k e g at C L box there 'I'm keeping the money in the box.'
Di
Gnmim hhi news wry
C+un bssi W m h . I take CL Aower-bottle put at liere 'I'm putting the l a x over there.'
NgM hah chi e n 116h heui &ih sung. I next time w~th yw go buy f d 'I'll go and h y gmcriw with you ncxr tim: Other prepmitiam f w m d fmm @ are gdnjy~~h -with. fdlllwing' and p n p i 'acmrding to':
PI
LRih gZnjyuh
n@h hhsahng. walk
ym Following me 'Follow me.'
7.2
NON-SPATIAL RELATlONSHlPS
I n addition to inrhcating location in spaoe and time, prepitiorslmverbs and nostposiziwcdlocalizers may indlcateother relationshipsbehveen noun . . phrases.
-
zy
jirr or jiujy~~h have a similar rnmning, 'Mowing' or 'acwrding to': hu gai yin~Cti@uh chiu pm p t h n k awarding mlcwlate sliwld ha%e more than one
maahn jihng
d m i means -towards' m a ndirechonal s e m . for example with referto personal relationship and feelings:
N@h ngmhmh deui ngOh h4u ndu mother-in-law tmvarrk me very motmother-in-lawweam me nicely.'
ghgeui ge Ensik amording e m LP analysis 'according to expert analysis'
ge.
million mmain PRT "Afcordmg to cahlatiom there s h w M be over a m i l l i i leR:
go
Whngpht JluJyull Mil 5p @g. always following CL book ralk This ledurer always lectures according to the textbook.' @mgtii
ge.
NI
PRT
tms CL lecturer
f i r u often used with the prtickfm .back. in return' (1 1.3.11:
Ng6hdeih jiu Eian gauhlin ge fCm&at heui chauh fin. we f o l h k k old-year LP methnd p mi= fund 'Well gu with Ian year's way to raise funds.' I h :jiu can be used as an adverbial before a verb with the m n i n g 'cany on .wprdlesb'
YSm jeui-jb ktuih d31 ~ i u yam. dnnk drunk-F'FV s h e also continues drink 'He g m s o n drinking even when he's drunk.' H6u dli yeuh ngaihlim Mu @hn mihng ji alw wry many pmpb evvn k m hue danger
l d h n)hng. with
. . mduh gwrian (w gww%mhaih)-have mrhing to do
Ni gihn sih thhng n@hdeih m h h e n h a i h F. this CL matter wit11 us rot-have connection PRT This has nothing to d o with m.'
f i h g in this usage may also tskc a dauw as Its &@T:
Co gachihn tbm$ lfingm joah rrnjuh gwmn ge.. CL price with who does m h a v e connection PRT "Ihe p r i i ~ n ~ n g t o w1tI-1 d o w h o m thejob: wuih or ~ # q i ?meam 'W in the sense 'fm the si~kelbenefitof;
jiu shik ym. mntinrw mcke nprette *Woplecarry on smokrq even when they know it's dangerow.'
Ng6h waih Eih cheung d u g6. I tor ynu sing CL song I fling d W I I ~run yw.'
jihauh m a h jiu tiu, m6h ninety-seven after dam^ cuntinue d a m b
K h i h waihj6 g6 go l€uii$n m a w d m hdng jouh. he for that CL wonran what all willing do 'He'll & anything for that woman.'
GfiucWl
jiu Wau. continue race (tiu-mhh 'dance'. pAalrmAh1- ' 'ARcr 1897. t k drrnnngand horse-racing will continue a s before.' dfm bun juhng jwh-lhh-jouh o'clock half st111 d m - d o 'Do we still wmk after five-th~rty?.
A. N@I
fiw B: Jiu
mntinue
a?
PRT
puh. do
a i r y on.'
Ng6li tt~hngW a n g SRang mliaih 1~ sulik ge je. 1 with Wong Mr not-be very familiar PRT PRT -1 d o d t knmv Mr Wow very well.* A-Wihng Ern-jyuh ti~hngkduih @bh@ @u s f i a n g Ah-Wing think-COW with h i b r n t k r &l husimess 'Wing is rhink~ngof s e t t i q up a business with his [elder] brother.'
r2rh1tgis a b ; o d to ooordinate nourn (16. I.I) and in mmprisrms (9.3.9.
."
pinw& 'became (d)'m y funmion as a preposition as well as a confinch: Ng6h mhaih yamvaih cm'n k g Eih ge. I nc4-be hecause money hclp you PRT "Ihelp yw m4 &we of W e mmey.' K h i h haih $mih miinji @nji gytm gam d6 cMn. slhe is h u s e face then donate so much money 'She h a t e s so much m y for a p p m n c e ' s sake.' p w i h m y he used tugelher with m n s dermhng r e m s , a wage whieh i redundant in English bul mrrristcnt with the pztkm of ~@~rwuih .. . s6yfi as a mjunction (16.2):
N@h h h nhih flnwaill m'i go ybhny%i Eikhdi khih. I nm would b e c a w tliis CL r e m n leave-away him 'I wouldn't leave him for THAT reason.'
Note that the English here is ptentially ambigunus. while in C a n m e the p i t i o n nf t h e y m k flmse d a t i v e to the negation determines t k meaning: Ngdh flnrpalh m d go yLhnyh h h w d i h 1Mh h01 keulh 1 hemme &is CL reason not wwld leave a p i him 'Iwouldn't leave him, for that m.'
and ~ s i o n ofs bath 127
Pre&ohs kPik jim 'among c#hers7ir. a literary +se
a h din s p c h !
W h jnng y%t p jyiing3 h a h Jiingrdhn Daaihhhk r& among one CL e x p r t is Wlincse University
gc
gnnumuh.
LP professm 'One of the m a l i s t s is a
at the Chi-
University.'
It i s commonly m d to refer h c k to a p w k u s dm= or sentence:
Ng6h h t y i h p
p d u n t e after will find job 711 firad n jcib after I p d u a t e . '
Yihchihn khuh gaau Jiingmfin p. before dhe teach Chinese pRT 'He used to teach Chinese.' a
ge
syii,
kGh jiing
j e ~ n ch-q
r n m m r famm grmnmr IP honk rest a haih Jiuh YilhwYahm. LP R Chao YuewRen 'A number ot m l n r s have rvntten hooks a b u t L h l m grammar. among whom the M - k m is O m Yuen-Ren.' ge
7 2 2 NON-SPATIAL LOGALlZERSFOSTPOSmONS
%me
rvprds
which hehw synt#iwlly like h l i u e r s vr &twm
(see 7.1.1) eqxess non-spatial relationships. h l k n marking locatiorr
in time are formed with the prefixes jF and 31: jichlhnlylhchlhn 'More' flmWyihloih 'within'
j$hauh/yihhauh 'after' ji-ngoioihlyih-rtgoih'kpd
The two atternalive. ~T.41ihmlylkhihr1 ' k f w e ' and j?km~hI~$hkmA ' a W
are not inferchnngahle in all environments, although they overlap. The forms with Fare used aRer a n w n phrase, like postposiths:
WkP
-1hn ngbh yiu d Mu W n sq. summa-hdiday before I need write V-PRT CL hook 'I need to finish writing the book hefnre the summer hdiday.' Wry@ tii h w @hil y%uh ge faatjtn. shwld look gal ninety-$wen b e y d LP development 'One should he mimistir: a h t developments beyond 1997.'
ChsamhArru syij yiu hhnp: mhi j%ih whhn. reference h k sdrould rw day within return 'Reference hooks shculd he rerurned wirllin w drip'
These words are a h used rn m j u n c t i m after a clause (16.2.1):
h. PRT PRT
By mtrmk, t t related ~ won% y r w h n ' k f o d and y M a J r ' a W fuw don a s adverbs (10.33):
Yihhauh jdhfaat
jihauh w15h d n @ng
I
Ell
I-@
~
hQ
your U
1
&u
h h &ng
drlill
wamd
tEng d6u 1-1 V-PRT
e g .
'Fmm now on 1 h n ' t want to hear yocm voice again.' yheuhng ' a M and yi7Jmh 'below' are wed with figures toqness lower and uppcr lrmits rcsptivcly:
S?iamhp w i yihseuhng thirty year abow 'aged thirty and ahoue'
YSt kiak m e hundred 'helow $1W
man yiihnh dollar below
Srmildy, p%-ngmh 'hcyorad' may refer to limits in time or spa~e: YSt baak m e hundred
rhh @ngi€ih yih-ngoih %u kilometre beyond receivr: nM
y~hrnhbhseunhouh. V-PRT any signal 'Beyond a range of 100 km ynu can? receive any si-1.' dbu
meverbprme 1ZB
8 THE VERB PHRASE
f i k dung I-&
Cd
ma CL photo
leng.
very nice
The picture's nice.'
In g m l , hih wwld not be llsed e x m p as a focus marker in an emphatic sentence or to retute a claim:
Thii chqter &als with the hmk syntax of verb p h m s t y p of vem (8.1). o h m (8.2) and serial verb c m A d o n s (8.3). Passwe, causatiw and rewltalive mrufticm are treated in s d o n s 8.4 and 8.5. The aspan ma&ers and verbal partides arc mated sgwmtely i n c h a m 1 I. modal (arnril~ary)mbs in chapter 12. Cantotwe verbs do m o t vary in form accnrding to numher. person or teme. There are no verM mfleniw, apan fm the marhers, which behave for the most prt rn suffixes (11.2. I).
8.1 TYPES OF VERB
t#ative yerhs
amion w k auxilEary v e r h
as f o l l m
hail -he' jungyi 'like'. jyuh live'. l h W n k ' @h 'M, heui 'gd,y i ~ k'move' ylu 'need', w61h 'wllVwould', d u n g 'wanr'
The diiinctiow hetween amiliary and Mher verbs, and hetween dative re&- and Mj&ves are n ~ eategorkal 4 nnw, as d i s c u d in chqter3. S.1.1
' T k piaure S really nice.' A: K h i h mhaih
h a lengjei jt. rsn't very w - m o ~ i n g P K 'He im+tvery @-looking.' f~
~
B: K h i h hmi h611 lmg-jl
lth. he is yery good-looking PRT 'He is really g o d - W i n g . '
In most c a s Imrh a n De Omittea wimout affeaing the seme or munure
Cantonese v e h are traditionally divided into ateaopular verh
Gb mk g u n $ hab h h leng ho. that CL photn is my nice PRT
of a senreme:
I*
go [haih) ngbh saiKiu IIPihge. rhis CL (is) my hronier PRT 'This is my Iyoungw] W h e r . '
ui chci (halh) sahp man hat) gan. CL vegetable (is) ten ddlar (om) catty T h e vegetables are ten dollars a catty.' Gb h n that CL
THE VEFIB F W H ' E
That
syii
(haih) n@bh ge. my LF
book (is)
hnnk h mine.'
The wpular verh $I& 'to k'.like other & w e verbs, is invariable in form, hence Ivrih m y m r d a t e rn 'am'. hw'. 'were'. etc. It shwld be
dishngui~hed~K?I !klncalivc mwrh hrli 'he: at' win a high rising mne (see 7.1). As the name roprJu losuggffts, rhe m i n furcthn dhaih ts to join two nnun phrascs:
Gd th yahn mih ngoh ge phngyauh. that CL n o p l e are my W f i i d Wme people are my friends.'
G6 Rlk wB haih n@h ge. that CL fidure is my LP That m r e is mire.' Note that in neuhal c m k x t s k& adjectiws ('3.1):
is nut used to mrmt m u m with
Idtom: in (hnih) ngdh g meaning 'Ws nn mc' h i h m mv&mlly omittcd:
Ni
chSan ng6h ge.
(TV ad)
'This meal's on me.'
In addition to its b 5 i c role as cqrula. haih has a numher of gmmmatial functions: [a) In me emphatic camwmon h i h . . g,wMch should be d b tinguished fmm the V v e ge (63). Like Mandarin sht . . . de and the 'cleft' conin Englkh, it emphasizes the word after h&
130 Cantonese: a wmrxshsnsiw qrarnmar
The verb phrase 131
G6 M n syii halh n@h ckhng p. that a. hnnk ix I order PRT "Itwrrs I who ordered ~t book.'
idiom: h i h .
GBm ge j a h f a a t haih Eih Hnji lam d6u ge. wch LP &way k y only rhinh V-PRT PRT 'Only yw wuld have thwgllt up that kicd of method.'
Note mat p is pqdaced by go in quesr&ns. due q quesrion partide a (18.1.1):
mtpctb with
(c) as an affirmative answer to certain t y p s of question, notably prhcle qwstions (17.1.8, 17.1.9):
A: Lhli
saai cMn ah? yw mt-have all m e y PRT ' M Y have any monqP m6uh
~ g mmmih
gel ~ m uKetIlfimIh stung mm. not-be quite k w they want how 'Ihnot quite sure what they have in mind.'
B: Haih a. Is PRT
I
"Yes.'
B: Haih a. IS PRT
m i h d e i h mhah h6u thllngyi. n d - l x very agree "Tllgr don't really agree.'
they
WR'
(d) to introduce p d ~ m h v ecomplements, like English us. with the verhs syun hnih 'ccunt as' and dong. huih mt as, regard s':
Many skttive w h s are intermediate heFNeen verb and adjmtim; g&g, for e m y e , resembles M h the verh Jmr and t k adkctive afraid. I t behaves as a verb in taking an &pa. but like an rdjectlve in allowing reduplicatim (9.2.2):
Sam h a k
man q u n haih g& @hng. three hundred dollar count i s pretty clreap Three h ~ n d r r rdl d l m m ~ n as h m y rhPilp.' k€uih baih saikruhjai l t i h p je. 1 regard him as child PRT PRT '1 regard him asjust a chld.'
Ngbh h g
YAh~hhn
I
'E\.erym~: k n o w she's pregnant.'
&Su g n g
ni
pzrson-perwn all
a h a ~ d this 'Everyone is afraid of this disease.'
j6ng bchng
CL diseax
Ngbh gEng%ng&i jtk. 2 afrai6afrrrid-ish PRT 'I'm a hit afraid.'
(e) in quantikd mtenws with dm. meaning -every'(14.1):
A n R yhhn d h jl ktoh h l h - j d RSuh. is person all knrxv she hig-PFV belly
go
h m h a b m a d and a n a n r n u m s e . l n r l K : broad sense, traditional in Chi= grammar, stative v e r k i h d e whm we treat as d j e c t k (seeh.9). An d k M d in rhapler 3, there is nn clear distinction behveen shltive verts and Nectives. In a narrower sew,more uwal in linguistics and gramman of.&l~erl a n g u a p , siative wrhs m tliis sense are t h m rvhih are clearly verbs, but share certain properfia with ad@-. Clear emmfies arelTdord'kmow- and ridhngvi 'agree'. which may lx modified hy g#i 'quite' and M u Very much'.
saai m5ih a? all rice PRT
khih p me? k m him PRT FRT 'You know him, do you?'
heui.
the term--rypwr6isuwl in
(h) m A-nM-A fcim, hikmhaih. to ask yeslno queshons (17.1.3):
yw
v stuhtromnm or determination:
L12 STATlVE VERBS
Since rhe h i h . .. also allows omission d h i h . sentence p m c l e ge (18.32) my be seen as a mvz of this cmtnlbhon with h i l t omitted.
A: M h
e
Ktuih mlhng lohk-y6h haib CIW h h daai jE. slhe dear know fall-rain is also mt mny umbrella 'He w n ' t cany an umbrella even when it's raining.'
the
Ni fiik w5 haih Hngo sung ga? t l h CL I ~ ; ~i*+ ~WIW ~ t gPRT 'Who was i t that gave us this pchlre?'
Haih-mhaih m6uh hr-m-be m-have 'Are we w t of rice?'
. &rr
Kduih hmh d i h yiu jihgti Jhp is dm #wed wlf 'He i d on p i n g h i m l f . '
1
Several of them take ohm, bile the corregwrading En-&& canm:
djdjemves
The verb Fprase 133 denotes the ahnity in 'tell' in the seme d&&&PI# with verbs of of rrcogniring what k ~rceived:
Ng6h Gu suhk kCtnh iikkK~yhhn. I vtry familiar hL., hnmc-people 'I know his bmlly very well.' gihn m m ji @am this CL s h ~ r t masr rlglll This shirt suits you F e r f d y . '
Ni
d5k kCuih mhaih Gwkgdiing-yBhn. listen can out dhe nM-he C a n t o n e x - p e ~ m '1 &,kll (by iirsl~ding)f l a t dm's MA Cant-.'
Ng& I
16h la!
you PKI
[Ni +k &tsuh&i n p a m saai slu-pihngyfiuh! Ithb Cl wash-head-wter] right PRT small-friend .[This shampm's] just the thmg forchildren!'
L i i h siikhh-sihk dSk d m t y a m i n y5uh di rnat@'h a? you eat-not-eat can out insCde have m e what PRT 'Can yw taste wlmt's in this?'
pad.)
rhh rhnn is I I E negative w u n q a n of lldk chW (xe 12.3.3):
11.3
slhe ?i.ixry-some 'He's in his sixties.'
B:
VERBS OF PERCEFKW
t6i dh,t&igin 'see' tCng N u , E n g gin "hear. g n M u 'see,notice' w h n g &I, mohnggh k, wan%'
gm Seem h n g 'wardr. -re' d h n 'smell. snifr gol, dak *eel'
mhhn d6u Smell' (transitive) gc4 dak dh "feel' (formal)
ddk is often d u d a n t with -tion may ham thc mbdnl mcanirtg
tbi dSk $n 'can see' W h n dsk d6u 'mn smell' verbs as MI brdu a l o e , fmexample, dak may be nddtd f~
+ a n w', but
emphasis:
H h y6hn f i ~ mhhn (dak) fi~. very far a h smell { a n ) V-PRT 'Yw m n smell it a long way off.' Gnm e h n . 1Bh tsl-hli-rA so far yw look-W-look O n you see so far away?'
+hh ckot
N@h d h n ihh ckwt haih mtity€h meih hhp. I smell ttd out be h a t lbvour PRT V mn"t tell w h t the flnvour is.'
i
The verb and @de in nffse wmbinations, although mually wntten as single words in the Yale system, are all pntentinlly s%pmblt.the neptive rhh and the d a l partide dr7k coming henueen tllem: tBi h R gin 'cannot sx' @m@ mh d& "cannot feel'
w! n d out PTY 'Yru wouldn't know!'
Tgl
M
!h-mpthn vprk am f m m ~ r hy l mhiniw a mwry vprh with a verlwl particle or o m verb. Note the systematic distinction hehveen simple wa-b denoting perceprual d v i q and rhe compound v e r h with d6u or gin which d e w a m ~ apwption l o f a ahmulus:
tii S d . watch' e r g 'IiMcn'
luhksahp@i wui p la. years PRT PRT
Khih
A:
Like a d j e h w , hw.vever, they may be d iby hdu and other m d i fiers ('3.13) and may hc duplicated with dPi (9.2.2).
dak gh a? can see PRT
idiomr m~ilht6i' m'i-hrih or r d i v 'it depends' is fdkmed by an Indirect queshm: A: Yiu g€i loih a? need how tong PRT 'HOWh g will it take?'
B: TGi-hsh Krgo h u h la. see-DEL d m whodoff PRT 'It depends who does it.'
1
A: Liih e i s i h EhEng ngdih srhk fnnhn a? yw when invite me ear food PRT "Whcn are yw going to imite me to dinner? B: T&-grm, sin. see-EXP first 'We'll see rrii h h is used
. . .'
to make an inference l m d on appemnces:
Ttii lsih
Wh gam hi yHtdihng faat-daaht la. (film) rime rklimlrly rnnkemgnry I T T 'It lwks like yw're sure to make money this time.' s=e come you rhls
/ d i m : rbi M u 'be @ m i W transitively:
may be wed intmmirively or
L€ih p h n g t8i-hh ah? ycu still kck& FRT 'Still nptimishc. are you? N&h jauh h h nh-h6u 1 then not look@ "ButI'm d wmistic' m h n g long
air1
tm
la31 cane
Complement c l a w s of Fcrccpfion verb. cbmihing witrmsed events, directly follow theverb without any m j u n a i o n : Ng6h t&i-jyuh
lak. PRT
1Bi
M h Eng-mh-teng &k mlhng kCuih g6ng m i t a? you k a r - n ~ + + a r can ~ i d r m l a n df i e say what PRT 'Can yw u r d e m n d what he's sayng?'
'I'm watcliing the baby sleep.'
116yn1 GI-lldu
Iwk can
p bihbi Tan-.
bkok-CONTCL b h y s k p
I
Iwk-good
g6u4HIL
nineqf*ven
faatjin after LP d w e b p i m n t 'In the long term m e can be optimistic ahwt develqments after 1997.'
j i i u h ge
rdi diki a h meam 'he W r n i d c " . the partide h6i 'away' meaning to look away fmm a problem or difficult situation: M h tAi
Mh di la! look V-FRT a-bit PRT 'Why not lmk on the bright side?'
Ngbh Z h n m h t m p di h o h k S a n ~ Rg, f$q. I alwq hear CL M e n 8 so talk 'I often hear the srudents talking like that.'
L&h yM-rdm~h gin d6u kCuih Mayw h a w - h a v m t see V-PRT her walk
gahp lhih a? enter come PRT
'Did you see her m e in?
k m p l e m e n r clause d e nor change in bm: Note fial the verb in t the prcgressive fnrm -&is mot used. for example. in such complement dm=.
you
Jiinggwok-ylhn t5i chlihng gwmnhaih g. Chinesqmmn look imponant connedion PRT The Chiplace great irnptanceon m & n s . ' L&h m h h t8i
siu
k h i h a.
lPih tAi fhh hPi ng6h knuw yw h k nol up me 9knowywlookdomonme.l jMm
(fihn)
rmg &k d'mg Snderstand (what one is hearing)' k m a similar syntax:
HEmohng Wh m g dBk mihng. hope you hcar can u d e r s m d
'I hope p u understand.'
These verbs indicate mental astiwry or p m p t i o n :
Pdou 'know' (fxF.1 slR 'know' (a p m or skim Ism 'think' yihvfaili 'think' ( m d y m m ~ )
yw don't lo& small him PRT 'Don't undereshmte him.' tlii ddi and rhi rfrA Ii#i look down on' apply sirnbrly to people: Ng& I
VFRRS IHCXKiNlllClN
a.1.d
rdi CAdkng kpdw important' and i a mnverse Mi J2ngor nlistit -underestimate' have a similar syntax:
yihngwsih 'Illink, consider'
pk&k ' k1 (opinion) ' geidak 'remember' yihngd8k Wm@niee' mgei&k Torget' (seung-)seun 'helieve' (have m f d e n o e )
The syntax of these w r h 6 s r r a i w : there being no m j u d o n c m q m d i n g to h r . a verb ofcqmition 1s m p l y Mowed by a dam: gddSh E;h yimsgG .3;&n1 dl. I feel yw shwld careful link: -1 think y w ought to be mme careful.'
Ng&
Ng6h e d 8 k Wuih g3 Ek @. 1 remember h e quite dever PRT '1 rememhr t h t she's pwny hi&.*
136 Canton-
a oorgehensive g r a m m DirG# o b j d Liih duhk
N m : SRmeam 'kncm' a m to ~ q r l e as . in the phrase .d yRhm 'to ha: wnnectims' a d aim to knmvledge d h o w to do things {Sik *h-& 'to know hmv to swim'; see 12.1.2). fl a d k s to facts or
you
Object oj l o c a h ~
M h duhk bin
@an hnhkhaauh a? you study which CL x h 1 PRT 'Which scliwl do you p to?' Ngbh s i h k - r n BHkging LBuh. T eat-EXP Beijing House 4've eaten at the Beijing Garden.'
wo.
him FRT 'Oh, I W t know about him.' M-know
8.2 OBJECTS OF M E VERB AND TRANSlTlVlN The verb phrase, in linguistic themy,includes the object. In Canrrmw, the relationship hemeen w h and object i s particularly dose (see 6 objea c o m p n d s , 8.2.4) and *bjW midy be he -1 distiwt kin&.
82.1 MRECT AND DlREGilONAL OSJECrS Many yerbs of mohm whch are intranative in many I a n g u a p may take directirmal &jccts in Qntonm. Thcre is no need for a prepogitm k h v e m a c l i i t i m l verb and its*: (yee ch. 7 and 3.1.3 fordiscussion of Cantonese prqwiuonslmrbs) heui Mhhgwok Wh H%gg6ng go AnNxim come H W w e 'go to America' Gcometo Hongkq'
r ~ h p Eng c h m miMrnhhu emer m m out ellmnce 'go into a mom' 'go w t of the M V e r b ot posture take objeds W n g locatiom Wih ch6h ni jmng yl la. sil , t h i s CL c h i r FRT Sit on this chair.' Fan jihg&i p chbhng pyiXuhk dT. sleep self LP hed comfortable mme 'It's r m r e m h t a b l e tn sleep in one's own Id.' Many verbs m y take tither a direct o r a locative object, e.g. duhk 'study' and siWc 'eat':
y
gi?
Ngd~ srhk-gwo EkgTng choi. I eat-EXP Beijing f d T v e d e n Pekinese fwd.'
A: A-Tbm jouh mS@h a? Ah-Tam do wht PRT What's the matter with Tm?' keuih
f?~
'Which sub@ are yw dudyirtg?
information, as in fi-rhfi-lihdi fidquh? 'M~ V h V w rvhae it is?' Whcn jlir fdbwd by only a p r w n ar fdlows, #iJlji M ~ i can h he interpreted m a n ellipfica! him of #irh]if i i k jouh m%yeYt:
B: ~ h j i
Mn
study which subject PRT
I
82.2
"
INDIRlXTOtWWlS
Verbs like Mi
may take two conmmtive oljem. a%in Emglii. In
Canmew. however. die: imliwct ohjea fdhe the d i m : Ngbh Wi chin Kih. (rwr *n&h Mi Eih &in) give moraqr you "I11 givt y15U t khtnq:
Note that Cantonese difFers from horn English and Mandarin in the mdcr of t k nvo objects. Howeyer. the indirect object may m e fim when the d i m object is especially long:'
N@h M Kih $i &-n man thhngmhaih I give yrn~ a-few h l ~ ; l n r l ddbr pl~n; *ng gEifiu. one CL air-tact 1 ' 11 givt yrm a few tlwmnd d l a n plm nn air ticket.' This construction is used pprimarily with the v e r b h -'@m'and& meaning ySt
'lend
Ng6h jej6 ySt chTn man khih. 1 l e n d - W one thocsand dollan h k k r 'I lent him mthusand rbllam.' Note that if the indirect object precedes the direct, jc may mean 'borrow': k h i h pit &iin man. N m j-j6 1 bmrmv-PFV him one thousand ddlars 'I hormmed a thowand ddlam hmn him' or 'I lent him a t h m n d
Some -ken we the h b l e object mstructirm wim additional verbs such as sung ' w d . give m a p s e n t ' and W r n *return': K h i h sung W n syij ngbh. slhc m d CL book me 'She gave m e a hnok (as a gift)." Faai fi d a h n E a n tiuh a h n@h. quick a-bit rehrrn back key me 'Return the key to me quickly.' yerbs of giving such as the ahove with the exception of Mi appcor in a k o l verb cod&on (gea 8 .3), typially t d h f&i ithe ~ cveh d2
In p r a l ,
Ng6h srrilh @$ Wng seun E i @. my h h e r mail-PFV CL ktter to me &Mybrother mailed me a letter.'
Ymg@i sung W b6i k b i h . should send flowcr to l w
'We should send her lbwers' maalh ga chc W Eih I sell CL car to you 'I"m selling you t k car:
N&+
A third w r b m y Lr: ad&d aFkr LIE 1mdi
~
'
:
M6uh
Lkih chih dou flhndeih M i h faht l€ih cllm ge. yw late arsive people will fine y m morrey PRT 'They'll fine yru i f yw're W.' Many verbs which take nvo nhpcts in English (call, mnsider etc.) are uFjng serial uwb c o n s t r t d m The v& jmrk 'do' is used as the wwrdl verb:
Yghndeih giu k i h call him
T h i s c m e h d o n with @A
Joah as
t%hl6u ge. fatty PRT
i s also used in giving me's name, with p z ~ h
optional: Ng6h giu (jmh) CMhn Siu B6u. I can (as) Clan Siu 'My m e is Chan Siu Bou.)
dong 'regard as. mar as' takes e l mh i h + noun +rn in complement:
nr a full clause rn
Yghndeih d m g ng6h bah @&hn IGhge. pmple regard me 3s work p w a PRT ' I h being h a l e d 8s a m n t ' M h darg
m6uh dm ah? (idiom) nof hem PRT 'Are ynu treating me as: a ncbdy?' you
ng6h
regard nle
8 2 3 QUANTIFIED DBJECT3
Where the cbjm, direct OT iradirmt, is quantified, tollowed by the qmntF fier d61~, it is placed hefore the uerh:
Ngbh h h n g deui (Maih) d m jungyi. I pail ( s k ) all like '1 like t d h pain (of s h w ) . '
yhhn gam ng6h JIingmAn not-have person teach me Ollm Were's no one to teach me Chinese.'
Ng6hbeih &hng fluh (yi) sihk saai. we whole CL (kh) v-PRT
Ngbh sin m h n 16ii y%t gu rnahntiih. I finrask ywoneCLquesrirm 'Ill ask yw a guestion first.'
Khih [hi%yii dm b& h l n . she CLCL (beggar) all give money 'He gives money to every beggar.'
'We've eaten the wtmle fish.'
'Fhevab -E%
140 Cantonese: a comprehensive grammar
N d e t h t the noun itself m y be ornirted, b v i n g hehind the c-,l when its identity is dear frewi the cimted. The ylafial syntax nfquantifd flrases is d h m d further in chapter 14.
Lkii cK 16uhyhh p g ~dm @tai-fan, e u h di. y w r U mutes CGCL all get-all-marricd have some
VERS-OBJECT COMPO..FJDS
mnh
In many f m d v e h b j e c t m h i n a h o m the object is said to be 'lworporate# into theverb(2.3.3). These are written with hyphenarionmshow rlib relationship: t&i-sya read-book
che~ngm sing-song
'red
'sing'
gin-giing =-work 'goto an interview'
y6m-ykh drink-sluff 'have a drink'
yiu
si%enn
Mi n&
@ah@.
mea w n t e - I ~ C Tto my hmlner 9 have to w r h to my [elder] hmrher.' I
hcui Jim Dong. we d r i v e a r go Tsimshatsui &st We'll drive to Tsimharsui East.'
Ng6hdeih @isY
Note mat the object m rhcse: mnstructirms is genericor mdcfinite: it is mt undeKtood as referring t o a prticulsr object. Despite the close relationsliip between verb and ohpct. the two parb
may be separated as fdlows: (a) The aspect markers and v e h l p r t i c l e (see ch. 11)wrme between the
Wrn and object A-mS t&-@n-syn. Mum read-PROG-book 'Mum is reading.'
git! (gir-fdn 'get married')
d6u also
(film)
not-yct get
Tour friends are all m a n i d , some are alrendy drvoroed, but p ' r e not even married yctl'
(c) A noun or mtewem -en
sewing as the *ect its NEO p r t ~
of the wmpound may
chamJadaih 'Ratter':
rrii alone merely m n s ' h k ' (8.1.3). whle c h m g 'sing' 6 rarely u d withour an object. Similarly. the v& d 'write' and ji? drive' are nm mdily I I mrmnsit~vely ~ as in Engbah. but are typimlly ammpanird by an &&Ias in the fdlmving cases:
N@
h, hi jauh Tihn fin diwmxXFV PRT you then even married
juhng hi-+fin
also 8.2A
141
N g d ~ tsuhqn
llohk-j&@i. I just-now down-PFV-t 'I went &de jusr now.'
Muih j%gwaawcht p la. drive-ud-cmr PRT VRT 'Wle's used to driving.'
&!he
(b) The o b j m may be tnpicalized (4.2.1). h v i n p the verb m n d e d ' :
Khihdeih g-Am ghtg ha* h n g &at Wh h i ge je. talk is wam polish your shoes PUT PRT "TIq't-e juW saying that to Rarrer you.'
they
h5ng-s4u 'help cut': h&hh+hylh
yw mn-notcan
biMg @ &I a? help me hand FUT
'Could you give me a hand?'
pxingehhrkng h p p r ?
Uih Muyln ng6h saht dih pGng W h chhhng. p u p e r h I sure will wppm your show 'Illbe mre to support you a~ your performance.' Note that the intervening p n w m here m y be wen ar the p x s w r of t t w ehjcct of the ccanpound verb, SR in English Hers gdIinfipwrr&. (d) An adverbial noun phrase expwing duration or frequency (8.25) may intervene:
Ng6h m6ih p M yiu ji b m go Mngthh CM man-gng. I every day need drive half CL M r mr return-& 'I h a w to drive Em half an hour a day to get to work.' K€uihdeih yBt go Wihbaai y5m g&l chi clhh. they one CL week drink a-few times tea T h e y go tor t m [and dim m]a few times a week.'
82.5 ADVERBIAL OaJECTS A ncun phrase expregsing the frequency or dumtion of an mion may be used as adverbial
cbjwm
l l m v e r b p k e 143 Go hihbi kHt-jb
Wng
CL b b y owgh-PF'V
IWO
and similar comhinatirms in American Enghsh. I t i s essenrially a simple m c a t e n s t h of v e r k
sound
T h e baby coughed twice.'
BBtyi~hng6hdeih h i tG M. rather we go we film 'Let$ p and see a film.'
+
N@h f u h n ~ j u hl l i h j ~ h @ IIslhlmai. parent? arme lrve one CL week prents are comingto qtay Tor B week:
zy
If the verb i s t t a m i t i ~ i. t tends to bc rtpcated bcforc the time e x p ~ s i o n : ~ s8i ni gihn saam &i-j6 1 wa$h this CL shirt wash-PFV 'I've wrrshed [his shirt twice.' Ng&
I6uhng chl. two times
jynh j h ~ d l mjph-j6 yM p Lib&. live hotel live-PFV one U meek 'We shyed in the horel fm a week.'
Nedeih
pu-PL
pt Lw' rneprhpr wim a nmm may fmm an
resembles a cl-er
adverbial phrase. me F ~ V W
and h sometimes known as a %*I measure
m:
U i h sek ngWl @ d a a h a: yw kiss me one bite PK1' ' G i me a kisr' XngpSi dB k t u i h ySl M h h u W hit him one slap 'We shwld pjve him a slap.'
Leih bang ng6h 9 go tnalmg B. you help m e one CL f a v w r PRT 'Do me a favfflr: These phraw are often formed from M y Pam: LRih tek you kick
khih
lnm
gmk. one h o t
yit
'five him a k a . ' durng tfii lrilll: La; dG ng8ab. wish look baby lodr mme m e eye 'I want te fake arwther lwk at the baby.'
N&I 1
Ng6h tingyaht tzi hmi g i m . I t o m o m fly go see-work ?'m flying to an rnterview tomormw.'
Note that the Canton- i n this example hw three v& while English fm one. Senal verb ~ m s t n d o n e s m many of the relationship w h i i are exp-d by ~reposltionsin English and o t k r Eurnpean langmges. For example. rhe sentence 1'11 phmw fur p a carmd readily k rendered literany i n Canb u m there b nn Ineposilioncorrespondingto 'for' (the wuerb wath has the more spxific meaning 'fm the mke of: 7.2.1). lnsltrad, hm v e r b are med: b&g Yih d a d i h d . I k l p p mflphone '111 phone for ycu.'
Ng&
Nc4e that although &%gin i d a t i o n meaw'help'. the a d d r e m here is n M hs l;Apalc adivrly, mnlllc~.lk qxaktrr i s u r h i n g lo pdbm amcq angle-handedly. This conma i1lustn-a~~ a difference between the English cornpl-tatiwt structure rrs i n 'hetp you (to) phone' and the Chinest serial m c t h n Mil is c k r to 'Iltrlp yuu by phoning'.
txprfil
8 3 1 SERIAL 00NSTRV(TTIONS EXPRESSING ACTIONS Actions which are eqmmed by a verh and a p r q m i t i r m i n English are rypically e xin Cantonese by a serial conshudion containing two m more uerhs. The spcslkd 'w(see 3.1.3 and dr. are very widely used in serial m m c t i o m , playingthc r d e ofprepositims in English. For example. the relation 'fmrn' may he: e x p r e d by the awerb hiAng 'w~thl awornpany':
n
Jeui h u i tilling ng8hnhahq je chin. m m t pnl with hank ~ I T B W money .It's h t to borrow m m e y from bank.'
Such m n s t n i u i m s m n he ambiguous as t o tie relation expresed by nlkng: The 6
1 verb mnnruetion is one of the most imporrsnt and p m l m v e p m m in Cantonese syntax. Althrugh almost onknown i n E u q w a n languages, i t reembles m t m d o m like go s ~ ne movie, o o m ~ f l ywith us
N m tiihng Y h m a i h ga c h t I with you buy CL car 411 huy a car m m h v l m yw.'
144
-verb
Camm: a mrrprshsnshregrarrrnar
1
The meariin~ may be darified by the &tion d aduerlm such as yzrchdih which would give the mmning 'wiIh'. yuhng 'use' qmsxs the instrumental sense of Sm', fdlowed by I6rh "me' or lmi 'i'go' and the verb:
mW t4i
go
p h n g lslh j m h thu In m fame do 'What's this for?'
Khihdeih phng di chin heul d a i h lsu. they use CL money go buy flat T k y f r : buying Q Rat with the money.' 'lwk for' is also used in serial meaning: x&
I
m w h ga? what PRT
d
I
m with an inshumental
IGuih Jkrng dl wiijou dam j l d f l l pehk. slhe take C L diny ckdhes around throw 'He throws his dirty clotha all over the place.'
gauh Sam
CL old
Ckdhes,
Jouh maat4eikbw. do
wipe-flowsloth
- W ccon w c t h e &clothe9 l m R m r cloth5.' Khihdeih po H-ngghg+hn Jauh jyijihk. they elect-PFV CL Hongkongperson for chaiman "TheyehIed a Hongkqperson as chairmanin.' N d e that asped marker may i y r on the first or the IH strb ofthe scrics. M i %to thc con-ion. I t Tvllmw t k first verb with rnm4 serial wrrshuctiocrs. but with jtmg i t f o l l m the stwad verb:
g6
bi31 chin
hpni
&h
hh.
buy
hwse
Go
s l n m g jkmg n@dcih h h n g go fin Id%. CL teacher plxe us t CL separaw-PFV "The tachw separated the two of IE.'
[wad.) SS.2
restrictedro cam where mvliur~Izlkm pl- mill llrt a h c x a m p k . It i s also applicable in metvhphcaiml a?&% of movement w removal. such as eKElranpjngplaces: Yhhndeih ylh@ jbng @l6uh h a?. w l e now put dd-fashied treat f h n a b l e 'Wnple are rreating ~ld-fashionedstuft as fash~onmble.'
con-
y&p "in' duhng 'up'
pw'over' mami Wmc'
j
di m h e m g y4h gdt-9-g CL unhappy LP stuff one-voice:
nn-j6 W h . (film) swallow-FIT il T o l l h i M t~lir. thr. 1 1 n h mthings and mllw them in one plp.' w of the wcmd *I%
OIRECTK3NAL M R B S AN0 VERBS OF MOTION
Serial m t r u d i o m are also inwlved in expressing motion. Thex sh-wtiorn are based on s e w n directiamlw+?:'
jfing is the nearest equivalent to the Id o w w m u r e in Mandarin. Unl~ke &, however, it is mt medwith all t r d l i u e verbs, but b primarily
Note the wemingly redundantuse of k h f i a the o (see 5 . Iand H-N. S. Cheun~1892).
rn
rate-PFV thm CL money go They dt k money to buy a house.'
Np6hdeih j h n g @ bst h h f i n lbhng fahn. we take thal sum money split two pan 'We'll ylli the money in two.'
need put
cmmpdiqto m:
H6yih yuhrtg di
Keuiideih Wj6
ipmg 'put' is used in serial mmhucriomi n d i t i n g placement (m7.1.4):~
Ym
jonh 'do'as the dverb in a serial Eonshudicm introducesprrdicati- ccmpi-.
they
ZRih w h di y& kimkbuih I. yw find CL thing coverCONT it PRT Y3H h ~ k t h i n b g wver i t with.'
phrase 145
I
Although usually hest tramlatad as prepririom. the= a m verbs in their ann~,mdmku~iran~~rrlyw~hdi~ona1&~e&(lg21): phplchht Mg-enternemvethe room' ymhplchlchtut w n 'kavelenter h q i t a l ' yahp j~hk'bcwrrrc nzluralaljzcd' c k u t gwdi 'goabmad' duhngllohk sfihn 'get odoff a W siuhngllohk gCi 'gel c t o f f a plane' duhngndk c h t 'get intdout of a car* f uhndlohk t h e , 'atterdlleaue clasf gwo m6hlouh 'cross the r o d gwo s e u i b h 'got h m @ the tunnel'
146 c a l b m K a ~ e r r s i v e g - a r sentence would mean that the speaker (for example. on the telephone)will merely set wl in frwl minutes' time:
Ban E u n g w g +returnto HK' tsmn O t k t i 'go home' mbaih d i 'take me's e a t ' d m h sm 'approach body'
N m
Some drhese: verb may dsu l d e d i d u l j n w ~ially
verb-ot+x
ill W I I ~ li
xd
mmpouds (2.3.3.8.2.4):
yahpchin 'dqmit mnney' (into a bank a m n t ) yahp$u K11 up with perrol' ctEut-syU'puMkh a b c d d &ut4ihmuhk ' m e UP with Icxamimfionl topf-' lohk-dehng'put down a deposit' lohk-fo ' u n h d goods'
Most d the d i i o n d verbs m also med as directional pamcles following the verb (11.3.1). but with some differenm of meamnE and ammure. I n the serial verb cunstrucrion. the d i d i o n a l verbs wmbine wlrh rhe: ye& of motion, h m I 'po' m d !dfh 'rum'. yahp heui 'goin' cWla Mri 'go witduhng hmi 'pup' b h t hem 'go d m ' p n hari 'gn wer' f%n heui 'goback' d a i h h& 'p cl-' I n ttns mrsnucrion. the and the vmb of movement:
ngh Wnjung hauh jauh hih. five minutes afwr then back come 7'11 m e back in five minutes.'
I
yahp l i i h 'come in' chern lhh 'cwneout' e u h n g lhih - m e up' lohk lbih 'come down' g w lbih 'mv w ' fSan laiih 'come back' mbaih lbih 'come dm+ m d e n come k t w e m the d i m 1 verb
Cgawj6 IAh (nm*f3mn lhih-jai) h n d m a mum-PFV wme Y;randma has come bck.'
A.Mih
m c h h y6uh yAhn y a m bih. seem have person enter-EXP wme 'Someone seems to have wme in.'
The order here contrasts wirh Mandarin. where the aspea marker follow% the second verb (hrlldi C-has come back'). Similarly. verbal pasuch ns dolt (I 1.3) wm betwen the dirdional verb and the d o n uerb: Ngth n@ trnjllng hauh jauh fian dou ILih. 1 fiw minutes after then back arrive cane: be badc in five minutes.'
'm
The addition d d m here adds the meaning of arrival: with& it. the
S i m i , the @de
adds the meaning 'in readmess':
Mt ja~ih MI la, n g 6 h d r i i M t dihng heal %m* main soon nrriw PRT. w r exit d y go first T h e train's arriving, let's go mt ready.' To the manner d mmemenr a tMrd ve& may he added More the directional verb. producing a sequence of three v e r k jSu
yahp heui sun in po
'rush in'
riu
sEuhng h& po
p3h cMut l3ih climb out wme 'dimb out' diF
lohk
lbih
jump up 'leap UP'
fall down come
gwo h i move rrws go 'move over'
M s h n ~ m h i h 1hi
'tall down'
biin
da?e
walk
m e
' m e cllser'
Note that the last verb in thii wmhwlion is a l w a y s h i 'go' w IhiR 'cane', the clpoice *ding on one's point af reference, much as in English; other verbs cannot he s u h t i i t d . Aspect markers and wrbal part* follow the fim w b of the series:
IX sailouhj6i jh-@ ybp I&. CL cnildren run-rrv In p T h e thildren came runningin.'
K h M i ylh@ h i a h n m
lchk
hi.
walk-PROG down come Thefre walking clown now.'
they
now
~lllh m m Gmmt p w 1-i. need move back owr p V e have to move badc over there qain.'
N&I&ll we
The same w n s t w o n may form the complement of a tmmitive & phrase: d ~ id hankynhn p h p hi bring some in go 'brin~some gwsrs in'
The verb ~I-raseI49
kjau d m t Wh
h
take CL beer out 'rake out a kale of beer'
come
I-K
him
di pip h h n g heui CL case up @ 'brin~ up me m s ' m
b rnk ws lohk I%h take CL picture duwn come 'take the picture down.'
j&trdib h i 4 @ arvund' wgges~mndwn mwment:
Di Euil@i jS&h heui m&ih saam. CL girls around go buy clothes 'The girls are p l n around ~ bugng &k.' hmi
... I d i h k a s c r i a l y e r b ~ d e n o t i n g r r t u r n f m m a
nip: N@h ng;iam-ngmm
M
KCwihdeih y3t
louh g h g W M . they one mad lalh continue 'They just carry vn talking.' L k ~ h tbahn lohk hed play ,down
go
=on
piny~n*(tk
Blknng (Ihih).
Beijing ( m e )
K&riideih heoi yklm Oujsu tiam Mh. they go finish Ausrralia reMn mme They're jwl back from a trip to Aumlia.'
B. PRT
i
juelst gc-EXP 'I've just been to mjmg.'
1
joi idih (gwoJp3 chil. litemlly ' m e apin'. -s Jci
Ihih
'ddtry e
n ' :
gm. (med in practising prcmunc~ation)
again m e over
I d h o f m h :[verb]-!Mi -[verb] - h i , in which the same verb is repated, expressff motion 'ro and fro' or 'up ddown':
'Once more.' Ng6hdeih joi Ihi p t mi. (instrunion at a rehearsal) we again m e m e t h e ' k t ' s try m e more time.'
M h hhhng bih hsahng heui h h d t a? p u walk m mtk do wha PRT 'What are you walking up and down for?. Taaih-hn spew-man
sL.hngyaM fi hi Ei hwi. always fly m m e Ry go The g m e n are always flying to and Tm.'
(miRfin#-ydhn' m e n ' refers to those who 'commute' between H m ~ k o and n ~ abroad. often while acquiring a fore@ w p m . ) This idiom may he used to hadate 'around' or * a W :
Di sailouhjsi 9hnpyaht tiu Ihi tiu hcui. CL children always jump m e jump go 5 Ehlldren are dwayr l e a p ~ abmt.' n~ 111s also used more m t a p m i y :
Ng6h ISm l i h lh heui h mh mihngbaahk. 1 think wme think go still not urdersknd 'I'w thought i t over and over and dl1 don't understal~d.' G C q lhih g 6 n ~ heui c h m6uh gtkuhn. talk c h w rslk sill JIG ~~,sllu;a,, 'They talk and talk and still there's no wmfusion.'
Cantonese has a p&w strumre dmiEar to that in Mandarin, distinguished by the woad M.Note that the 'l?y-phw7 (Mi nmn) must precede tk verb:
+
Wichlhn gh
b e i
M &ii&11 E h A h j t .
before tha CL #ecretary by manager sack-PF'V 'The p r & w -lay wassacked by the manager.'
In spoken Cantthe @ve wrrstruction must contain a n w n phrase ~ f t ebr l representingthe q e A f ofthe action, unlike m Mandarin where the ageypnt phrase may be mined (e-g-Ta bPi kdidrri le 'He vms sacked'). If the agent is unknown or generic, the word ydhn 'penon' is used Bdter M m repr€#m the agent:
M
c l & a ~I ~.& yam, ntnLnit~ xlui. m~ people buy a~ T h e oranges haw all been lmtght.'
L h h bCi M n n@ah-jb la. you by people cheat-Pn7 PRT 'You've k e n chealed.' Similarly. if the W n t is unknown bur clearly nmhuman. it will be ~ ~ l l t 3 3 9h . 1,*f, '111;r&: yauh M J& ng5auh than a p i n by thing hte PRT -rvek n bitten rtpSnn.'
N@h 1
Pa&wimoul an a p t are ~ n d under d the influence ~ of Ma,darin. fw cmmqlc m n c w mpwting or In o litcrmy context: JOngguhng yduh nth p chaahky$hn be* hh. almpther have five CL thief PASS arrest ;rlllogether fiw thieves view arreued.' U u i h ge timhhih ptjihk h i mbihrnuht-Jh. LP mknt until nuw PASS hury PN 'Her dent has always been buried.'
hcr
Note fhst the passive marker hrh here has a different form. with a low 1-1 tone (the usual spoken form M~originates as h i h with a changed tone). The pzmive is us& rather less in spoken Cankine than in English. One mson is that the o m c9n readily he topimlrred (4.2.1). often resulhnE in a sentence best hadated with an English passive. A m m o n sentence type hegins with the objea as topic. fdlowed by a modal verb and no subj&Ix: tou hei yaMihng yiu tdi. that CL film must Wprl 'PP m t mrn has to be seen.Gc,
Another farestrictingthe use d the pwive is that the Mi pmve entails that the $ u r n 1i s affected by the action. typically in an adverse nr unpleasant ntanner. English pa&$ such as I wns t~rncmberpdand I was ghc~ a prewnr. for example. cannd be rendered in Cantonese bffause here Is no such adverse eff-1 on ihc s u t j t ~I l. H u w t x ~tlur . Idi pui- YT:;5 svmetimes used with verbs that do not lrrvolve any elemem d adversity. for example: Kguih h6u jungyi WI y5hn jaan. slhe very like by people p* 'She l i k very much to k pmrsed.' The development of clearly non-adw?mtivepsim in Mandarin, i.e. wrbs w h d fh do clearly m v o k an element of adversity, has been
amibuted to the influence of English, e3pxially &ation amppel1 1%).
( C b 1968;
White the use of the pasiw is relatively msmkted in Cantonese in m respecrs. there are also some passive rnstrustions wtih have no e m A counterparts in Fmglish. The ?amIndh.ect p d v e (dram from Jqanese grammar. where analwus comtrwim-6 exist) i d - m that the subject does not mrrespDnd to the direct object of an active mrence, as w l h the q i q l ~~ .R P C ~ Y Pi lFl ~ ~ t r n tin c d8 4 Thmwnterrm are rliffimilt to tmnslalare, the nearest equlvalent k i n g the I r m . . . purtkfple construction: K k i h Mi Jahn mu-+ chin. $he by pxsm -1-PPV money 'He had some money stden (fmn him).' In thii Kmiri~~m, the m r p r mlwrwly affwwd hy thP a h n iu the s u m of the sentence (as in d i n a r y passives), but is not understood as the objectof the verb: the verb niu retringins indirect objed (chh
Note that there is nn mmqmding aaive m m w : the nearest artive equlvalent wwld be Yduh yJrhA mr-j6khih di clfn, which differs in that MuiR is the possessor nf the object chin. Similar examples include: WgSh b 4 yahn ro-& p che. fihn) I by people IowPFV Ct car 'I had my car w e d away.' K b i h b15 $hn
Fdou saai M h di beirnaht. by people know dl her CL mrets %he had all her m b dismred.' s k
Verb-object compounds (2.3.3, 8.2.4) may be pasivized in this way, retaining the & p t : Wuihdeih Ituhng go si2hngyaht M yhhn ---. they two CL always by people say~dle-talk The have p e q k gmimp abmt them all the time.'
Khih gmg H i 9 h n cMau-y8ulyxl. slhe fear by people f r y q u i d 'He's a h M of getting the sack.' Andher form ofindirect p s j w involves a clause after the verb:
Ngdh d g w o ti4 y%n w h Ihh ak Ymgmin. 1 t r y - r n by people say not know English ?have had people say Imkln'i speak English.'
Ktuih b6i yahn dw h h p b h d6u mh dhe by people bent until wife nlso not
Whng-jAi dhngjaht M i yshn jaan kbuihlenm. Simg-boy always by peopk praise h m handsome 'Ywn~ Sing 1s always bong praivxlTor hi good I&.'
yiin~ dSk kbuih. wccpize able him 'He was beaten so that not tvcn his wife could remgnize him '
In this m. a corresponding active senterm i s possible ( Y d d @hn nrnk ng6h rhh sik Yin~mrin 'Yenpk say I. cannot speak English').
Similar to thc indirect passive is the resultahve corshuction. in which a resultarive verhd particle ( 1 13.2) w adpctrve fotllcswing the pa& verb indicates a m e wsutting from the mion:
The passive verb together uith the MI phrase can function rs an adjectival phmw modifyinga head noun: is rwd to link the two m.wher. Mi n@hnh&hnp cMuisiuj6 by bank -bPW
Ni hahp luhkyinngdaai Iffnging G $hndeih this CL d p H a p e already by . p p l e
t6i wmi$. watch bcLPFV "Ibis videutape has dere~iomtedhorn h n g wtmad.'
Ni
$O
11,;.
TL
"the a m n l csmIlcd by the bank' M Kmhhian chhu-j6 by b~ fire-PFV
jS
M fuhmiwh jlmg w d h s d . m n by p m n t wil bod PRT 'The son h a s h spoilt to death by his parents.'
The -my
I,
Ncae that many of t h e constructions annot d i l y be translated with a mrresplnding Eng~shp s i r e . Thrs f d k fmm the difference in the produdvity of resultatwe verb cumpnds in Cantonese and En#&. A5 with the lndirat p&. me sub* affected not J& by the verb bui by the urhole predmte. mnsisung here d [verb + particle] or
Kmih Ki ybhn n@ak dou p-an. fie by people cheat until banltmp-PW 'He w a cheated lo the point of bankruptcy.' jP giX dou m g CL kids a n w until live 'Iwas made hopping mad by my kids.'
Ng&
Mi di
I
by
ha gam tic shrimp so jump
&k liu-jb ge Ehe CL thieves steal-PW LP car 'the cars (which were) stolen by the t h i i '
6
8 5 CAUSATIVE AND RESULTATIVE CONSTRUCTlONS 15.1 CAUS9TIVE CC)NSTRUCIIW$
[verb + ad-muel.
Resultative passives may aka be f m m d Hith d w 'to the extent that' i d u c i n g a complement &use (8.5.3):
fired by t h e e
Wi yihn tau-jtr Ee c k by people steal-PFV LP car 'the cars rvhich w e d e n '
Mnlhi hnl~hlllhh5 h6u p h n g p CL dd ori&!inally very cheap PRT Imter by
DT Msin
r has h w m ~ expensive as a result of
ge kspi LP secretary
TIE structure of the adjectival passive m b k that of the relatiw claw. The fwmercould well k t ~ 1 t . d& a lypt: uf relatrve c l a w . Canpare the fdlhn~:
Deui h h i h Ei @h jeuk l a b & . n shoes by me wear brokcwW 'llese shoes have worn m t (through my wearingthem).'
yshn dhk @j& people eat expensive-PFV 'Thc seafood wed m be cheap, h its popular~ty.*
ge whhhu LP account
1 1
i
Causative wmnuctim take two distinn Forrrrj. according m I I W of $ i t ~ t vr h event caused. rdusathn nf a stnw nf M ~ A ~ 6T P C X P T P ~hy the verb ling "make' or likng 'cause'. followed by an a d ~ t i u e and thc object.
16ih e g n@h jing yiM dihp choi a. pie- yw help me make hot drsh vegetable PRT 'Could you heat up the di3h ofvegetables for me, plea&"
M@i
Keuln msilrssm jhg daud he I~~IZIWU~ make big 'He carelessly made her pregnant.'
yshndeih go t6uh. (film) other's CL Nmmy
Go Whbi haam
k h i h mhhms. h& mother T k b a b y c k d and woke hwmcdher up.'
Chh lihm Eik i h a m mt? money cafi make you happy PRT 'As if money wuld make yw happy''
...
I€ih .jlm@%lm saai! Wad.) mabe you energetic all 'It €ilk you up with enerpy!' Iihq
baby
Cii
jek Ildh-Hn
NF
61
tliest:
CL Alms
texkbmd
wear
Muih. h m i
RESULTATIVEAND W E N T C O M P U E N T S
(TV)
an adjxtiue m a clause m n g a result to verb is [verb - dorr]. doer 'until' inrroduces a cwnplcmcnt, typically an adjxtive (metimcs with an w particle) e%pressing t h end result w extent of an ban or process: A cunaruction which en-
return& 'Parents shwld see to i t that their hildren po to ~ h w happiiy.' l
M o wm the somplement to a
/
RESULTATWE tOMWUNDS
M h Mahng W guih jauh Wmi-hBh 16. walk till tired then rest a-while PRT Yf yw get tired d m k i n g , then have a m . '
yw
A m t h w form d resultatbe cunsrruaiar i n v o l w canbining two verb to form a m l t a t i v e predicate. 'Ik ywtrs - b i d may he rrs&ve or inttansitiw, but the resulting wmbinatim IS transitive (specifically.
Ng6hdeii y6my6h dm b$m saai. drink-th~ngs drink until full V-PRT
causative):
+ =kg
gmu-wmib saai dl
Ng6h h& faai jauh gwun-JenW 1 very quickly then pour-drunk-PFV 'I ppt him drunk by makinr him drink a la.'
lihng dw gailouhjSi hB-lSi-s%m-sZ3rn Fuhm6uh yiu parent need cause that children happyhappy
c h h 'makea nolse'
m a t i o n similarly:
Mbn-jb h i h i m i . out-PFV pair shoes 'Pve worn out thas pair of s h m . ' 1
&n@.
G h pei-jyuh @ &ng q 6 h you remember call wake me 'Remember to wake me u p '
hei
PPTh & EhE. fat CL babies
Ng6h jwk
all mlll&bll 'He makes everyone l w e their enthusiasm, talking like that.'
W
ear
sarlmhjSi. d l C L children T h e x f i l m eRen kmd rnfluences on the children.'
. . .' is a colloquial wsative construction: dou yshndeih m6uh Kkuih g8m y h n g g h g , png not-have slhe way speak make that peqAe so
m k the resultative romplement wrrshucrion (8.5.3).
flhngyih
very
resuItatiVe pmdes (11.3.2) may-
Many of
jfng d m . . . 'make
'Ihiuse of dou m
fii
easy 'That milk p d e r &ly makes b a b h fat.'
ladiectbe] - 1but U n g - [ o m ] - [[adjective]. To wpm causafion of an went ('make m e t h i n g hsppen') a piphmstic cmmuctwn with dm1 is
W h k .
*kt
mat CL milk-pavder
Note the d i f f e m m of word order k m e e m the hw m u d w d: jlng -
smi
&g
a
EOi h i
a.
CL e up'
Mh mh6u chhh
s€ng ng6h a. yw don't noisy wake me PRT 'Don't wake me up (by making a noise).'
clam mimn-zkjs.
pour tit1 full-Row-PFV The glass d water is overRorringas as result of thc puring.'
PRT
'wake up' + &duA s&g W
d6u
I
water
Note the repetitbn ofthe verb where the verb already has an &jcct, as in fimydh above. Thii repetition is reqlnred in order for the do11phrase to follow the vrrb ditocrly (6. ddk a h and 10.1.1). In addition to a resultative a d w i v e . dou may be fdlcwed by a d a w lvhich may be interpreted as a result of the actim e d e d by the main
9 ADJECTIVAL CONSTRUCTIONS: DESCRIPTION AND COMPARISON As d i d in chapter 3, thc distinctim bctwccn adand wrb in Cantonese is mt a ategwical one. Hence, what are thought of as adjxliw% in the Europeangammatical tradition are often &mibed as Wative yerW in Chilinguklic works. As prad~uteu,adpcti~esbehave very much like v e h : the verb 'to be' is not uxd adjectives (8.1.1). and yrme a d j e a k may take ~ cmarkers t like verbs (see 9.1.1 and ch. 1I).
N e w t h e l e a , it m a i m usrful to disringuish adjectives from verbs. The distinctive properties of adjxti*es dexribed m this chapter are: (a) P d d v e adjectives are normally prrceded by hhr (or another m d i fying advdx s e 9.1 3):
Keuih ni
piaih k
M&hn.
slhe thcsc dsys wry happy WZ happy tW d w ' Without fi the sentence FFcP~tihnIpdurX G i G m ) wwkl be inrornp1ete.I
(b) ad*may undergo reduplication. m d i f y h g their meaning (we 9.2: some of these pnwns are also applicable imstative d): i%f?4@i 'brownii
gfh-giwmwau 'tall and thin'
(c) adjedves may take uompdmtitive wwructiorrr & as di and p o
(9.3):
a.
w i h
jihng
here
qnkt &ii
'It's quieter here.'
Ch3h deihtit
faai p ch6h biid. sit undergmmd last than sit bus 'It's quicker by underground than by bus.'
9.1
SYNTAX OF ADJECTIVES
As in English. we may distiwish pred~catiwand attrihtive uss of adjedks. P d i adjadjfftivesbehave very much like verbs. following the subject withwt a q l a r verb. A m r i v e zdjectivesalways pmmk the n w n which they modily.
I
158 C a m : a cmpdmnsive grammar verb:
t k relationship b c h w n the main verb and the clause may also be
interpreted in twm5 of a causing event and resultant stab?: K h i h ghgsyn dou @bdelh m a i - g a a u . s(he talk-book talk 1111 people 'His lecturing puts everyone to deep.
hll+11-asleep
Muih haam dmr n$6h go wi. my till my CL heart disarray all 'His crying put my heml in total disamy.'
she
Note that the m e cunstrustion w t h dorr is used s a mplemenl adjectives ((1.1.3). rspresenting a further pmnllel between u e h and e r n rives. Smw i d i i a ~ cumplemenb c with dorr also resemble thase with a d j e c t k (9.1.3):
Yiht dou npah Ji! (adj.) hot rill I d~e 'I'm sweltering!' Ng6hdeih 9* dm lok &! (verb) we laugh till roll ground 'We were hughlng w m l w s silly.'
Chhhng dou t6
d B . (adj.)
long rill drag flcm +(It'%)5n long ar m rlmg nn t k flnnr.' dou b h ji s h ~ .(h) slhe slpep till n d know wake 'She slept w well Lha s k fimp% to wake up.'
KPuih fan
An alternative m l t a t i v e constnmion has the form [verb - dnk adjective]. brsed on a Mandarin wmtmction with de. This wnshuction w m b l e s the adverbial mstruclion with dak (IU.1.1). but describes ttK m l t rather man rhe manner of an action:
Di F B m dBk h6u Wnjehng. CL clc4hes wash ADV wry dean 'Them clothes have washed nice and dean.' Wuih sihk dik h h bhu. dhe
eat ADV ~ e r y full 'She was W1 as a result of eating.' I n t m i t i v e m t e n m rvhere the objaa fallow the verb. rhe verb phrase is repeated. as in adverbial c a ~ ~ r u n i owith m &Tk (10.1.1): Kbih jwh
y€h jouh dnk thing do ADV 'Shels very hqpy in her w k . '
dhe
do
h& hWm. wry h a m
9 ADJECTIVAL CONSTRUCTIONS: DESCRIPTION AND COMPARISON As d i e d in chapter 3. the diinshon bcnvccn sdjCEhvc and veh in Cantonese is not a categorical one. H e m , what are thought of as ad* tivm in d w European grammatical tmdit~m are often dacribed as'statk &' in Chinese I'mpktic w k s . As predhag, *ives behavc very much lik verbs: the verb 'to he' b not used with adjectives (8.1.1), and some adjecriva may take amarkers like verbs (see 9.1.1 4dl. 11). Newnheless. i t remaim uwful to distinguish adjectim from verbs. The diiinct~ve pmpertk of ad-w described m this rhaprer are: (a) Redicative adjeclives are normally preceded by bdw (or ancaher moditying adverb: see 9 1.3): Kkrih nT p3aih I h k i h m . dhe these days vcry happy 'She's happy h e days,' Without k h the ~ xmiemx ( K h i h nrpdaih -1
wwld he inmplete.'
@) adjectives may undwgo reduplication, modifying thar meaning (see 9.2: some of these panare a h appliible to shtive verbs):
f€-f&dA 'brownish" (c) a m X W (9.3).
gw-gh-sau-sau *tall and thin'
m y take omparafive cunstructions such a P and
Nidouh jihng di here quiet a-bit 'II's quieter here.'
faai gwo rh6h basr. unowgroum tasr than nt bus 'I1's quicker by undergrwnd than by bus.' Ch6h deihtit sit
9.1 SYNTAX OF ADJECTIVES As in English. me may d i a i ~ i s hpredicative and amiutive us-m of adjediws. P r e d i i u e adjectiva hehave very much like verbs. Toncswing the subjffl withwt a q l a r verb, A m i v e adjeaiws always m e the n w n w h i i t h q modify.
158 Cantonesa: a cmphensive g m n m 9.1.1
FRWCATlVE AOJECTlVES
W i v e a d m a do not require the copular Yerb 'm be'. Hwrwer, a d i e s h e adjedve is usually prrceded by a modifier such as kdu, *ich s an ml~ectivemeans '@.' lrdu in this function may be m r d e d rn merely an adjetlive marker, ~ t meaning s be in^ much weaker than En@* 'very'. A predicalive adjetlivewhh lm6M makes a m p l e t e senlem:
~ a i h6u pw.
M h go
CL son 'Your son is tall.'
you
(nor haih hbu @u)
tall
The adjective alone occurs only in m r n restricted conre~ts.such as in answer to an A-&-A
question containing the adjecrive:
A: Ni
bfin qll gw-mh-gwi a"! this CL book e x p e m m % m t ~ m i V e PRT -1s this h k expensive?'
B: c h a i
markem and verbal
M h p jsl @mJ6 h& di3 WQ. yw CL m tall-PFV yery much PRT 'Ywr son has go! a ltd taller.'
d k
kfwe
Note that w t m the a d w v e in these phrasais modified by a degree word such s h6u -very'. gdiRPi'raM and j i * ~ ' ge , must he W n t [s pointed out by H-N.S. ISheung 1972):
ylh@ jauh Ehbhngging l e n g p . once beautiful-EXP now then A prpdicative a d w v e must normally be m o d i by one of a number of adverbs of degree. The fdtowing adverbial expressiom are used to d i adjecriven:
ughy-PFV 'She used to be beautiful, but she's kcorre ugly now.'
Ng&
smng @hn j? M u faai 9au &n. I gk.bmh V-PRT rhllrl very frr* thin V-PRT 'Im n gcd slim again m k r pivlng birth.'
These usages may be seen as convetsion of adjectives &nohng stat- inm verbs expmGng change of state (seealso 3.1.1 ).
a1.z ATkIBUTTK WECTIVES linkingprtirle gc
h i i h n chih ~ 'black tea' (lit'red tea') chbn jC 'fodish boy'
M k m&t ht5vhite wks' h6u bmhkge maht 'wry white mks' gauh Gam 'dd dcdhes' @i gauh gp aam 'rmlherold dorhes* l e n Bk ~ 'beautiful hmz' ji h g gp iik ' t l mosr ~ beautiful h d
-&M
Attributive d j &
NOW that thc samc ge sppcsrs in Hher shuctuFcs which modify m n s , such a w e comtruchons and relative clmwes, serving to link the d i y i n g m m s to the nOun (6.3. 6.4). All thew noun phtherefore have a similar Hructure, with the head noun itself at the d of the phrase. As in the of the po-ve mnstrudion (6.3).ge m y be omitted in terrain contexts. It must be mined, in particular, in fixed mmbinAtiorrs when the property denoted by the adjective is an inherent characteristic of the m n . For example. h g Ihi 'bemutiful woman' might be tramdated as 'a beauty'. Similarly baahk jiu M i t e wine' Ek Ibi'bright girl'
G . I PRT
K h i h yChch1hn
m n g m l h n g ge IwWsimg sln fi daap ge. dever LP a u h r only know arswer PRT "Only the clever students know the amwer.'
-
a.
Used as predicates, dj&a may take a@ partjdes in the same way as verbs:
M h msmlh haih go Idu hou-haak ge yBhn. your mummy is LL wry hmpitabk LP person 'Your mum's a really hqitable person.'
ahvays precede the nwn. -ah
f n l l d by
&i 'quite'
epm
'so-
gau 'enough' W~gaau'rather. relatively'
0)'extmneTy' rnjigi.1 '~nrrcdildy' taai, g w d h h 'too' (see 9.3.4) jwi. ji 'm06f' (see 9.3.5) fEuhng
If no other modifier is present, h6u is used by defmult. as i l l u m e d in Y.1.1. I n repthe sentences eimer lith takes the p l w of A h , or the negative q u l a m h d may be dtogether with one of the a h difiers. For example. to e q m s s the idea 'not very' or 'not really'. m h i h is followed by f i u o r gP? 'quite':
Ni
bim
this CL
syii
mhaih
Mu
gwai
em
h - d a k - h h has a ccunterpart in Mandarin, Rir$& an extreme ercrent:
M nu-be wry cxpcnive PRT
"This W"s not very qmsive.' Gg, ykunp, mhaih @I pingplhnp such way not-be quite fair 41's not quite fair this way.'
T!w word dm4 expressing degree. or 'to
-
thc cxtent thud
i m d u c e a dame or maher adjedival phrase fa an wedive:
lhhn dou kt-dSk-lfuh dfficult hll exheme '~mediblydihku1t1
.. ' (8.5.3)
may
=a wmplement to
lahng
two
dou bst-dSk-lluh
sweet
till
extreme
'extremely sweet'
lsahn dw d h n hard hll d i q 'rnin&bendingly dimcult'
Jgnhmii @ h n ~dou M h rhh xun! Iradmd.) really cheap tall you ncd bel-kve 'Ym won't bclicvc lhc p h ! ' Eihdeih
8hm
Some adjectives m b i n e idiomarimlly with a p r t b l m r verb lis wmp lcmcnr ro d m :
dou M h @ rhh dfm! (Wd.) g d hll you gwss mC succeed 'Better than you can magine!' H6u
yowPL
muhn dou baauja h m d till m l d e ' b e d stiff
go chan dou jyuht. CL math till a h l u t e
leng
dou dim y3t s€ng dam one sound 'extremely heautifur (iiwnalic) pretry till
' Y w two are p d l y matched.' This construction with dolr is a Cantonese:counterpart to the Mandarinuse oT dE EO mnrk t m m (Em d Thompson 1W1: 626): d d - , the Clrntanese equ~vmlentof dt. is not u d in this way- Thus Ta pl@ hdo de chide-mIn~ "He's famous fw hi gooB temper' would be expresfed in C h t m w .or K h i h chWmwkg pPihlmer h&+. Khilr $d~lmpi her dar~cI~Pursum dm lihally 'to clear k used to emphaslz adjectives:
&.
@uhchln dou f i have-money till die 'extremely ti&'
Ncde thml dbm y-rsFmgis an onanatopoeic expression de?mibingthe sound produced when m e t h i n g falls imo the wmter.
(#mg) 'ro such an m t ' f used to elaborate on adjeciives in e~clamamryfashion: dou g&
plhnggw6 laahn dou @m yhng @! CL apple bad to such extent PRT 'Wow, the apple's so badly rottenr' Wa,
go
mow
The ~omplementto llou may alm be omitted or preposcd ns in:
...!
chEuhng-hei dou sEi long-windd tin die 'wry long-winded'
LPih tC-h6h
dakyi dou f r cute till die 'extremely cute'
Hsahng rhh yiik la, p i h dou! mlk nM rn~rve PRT tired tdl 'I can't move, I'm so tired.'
bib, h m m dou p u look-DEL him happy till ' h k d hm, XI happy!'
JFi M, literally 'fly up' (i.e. take offj is wed to indhte the: exrreme aw denNed by the a d j d m : h~ d w fei h6i p l t y till take off 'mind-blrwingy h t i f u l '
which a h mwdes
pal
dou f€i
M
till lake d f mn-&blorvingly experrsive'
d m ghk where dora introduces the extent complementand glAk meam 'to the extreme' is used to g k emphasis to predkalivea d j m Ni M n gyO p a l dou gihk. this CL book e x p & ~ till txhwne 'Thii book is extremely expensive.'
Ni tou hei muhn dou gihk this CL mwie boring till extreme "This movie is extremely boring.'
The s i m p h form of reduplition merely repats the adjective. with an intem~fyinga m :
The explethegwcir is also wed to e m p e e adjectives:
psi
gam devil so
c*rudk-dmiI1-ga or d h i - d w i l i go 'really big'
leng
K h i h Ibh-@ngd6al-dadb gocfdh hSidwh. k h en rhh d6u me? Her husband biphig CL sia here. ~u we ncr V-PRT PRT 'Her husband. the bigguy, i s sitting right there, can't p u see?'
beautiful
*damnedm o k l n g '
gwbr may combine with an-
leng treautiful
I t may dm be infaed behwxn the qyllabk of an a m (2.13): mihraahn moublesome' + mhh-gw6i-hhn 'dead troubl-e'
Edinmrgnrrswiemphsism an adjective in an ii-ahve m ' a l l ' (11.3.3).
way. l i n g
RIU "etwugh'wiih illt:mlyll partnk
Mhdeih lhi m b i h jalh gau saai y i i t b u h la! you-PL cmre along then enough all lively FRT 'If you wrrpe too it-ll be mce and I~vely.' M h ylh@ gau saai M k M p wo! LWW tlbwgll all iilrltptrbrltilt PRT %'re all independent now''
92 REDUPLICATIONOF ADJECTIVES Reduplition (dwMingJ is o m of the few morpholqkal devices available to Cantonese (2.2). and is much rsed to modify the meaningof adjectives. Redupleation of an adjective take several differen1 f w k , serving to modify its ~ i n in g a n u d m ofways Reduplmted a d w m are ako used adverbially (see 10.1.3). Reduplicationof a d j e is highly idiomatic. in that it is noIpxsible to p r e d i i ex&ly w h i i adjm y k duplicated, which form the reduplication win take, or how the meaning of the adjejean~ewill change. of form and functron emerge. Nevertheless.mme typical pa-
I
I
Go k h ~ k h h h n g cMh d m h n r n 6 h n p. CL ball-stadium sit till full-full PRT The seam in the stadium are all filled up.'
empharif expression sudr as w'i "dead':
Mi
di Lmg or &ti &ignm dwil dead beautiful devil dead so 'M m u $ ' @rn so
I A
mfihntnfihn g~ or r n h - m i k n g 'really full"
gw5i gam gohbhn den7 so stin~y 'damned singy' (also: pi-gmdi-Iidhn: see 2.1.3)
I
N d e the optimal tone change: for m e speakers, the h t of the reduplC da d j x t ~ w taka the rsmg changad tone ss in dnnili + dbaidnnili. Thischange m M e s that in veh redupliai~on.e.g. si-~-si+si-s7'have a rqf (2.2). T h i s form of reduplktion often sugga~sm elernem of intimxy: sai-sai jek mmaaujsi smaRsmall C L kitten 'a little tiny kitten'
slu tihmtlm l i i sweet-swet 'sweethearr, sweetie'
I n the Ease of bisyllabic adjecIives. b t h a y t l s k are reduplicated%?parately. in the form [AABB]: chingchb 'dear' t c h m g c h m w 'nice and clear' jingsbhn 'energtif +jmg-jmgsshndhn 'dl full of energy" yinngahn "inrimate' yin-yin-ngahn-ngahn *pret?yintimatep u t m g 'ord~nary'+ ph-psu-tong-tong'pretty cadlnary' syahhk romfomble" + syn-sya-fuhk-fuhk'pretty wmforlabW
-
Certain mbinations occur only in reduplied form.
hing-hng-ng6h-n@h'intimate. in low' Two sum adjectives may be reduplicated together, typically for emphasis. The following phrase from a radio sation diw jockey ~llustrares a mbination of; 1 'bisyllabic redupliated adjectives. hif&rrg goan&n -simple':
I1 I
'relazing and
hinghTng-sting+Ung gf1awghd8aw&an -nice:and light and easy and relaxing' Similarly. in a comic fihn a rather mcouth character was &mil& ironi-
-ny
=:
m-mhhn-mbtm wn-dn+uh+uh 'nice and kind and gentle' (sim$hn -gentleq+ dnyhuh -render')
I
I
I
Some idioms take the form A A B , e.g. Mpmi
-
I
~ 5 i q x w 1+hivial': i
NT bat chh SSpSpaui ge F. Mi CL money rather-trivial PRT PRT 'This is a pretty trivial amount of money.' Several reduplicatede x p s i m s of this form are used as adverbs F10.1.3).
A
ccinmon function of this ccmsrmction i s to modifydour t e r m
g6
ga hhhnghdng-d€i that C L red-red-sh Yh3t redd'kh car'
ge
chi?
LP car
CL tin ge sky Ihhm-1Sam-M Mueblwish .the sky 6 bluish'
When this r e d u p l i o n o a r s with a %yilabic adjective. only the fmt
I n a a d form of reduplition. an adjeaive i s repeatedand fdlowed by the
[email protected] [ A A I or [AARR] rerl~rpltatinnm r k n an emphatic or vivid meaning, the form [A-A&] s e w to qualify or modwate the meaningof the ad+ive. like the English suffix -id$:
syllable i s reduplicated chIsin
'crazy'
+
chichi4fi-sin 'a bit may'
pachau Shy'
-
p-dCiihau 'rather shy*
fib-EiC; 'rather fal, diubw lyuhn4y6ndPj 'a bit messy'
Note that reduplicatedformswith -$tiare also used m adverbs (10.1-3).
NT
P 2 f RRB ADJECWES
D n g yl waaiwai-dei ge. this CL chair brolren-bmkewish PUT 'This &iris a ht broken.'
A W , rather less productive, fonn of r e d u p l i o n oaun with an adjedive and a reduplmttd n w n or adjeaive. I n this r;rse. only %second noun or adjecthe Is repeated, giving adjdiueb of Ile k m m [A-B-BI:
Wvte that the t m e of the s m d m h p h t d word chanpa to the Miied tone (see 1.4.2) except where it orig~nallyhas a hi& tme (Wn-siindFt 'newish'). mdh-h-dfi "so-so' is a common d o q u i a l reduplicatedform. h k e other [adj - adj - d#ij reduplicated f m s . it mn be wed as an adjtxtiue or rrs an ndwrb (10.1.3).
I&:
A: Dim
B:
a,
Eih?
PRT
you 'How are you doing?' Mah-md-dei jEL. m i s h PUT
how
&u-bngMng m e l l y - r n 'srrpelly. high'
'mundal'
form of redupi~cathtypblly p W m Ucrcqtual adpcfiw, M b i n g
Fit. PRT
ng6h d h d - & -1 nidouh jtk. I wso-~sh like here PRT 'I'm not too keen on ths place.' Note that the disparaging part&jFk (183.5)often aaompanies the id&.
dungkngh-ng mld-im4m Yreeeing mM'
'Ihese mmbmathm occur only in the reduphted form: there is no word dzhtrp or Ehu~rbdng.for example. As these examples s e , the A B B
d w m or Hative Iwhs.
Chihrn h e h n chbn f u e h dhmLd6i M k nl&t CL meal sn-wrsh good+at The dinner last night was medime.'
last
yhhnluk-liik roun-1-1
waaht-r)llr-qwt dt-bare-bare %moothas a baby3 bottom'
'so-so.'
As an adverb, i t mdifres a
chi-hhplahp glue-st~ck-stick 'gicky, gooey'
I
how things feel, look or smell. A pnminent fundion of this type i s to produce mmpound mlom t e r n made up of a c o l m and a M i n g
noun: hahk-sflt-Sym whitmolwnow Snaw-white'
h5k-m8ngmiingor h a k a d blackdark&rk "pitch dark'
Like AABB adjedives, adjectkz of the ABB pattern may be m b i n e d one after the other for emphasis:
Khh
p e i f i baahk-syWw
Siu-Yin l a g gwo ylhchlhn. SirtYin pretty than before Siu-Yin i s pretrier than she usad to be.'
waaht4yiit-tyiit.
dllt skill wllbk+.ikr~-5nw sol(-he-hrr 'Hw ccrmplexbn is lovely and white and soft.' For w l e . gn emigrant m-np m3~lk-b ~hl HQngkQngmmbined firm redupliited udjmtim 20 produce the F d h ~ n gappreciative
description:
fast
PRT
B: Wdbhng faai p n tim.
T h e dwghnuts are piping hot. a ~ t i e i n and g crispy.'
perhaps fast than 'Maybeeven faster:
9.3 COMPARISON OF ADJECTIVES Tlwm i e no single wmpmtive form nf adjedivea: wvenl f o m of mm prim are med. awording to the context and nature of the mmparison:
(a) di is wed where the &@t d comparison is not e ~ p l i i t l ymenhorned, but implied by the wntext: SwWn ylhgs leng S;V.Y;II
WW
di.
,,,tll~&;I
'Siu-Yin i s prettier now.'
Thk strucruw. h m w . may ~1x1 haw the meaning 'rather' or-a bit loo', for example m rhetorical questions (17.1.2): M h haan h n di 18! p u spare back rt-bil PRT 'Why not spre ywrrelf the trouble?'
To make the comparative meaning explicit. i t may he reinforced hy the ad& Mignm hther': Gsrnyaht M p a u yiht $i. mhy rather hot %bit Tnday is rather hotter.'
(b) Where two i t e m s are to be explicitly wmpad. the usual meam of m r i s o n is with the word grw: GBmyaln yiht gwo Whmyahr. may hol than yesterday T d a y is hotter than yeslerday.'
faai a?
'Is a UMW m fog rr,en Alfu?'
*sw
KwShh-LMjjCung dl a? ex-nor-exaggerarr a-bii PRT "Isdt it rather m-erthe top?'
y;iuh-m6uh Alfa gam haw-not4m.e Alra 50
A: &m$h BMW
r h ~ ~ i i - h h k - k ( d i n int )
G ~ w h phr t di. t&aY 1rM a-G;I 'It's hotter today.'
As a verb. gnu, literally means 'aoss' IYT 'p'; it comes to exmpanson by the same m r e as the Englih verb surpas~.Note that the ob@dofmparlson can be omitted where i t may be u n d e m from the mrext:
roo
msaih Idu Ihih duhji, b s w h Luy flat u r r t inkcst rather 111i~~k433WT
Tub@ 16h 1Amjyuh il
yw
d a i h p13~u h$l
buy
gwm.
shares p o d than
"If pu're thinking of buying a Rat a an investment. yw'd do krter to huy shares.'
d explidr wmprlson Ls M. b d on the Mandarin comparative mmstrudion with hl. This bthe f m l Ratmr of Mandariwbased syntax: (cj An alternative marker
A-W$hn b t i k h i h miiihmli leng A-Wan than hw sister pretty 'Wan i s frr~nwr than hm ( y ~ n f y r )mer.' kbuhdhi Mi y4hchihn k&hn&. (mr e p ) balCteam than kbre strongPW Wur team is strongerthan i t rras.' N&h&ih we
Note that the word order in this comrrucrion is IIM reverse Z of the En$&. the objecl of c m m p r h ("sister' and 'W in the exampld p d i n g the adjectne. The adjerrive dnc4 take a oomp;lrati\.e:km?, bur may be followed by fi. a degree M i t i e r such as h5n ldci Vnuch' or an aspect marker ZE in k k u h ~ g - p'has bewme smger'. btrik#i ' m p r e d to- is an alternative. ltfed topether with fior a degree expression srrh as h& dd following the adwive. Ban g n p i G i WhtB @ n p p u k * fi. this Cl w e compre orher store h~ghqlass a-bit 'This department store IS more hgh-class than the others.'
M
U i h go dihnbuh MWl k&iht%g.3 gwai h6u do. you CL mmpurer mpre other machine expemiw very much 'Your mmputer i s much r r w ~ e expensive than other mdels.'
LRih rAh &g Hi ktuih eng. k&uih j o b gang $ ISu. yw not say to him hear s h e w l l mclre add angry 'Hell be angrier will if yw don"t ten him.'
The p r q r m i v e mmqmrison 'more and more' is e x p m d by pth Ihih
A bFi?-phrase can also be added as an 'afterthought': Ni@an j i u l h h mh sywn gwai. M i & a h p%di. (mnv.) this CL restaurant nor m n t expemiw, -re other CL 'This restaurant i s remable. m p r e d to some.*
mi: Dr
hoh-ng
lbih ywht
yuht
CL student
chb
more and more bad
'These sludentr are gettingw m e and -.'
*the more . . . the more' is e x p r e d by yuhr All the above mmnudicm may be mdifred by the addition of degee adverbs. such as k u do huch' and sf&u 'a little' and a-di'a bW:
Ni jek p a i (gwo g6 jek) h6u &this C L dear (than that CL) very much 'Thii one is far more experm& (than that one).'
-
Yauh $i ybhn phi yiuuhdrfn jwht mh-m. haw CL peuple mure have-money more unhappy 'Some pwple ger unhap~y.the richPr lhq. a m '
T6hy3hrdd1k Ihahr~( g w 111bl1111duk) du-slu. Lnguisticj hard (than literahre) little-little 'Linguistb is slightly harder (than literature).'
93.2 EQUAL GOMPARISONS Equal comparim (as [adjective] rrs . . ) may be exprcsd by the verb Muck11'mmmble' together with the a d d gnm 'as, sd:
@
h g sing-song lhat CL pretty somesome The m e who's singing is a bit prettier.'
Nde that the object of comparison (gw + noun phrase) m y be omitted where i ~ identity s is dear from the mtext. so that the only mrt indicator of a mmparkm~isi h d q w e adverh fnnmting the adjectt-te. Other degree eqms&ns such as sahp priil~ 'ten times' (oftenused h y p b l i m l l y . as in English) and Jdr Run 'half may be added similarly:
rCPuih h3uchlh g3je gam lens just-lake slster zs prep 'She's as pretty zs her (elder) sister.'
she
pi&whnggurn *jlst as . . . 'is a more emphatic form of equal comparison. The object of mmpclm6n may be expressed wing fihng:
KEu;h lck p n ng6h whp pfiih. dhe smart Ilmn me ten times 'She's ten timer smarter than I am:
W&l\
di hsaih h8 Yrnggwok h a i h phng y8t bun. this CL shoe in England buy cheap one half IThae shoes are half the prioe in Enpland.'
(36
tPhw I#h ystyeuhng
galla
1
with you onesarrpe as 'I'm just as hoke as ym are.'
NI
Note that pwiJdrpCih means 'twice as expemive' (cf. 100 per cent more). The &verbj~rling'still' precedingthe a d w v e -res
.. .y k r :
E i h go Kui yuM dfrah ~uht leng. your CL daughter rrwre b ~ g more pretty 'Ywr &u+ 1s looking p m r and prettier as she gmvcj dder.'
the emphatic
m m p k 'ewn more': Daap dihnck juhng maahn ( g w ~ damp b*. catch m m still slow (than catch bus) 'It3 rwn slowcr by tmm (thon by bur).' The object of compnson m y again be omitted h, as juhng indimm the comparative meaning. juhng gnng gd k more emphatic st11l:
gaan
thlmg
g%im ylityeuhng gam p i . CL m a m e so expemive Thar hotel 1s just as expensive as this one.'
that CL
jsvdim
khhng. pow
one-same with
mi
thb
Note the me of the c l a w phrax n1 gomr to mean This one' (62.1). ihAng.
. .c%rnd6'almut
as.
. .="is used similarly. with or withoutgum:
chlmd6 Ng6h go j6i t h h q Wuih go Yui CL daughter almost my CL m with her
p n daarh.
big 'My son 1s abwt the rime age as her daughter.'
G h $i
tsuhfaat
Glmg
khih
chSd5
you CL hair with hi* 'Your hair is about as short m hers.'
almm
Adjectival constn113nsln
1
dyh. shnrt
(cf.
833 MEGATWE AND IMTERFWGATIMCOMPARISONS Negatiw mmpamives require the negatiw existential wrb 4 u l i (15.4) and the adverb @m 50': M u i h m6uh g5j€ p m leng. norhave sister x pretty she -5he.s nor as p m q as her lelder] s~srer.' The interrogative munterparr is f v d with the corrrspomdmg A-not-A
q ~ h o ni.e, . ydrrhm6rth; Keuih yiuh-rr&uh FjE gam leng a? she haw-nor-have s~wr as pretv PRT '16 me a5 prettySI her [elm1 wer?' The positive form of this mtruaion, q m t i m (17.3.4) and .to contrast with m&rh
I
I 1
. .p.is used in rherorical . .gmn.
daaih jek. large CL
whcrc@k is a m h a t n e particle meaning'to the limits, extreme' w~tha concassive sense is w t l y matched by ddu 'aill' in the following daux: [djdjemivc] gikk.
KCuih x u i gihk &u a h p u Yih ai. she bad e x t r e m alse nM enough you bnd 'Bad h g h he is, he is rn b A as you are.' Ng6h ssu gihk d6u jeuk I slim elmeme also wear
rllh not V-PRT
@ that
tiuh kw$hn. 'As slim as I can be, I dill can't fit into fiat dress.'
[adjcdve] gikk fl~k-hnhnis a fixed exprwion meaning 'not all that [admve]
N g d ~ h d o n h j4uh kCuih gam Ek a? I where haw him w clever PRT 'Frn ndhing hke as clever as hm:
K€uih stui gihk y6uh-hahn. bhe bad e m m e haw-lim~t 'Sad though she may be, &s m t all that bad.'
Keuih h6lshng $m lCih gam kng. dmhnhaih slhe pretty but maybe hzve yw so
I
&h H h gam lek. not-have yw w, &cw 'She rnay be as m m k i n g as you, but she's not as clever.'
K b i h Ek gihk y5uh-hahn. m a n extreme ha\,e-limit 'She3 no4 that smart.'
dhz
Verbs can also occur with gihk and gi%k y&hk&
k h i h gam Y h h k h i h pam pPhnp m6uh h m it so cheap not-have i t so jeng!
Mudlh 'rc~mble'as in 9.3.2):
Ng6h ihh chIh d k h h gam not l~ke able you so
.(see 11.3.2).
(radii ad. for rrsnrurant) The basic excessnremtnrtim uses rnai %omfollowed by an adjedve:
Anywhere that's as cheap is not SI great!' An alternative form of negative mmparim is the phrase k h @LA ttumlg11':
N&h
Ek.
I
ibh p u k€uih (garn) m t enwgh she (as) -I'm rtoc as smart as her."
smart
The adverb gum %' may appcar e o n a I l y in this mmtnrhon.
'not
G5m Wng taai mfihfiahn la! such vmy roo troublesome PUT 'It's too mwh tmvble that w q l ' The mmplrratiw marker gwo may be added:
w)
bSln sfl mi this CL book m ( e T h i s h k is 200 d i f k l t . '
Ni
Grn
lo.
m ) hard PRT
I
Adjectival mMm3bm 173
Ni
bdn syii
"b m k
Mrn
slhe is whole Hongkong 'He's the ridern in a1 Hongkmg.'
gwothh.
most nch
Knggwok jeui chEutnvhg e-ng haih bingo a? Brirain naost famous LP aong4ar is who PRT 'Who is Britain's mosr famom sin@'
bwk hard em6*ely
this CL
Huhchln g6 go. that CL
K h i h haih chyuhn HEungghg jeui
An altemhve i s m fdbwing the adjective( b dfrom gwo k' and &uh 'heab, like rn t h iwp in English):
boks mesdwly difhml~.'
dhm gworauh. C L w1ip 3wePt exwssively The soup is too sweet.-
LW
1
I
dak jaih. a-bit-much T h i s di-w is a bit (too) long.'
p i n mam c k h n g this CL d e w long
Ni
Saam baak man gwai dakjaih. three hundred dollar expanive a4itrnuch
The superlativemay a b be &ed
4y a numeral or by the $rase g m
&+dassifier,meaningkfofrheman':
I a m Jim61 jeui Yk hail bmga a? three A e r most clever i s which PRT 'Which is the b n g h t d of the three s*rs?' I i i h sSk gum ~ C I .ng bmgo jeui kk a? you Lnow so many doctor which m s t clever F'RT 'Which s the best doctor pu know?' gum d-5 also expressas the experiential ~~, evtr k n m :
Three hundred dollars is rather e q e m i v e '
as in Le ~JWM . . . rw
haih h6u siu hei gwi Ng6h tsi-gwo gam d l I see-EXP so many film most @ laugh is
C h l k f i M h &kjaih a? tateul-lhk &l-mu& PRT 'Isn't it rather late for that?'
&
mu.
t h d CL That w the funniest Rm 1% wen.'
Sup?rl.tk adj.xtiw:
m W m are I&
Ng6h hsau-gw gam 1 take-EXP s o
with jemi
'6'pcedidg l l ~ e
di I ih haih ni hi jeui gmi pe lak. these CL Rat are this a m most expensive PRT PRT These Ran are the mosr expmGw in h e am,' luy
The wvtd order withM is d e n inverted, jm + adjeuive coming betore huik in order tu focus the: subject: Jeui
r h h m haih
mtvlh chin s5i. mwt is rot-have money qxnd The brggest pry i s not having any money to spend.'
poor
haih ni chi. is this time T h i s is the hi-&!# exam Ihr wer @Len.' Note that Engliih uses relative clauses here, while Cantonese u s a topicallzed clause with the experiential asp% mrkw (1 1.2.5). jr i s nn ~d'mmaticnlicmativc to typ~mllyhawng a hyperbolic fuw ticm d exaggeration. While jmi implies 'the must . . . ' within a certain of all (time)' or 'the most. . . ever'. I t is range, jisuggeas 'the most much u d In advert~mng,In pwference to jmi:
@.
...
di
@nyiu
haih gaan
dsk
mrn. ( d e a d . )
mmt important k c ADV righ T h e moat important thing i s m make the nght choice.'
Jeui Sui haih leih! mm4 bad i s pu 'It's all ywr fault!'
The range within w h i h amperlafive is to be unde& by a m n phrase preceding the superlative adj&w:
CE chi slh p u i lhhn many time exam mwt dificult
ji i s also used irorricallyor mdcally: can be &Mished
Yiihnllrih l f i h hoih ji slngmuhk ahall you are moa m a n 'Oh, 1 see. pu're the snmrtest.'
g6 gh (fihn) that-CL
174 Cantonese:a m p r e h e n s i g r a m m
9.4 COMPLEMENTATION: COMPLEX STRUCTURES WITH ADJECTIVES The cwnplernentatmn of sdjediva - the q d m of what mructuresmay fdlow indiv~dualndjedwx - ~s m e problems. Mwt adjedives whkh orc followed by infnitiw I#) or gmndive ( m)complemenn in h $ i h mn be treated relatively srraightfmrdly. Many adjectimmay imply be Wlowed by a dauw. N@h h6u hgin d6u Yih. 1 very happy see FWT p u 'I'm dad to see yw.'
I 1
qieaker. the apparent remblam $ oftem mshding, Th~hereis a 0 infinltive tomr in Cantonese. and the above structura are probably to tre anal@ as serial ronstmctims(see 83). One sign of the difference k thst the mder d the adwlive rrrd Fornplement can be reversed In Cmtonese: I
h6u h d s m ltihdeih p fihn very happy you-PL s o far
This class of adj&
-
Although the literal gloss is 'he very hard understand', the sentence would not -ally mean what 'HBis hard lo underwand' doeb in English. However. a structure mpdcially l ~ k ethe English one dws as s m l r of topicaliition of the objea: Wi dilngm8hn )ih h W ynhngylh r n e d s k ge. C L Chinew charmer easy fore PUT Oinese characters are easy to forget.'
As a m l t . senrences may be ambiguous. dependingon whether the ropic is u n d e m d as the subject or object of the c l a w
KZuih h&
flhngyih jsuh w6n d h ge la. sthe very easy then find V-PRT PRT FUT 'He'll have no pmblem finding (ii).'or 'He is easy bfind.'
H h yiihngyih mgad5k .k
JiinNhn
very m y h g t CL Chinese 'It's esv m forget Chinae c h m e r s , '
h llih tasrn n@h, ng6h Ink also come visit me I very
dezrves spedal attention in that their c m p k mentation work5 d~fferentlyfrom English. In an English sentence such as H e is bmf m tderm, the subject of t k sentence is undetsmcd ~tsthe object of the m n p l m r n w& (tolaw). I n Cantonese. the xntence subject i s u n h o o d as thesubw d the complement wrh
mahnthih).
\ey hard understand (this C L q-ion)
Jgnhsih h h l b b t , mtihnj0k khih. renlly very 11anl MIS& hhn 'He's really hard m satisfy.'
rn
laism. ham T m so glad youmw m e to visit me f m UI hraway.'
go
175~
(a) by using an irnprsonaf structure withwt a subjec~[note that there is no munterprt to the m v e pronoun ir in Chi=: see ch. 51:
faam n m . visit me -1-mso glad p u ' w ame to vint me f m m far away."
@) Uhdeih gam yjhn you-PL so far
mlhngbxhk (ni
n
'Ihe English meaning as in 'hard to u n h a n d ' or 'emy tu forget' may be expremed unambigucmly:
dou I i i h ako
l&hn
O
'He hlrs d i i m l understanding ~ (this question).'
However+ while these 'Al~tura p e n t m proMem to t k English
(a) N&h
KCuih h6u
dhe
I
thhng Yih g6ng. KEuih mthyisi slhe embarrassed with you talk 'He7% ~ 1 b n l W x k t* d talk fi ym.'
O
(b) sltmmhdy. the ad@&
I
ih.
char-
may be Tdlowed by a psBoive M p h m (g4):
Npihgwok-yAhn h6u yiihngyi b& y3hn n-ih. fomign-pmn wry e q by people mis-understand 'Formgrrrs are easlly rmsunderstod.' Mi ylhga h6u
wu
now
'Yw're
b h n t4i yhhn
very h d by pegle d~fficultto cheat now.'
n@ak d6u.
cheat V-PRT
There is s m a l l clasr of adjectiws which behave like lisahn 'diicult' in the example above: yr>/tngvrh 'easy': SnirnbHfii hrh $hngyih fanjeuhk. chlldren w r y eaT fall asleep 'Children fall asleep easily.'
176 -mew:
a cunphsnsive grammar
hk l l h m m g ge. siu g6 f h i i CL svng AD$ hard-hear PET 'This song is awrul.'
NT Isih.
N N gsmyahr ihh fCmgbihn J 'It"
t h y
not convenient mme
snotconvenientfor me re mme today.'
the meaningis not 'hard to hear' but 'backcwnding', indicatmg that these me lexicalld mmpounds."
Nte
drSWlimhn W e , at leisure':
U i dakinhaakhbhn m g dihmd? you free-not-free l i e n phone 'Arc you frw ta a n m the phone?' Khihdeih lirh hmhng jibg& j w h sam. they m4 possible self do all ' T k y can't w i b l y do it all t h e m s e w
Note that althcugh tkx adbehme d i t t y from the came spondimg EnpJiih adpctiver, a similar conm r s in Englih with aher adjedws such as likely and --n, as m WE m L'kcfy IO b r f m or Jokn is d m to win. Thm, the cwLsrruction (swmttimknown as S u w Raising) is not entirely unfamiliar to the English spcaker; the diPFrulty posed by the Cantonese structure k to learn N i adjediws behave in this way?
Idiom: M u ldohn &k meam that something does not happen easily:
U i h go $i your
cki-jd
go
$dm
CL son rnsrry-PW CL so
h6u ge: good LP
&q%uh, h6u l h h n M k pa! daughterin-law very d i h l t able PRT
'Fancy your son marrying such a good daughter-in-h!' Another idmatic expresriim with I d a h is IMn-pw 'haw a hard
time' or 'be heart-bmken': N&II
&jullld
Idu
~ J 'worthy' Z is used in d k u i a l speach to mean 'deserving'. and may tre f n l l d hy a cwrplerrml wrb: Jek W u h6u &i CL cat wry wathy The cat%so lovable.'
sek ge. Ime PRT
LRih wah Wh haih-mhaii &i laauh 97 you any you be notbc worthy scold PRT "Don't y w think )ou deserve to be smldedr
Idiom: dm's+!i F P i h y to die' is a hyperboli u x o f d i (cf.also 9.1 3). I t may mean %ems ynu right' vr 'YPU a s h 4 b r it'; U i h ghn 9ung gdng y€h, jsnhaih d8i d! FW M manner say t h ~ n g really wmthdii *You asked for it. taking that way.' ddi d i in a pnsitive sense may also be a compliment:
NT
tou hei
this
CL film LP dlalogw:
ge
deui-hahk
MI ySumshk wry funny
dai &i. (film review) wwth-dic 'This film's dialogue is funny and sharp.'
hllfi-gw-
I that-time wry hadtime 4 w a s having a hard time then.' 'Ihe a h wnstructh isliable to be mnfused with the use of ?&n and yih rn ta udjcaim such ag W m i d i 'bad-looking' with wrh of pcrtrp tion (see2.1.1). With these mmptunds. unlike the mnstmctions & . r e d ahve. the aubjea if u n & m as the &jea d the peroepionverb.
d6i &k I6m 'selRess' is also a w m p l i m t : Ng6h srk gnm I know so haih
d.5 yhhn jeui dfti-dsk-Em many pwple rnost mh-ablethink
16h! Y-
'Ynu're the rncm selfeffacing person Iknow!'
178 ~~:
a ccmWw&e grammar
jihkduk 'wMh(whi1e)' behaves like the adjectives Ihlin and y+hngyih (9.4.1): These are nnt m h buying' in rantonee may he d e d hy to+liiarion ofthe object:
10 ADVERBIAL CONSTRUCTIONS
ihh jihkdsk Maih. r l o l wortlnuhlle buy This newpaper's not wwth bqing.' Ni
fahn boujl
lhia CL
r w s p p r
m l ~d4i 6'not worth buying' w l d k equivalent.
Can-
lacks a systematic meam of forming adverts from adjectitw, although one funaim of reduplicated adjeuives is as adverbs (10.1.3). Instead. adverbis1 nmdiicarion is by adjxtives. in can~unction with adverbial oonstruaiom (10.1.1, 10.1.2). Predicate adverts (10.1) are those which describe the manner of an Mion. and apply to the verb or verb phrase. Sentence adverbs (10.3) desmbe the circumstances of wen& and states, such as rime and probabilii; they apply to the whole sentence. The syntax of the two rypes k .very different.
10.1 ADVERBS MODIMNG THE VERB PHRASE Mdibtion of the verb or verb p h w e k eqmxaed ushg adjectiw. together with adverbial wnsrruuiorrs taking three mmn forms: (a) verb - dnk- adjecrive (lD.1.1); (b) adJecrlw,- g@m - verb (10.1 .Z); (c) reduplicated adwive - (&) - verb (10.1.3).
Since earh of these p a ~ e r n inwlws s adjective. ma largeexlentthe s p a dadjesi\es described in chap% 9 atso applies to these adverbial m t r u c tiom. Similarly, comparison of adverbs i s based on that of ad*(10,21.
The mosl genetal adverbial conshumion resemblesthat in Mandarin, with dzk mrrespMlding to Mandarm de. The [verb1 - dnk mnstruaicm is follcnved by an adjeaiw. preceded by the ad~cctivcmnrLcr m omthcr r n d i k r . as d m d in (9.1.2): Ktuih hohk dak k u hai. slhe learn ADV very fa4 'He learns fast.-
C6
& Sm8ang garru dsk g€i & we. t h w CL teacher reach ADV quite wll PRT Those teachers r& prerty well.'
~ a l m E i m m nI s81 The adjatine may be d i f i e d in any d the w a p illwtrated in chapter 9. fur example by gem 'sd or by d n p l i r a t h of the irrljmve:
10.12 GAM An alternative adverbal ccmtruction uses an a d e v e rollowed by the adwrbrd grim 4n this way* More the verb grim is to be diilnguishedfrom gnm W with mid level tone (SM 9.1.3):
qikq%fuhk-Rhk. rirh wiiih KCuih J y h dGk she live ADV comfonable-comfortable m4 will
mhaih ylhe r n hohk. not-be genuine thm learn 'rm rtoc srudying (it) seriously .'
N&h I
ge: la. move PRT PRT 'She's living nice and d o n a b l y . 9he ww'r me.' biin
ISu g6m sat-jd sin. very mad thus close-PFV line 'rle put the phanc dawn furiausly.'
G u i h Wu
The s h b i a l comsrrudim with dak i s most rypically wed in a generic or habitual wnse. as in the above exampla which do nor refer to any parhfuhr .roccaslon. By wntr;lst, the slrmlar rse of dak m rewltmve ccrmplements (8.53) W refer to a particular occasion: Dim @ai h h h h diik gam how m e rwuld examine A D V 'How m e he did FQ badly in his exam?
d!S
slhe
This mmmwth is often used with reduplicaredadjdves: kkuih &+IW htm sillysilly-ish T saw him smiling stup~dly.'
ga?
bad PRT
the dak comhuaion: Kfuih fi & ji dak k fmi. dhe drive mr driw ADV wry fast 'She d r i w very fa%.*
g h ~siu thus smile
Ng6h stung m h d y @m thleuhn m
ge mahntlih. wsh seriws thus d m t h s CL problem '1 want to serinusty d m < $rhii pmhlcm.' 1
grim may be used el!iptimlly as a predrrste, together with hurl? w an auxiliary. mnnng Ix like that*: Di milouhjii haih g h ge laak. CL dildren are so PRT PUT Children are like that.'
M h hbahng faai di dk-mh-dSk a? )ou walk fmt-ish okay-not-okay PRT 'Can you walk a bit &aeTI*
ua
mhdu gsm la!
you don't so PRT 'Uon't be llke that!'
ukmlu~tjrlril;5 d. w p i c - c w n ~ n tMteam. where the verb phrase is fdlwred di&y by an adpctiw: to lid
jih k t ~ - d ~ l ~ -a? hg write character nice-not-nice PRT 'h he write characters well?'
V-!JRT
Due to its shwtural similarity to the English pre-verbal adverb, the with g h i may also be used m i m p an Englishadverb into a C a n h m x ytntence:
The repetition results from the m m i n t that bcdh the objed and the adverbialdiik must directly follow the verb. With a tcw adjectives. mmbly fmi 'fast' and m w h n W ,dak ia nc4 needed:
DIm psai w m g6m how come will so 'Why i s i t lihc thw'r
&?
PRT
This use of p-m mrresponds to dfm in questions [see 17.3.7).
ge. PRT
@m
1s also used mth the t
c m h
hdll~Ijrh%in. resembk in Rue ways:
(a) the I16uchlhphrase may function as an adverb with gdm:
KGh d slhe
see
fonsnucrion
Keuih dm-jfi rRau dek h6u h=m. slk care-child care ADV very happy k child.' 'She enjoy l d i n g after t
N@h lduhgng j@ fmhn h la my husband mdr food very m a r l 'My hrshand is a very g o d cook '
pn d6u
I
KPulh daalh-hlh-llhk @m kk gu ko. slhe grear-great strength rhus kick CL ban 'He kicks the ball very hard.'
With transitive verbs where the objed is m t , the verb is repeawd in
A dluqukl alru,,.l;vt
Nghh
I
Go sailouh daaih yhhn gSm gdng yPh CL child just-like big flerson so talk things The child's talking l~kean adult.
182 Cantonese: B m e r s i v e grarnmer
rdioms lwrh gim: [ v d ] sihng @m (nr +tzng *m) ic a d e r m m r i v e phrase used to emphas~zethe extent of an outmme or wsull: Dim g h i wiih bin
@?
FR 'T
h h dfa wGih gsau Ng6h @I 4g u not ~ m e e d would m a n a ~ rear14 I &I
(Wdrama)
50
-1 never imagined i t would hlm out like th~s''
The correspordjininp q r d m corahucrim, [verb] sUNlgdim7 b uKd to form manner a d extent questiom (17.3.7). fitfh #m. meaning Iusf or 'simpw, i s often used in i d a n s : k h jauh @m haahng ~ h p h e o jauh i &k
gz laak. then so walk in gn then okay PRT PRT 'You s~mplylvalh in like this. I t 1 he fine.'
you
h h j 1 jauh @m jso ge wo. you not can then so leave PRT PRT 'You un't j u ~Wue t likr that.'
L4h fib
hurh #m 'that's an' is u d to terminate a m e m h o n :
Haih @m sin. (te1.l is so fiwt 'That's all for now..
-
@) gdm is added pleonashcally at the end of the claux:
Keuih h6ahii mhaih @ mrihnyi g h . $he nor-be quite sar~fied so -She rkrpsn't xern m k w r y WiBtisfierl.' Kkuih jwk aam MrrtnI h o h k i t q g8m. dhe wear clothes resemble student so 'He dresses like a smdent.'
A d W idiom lvirlr gam: Knm (ddnct f m @tw with high riGng tone) is found in m e idions. IyrrhnNyljn Wrn [r*erb]is to in a random w aisorganiredmanner: ride that Earn is optimal: N$h jauh lywhn &n yat go. I therefore random [thm) choo~e one CL 'SoI chose one at random.'
m)
KCuih lywh ( g m ) g@ p h ge je. dhe random (thus) talk thinp PRT PRT 'He3 jua talbng rmmeme.' Note that gum may he omitted. as in the corresponding Mandarin idiom l d n jitlng 'talk nomeme'. Mciahng gum [ v e y is lo do something like mad; I 3 yAuhhaak laih dou H a r n m g mhahng gam CL twrist mme to Hongkcmg crazy thus msalh yell. huy things 'When murim p r to Hongkongthey hry like crazy.'
Ng6h mhahng p m lvhn I
crazy
&u vAn mh d m % thus mrch also mrch not succeed
tluh h l h . CL Ley 'II w k for the key I~kecraq and 4 1 1 can't find it.'
khhnl: 'rrazym. used ns an adverh has a similar mcarnngto mclahng Wrn: F4i di t i k i yiu kbhng yAm4ui. this CL wearher need crazy drlnk warer "I'ou have to drink like mad in this weather." N p W e ~ hkbhng Ism ni go mhnthih. w crazy think this C L prohkm 'We're W i n g our bmim over this pmbkm.'
10.1.3 REDUPLICATEDAWERBS Reduplicated adverbs, lypany fnmed from adjectiws. the verb in three pttems: (a) with the suffix -d& (see 9.2.2):
LRlh M u d 6 1 jing ykh sihk Bh? steal-steal-ish make things eat PRT 'You've been m t l y preparing fd. have you?'
are rsed before
Adwfkl m
184 &nb%se. a mqxehersivegtutlmma,
C m p r i s o n ot adverbs rs base3 on that of ad)ect]ves. Sinoe llh? a m a l o a s t n d o m ckscriid in sation 10.1 call for the use of adjeaives. the synrm of adjdival comparison (RX 9.1)appllm. Thus. rhe bmc ownpara-
Guih ge k h q m h n - m h ~hiru fsan la. sllie LP illslow-slow g m d back PRT 'Her illness is fmdriafly imprwinp'
Ng6h m w l m h l q tSi &I lltih nlhng p Yuihyan yr7tchilih. I clear-clear we V-PRT pi i t l i CL w m n togerher *I clearly saw you with a woman.' (c) together wth Wfm (10.1.2): Keuili . .si?q girn @mg. sllle srnall-small voice so speak 'He spoke in a quiet mire.' Note that the redriplication may rcsult in a changed lone on rhe second a d w v e .hence m h n + m h n -imnn-~r h i t h i w t 8 ~ Pa is M u already has a high tone. T t t w reduplicated ad& c w r s t d a r s are used especially in impmati* sentences. In preference to the a d d a l oonshuctiom with diik and Nrn (see 19 1): L€ih gwkniqpvhid8 Lfih h 8 i h h d Q n ~Is. )mi gmd-god-ish stand here wait PRT 'Be gwd and stand here waiting:
Two rcdriplicated adjcctivcs in the form AABB Ed.9.2. I)s e r e to empha size a 5ugg~tionor i m c r i o n : yZlhn Wn syii t finish e C L book
I
rive cxrmrrunlon wlrh m m h d i o n with dirk:
p~combines srralghrfmwardly ~ 5 t hthe adverb
Khiih mnlik WA waahk diik Mu sthe paint picture paint ADV g c d 'She pints hetter than Ido.'
g . ~ o rrgtrh.
than me
uannaeln aa-gel aa ask lunng s k pwi I C I ~ . pwple playmacfiine play ADV even clew than you 'Other pwple play (video games) men ktter than pido.' Negative and inlemgative mmpahns are mprmwcl by M h and . d u b d u k respectivety (see 9.3.3). fdlowed by ~ r -m n [a+xiw)': Ng6h a h l i i h @mg dak gum 1 not-haw )no speak ADV w 'I don't speak as well as you.'
hh. god
E h ysnh-mhh 1Ah g6hgO hohk d8k gmm fmal a? you have-not-have your hmther learn ADV sn fast PKT 'Do pilearn a f i ~a t ycnir [elder] bmtherT
Mashn-n,&n Irhhng a. (uwd as a ra~wwllgreruczi~g) sbw-slow walk PRT %o s h l y . '
U i h f d f d rhmkhd d fa>(-fnrt crispcrlsp ~ 'Hrrrry up and finish y m r book!'
s 185
102 COMPARISON OF ADVERBS
(b) with certmn adjectives. the reduplited form alom:
yw
m
tx! PR-T
Rehplication of acljmtivfi is highly idiomatic. an13 m r m l reduplicated idiom of the h AB pattern (9.2.3) are r d specifically as adverhs. for exam*: Kiuih jih-si j&u+ die quret-quaet-chicken leave-PW 'Heqoielly went and left.' U i h tih-I$$p hi ai yGh. yw la-la-m~ce coflect up CL wufT 'Hurry rrp and clear up this shiff." Keuih k M m + k h w g sihk saai di y&h jatih jar~j6. slhe nah-rush eat all CL thing then leave-PFV "He ate up his f d in a rush and I&.'
Note the word order here. with {ydr~h-)mdLJtpreceding I I E verb The cornpararive use of rli (9.3) is applicable where the o b w d cwnpclnwn is not expliolly Sated: Keuih yih@ cheung-@ cheunp &k Mu nng di dhc now singsong mng ADV good hstcn o-bit 'She's singng a b ~better t mw.' M h h&ihh-h6yfh g6ng &k mahn d you can-noti-an speak ADV 4ow a-bir %auld you speak n b ~slmver?' t
T k ernmh=mm~ucrions with IW; (w) and &k with ddk: Shgaan gwo dak taai faai. time p s s ADV t m fast TI^ pssff too quickly.' K h l h jfl dsk h a i dskjalh Slhe drive ADV f z r ~ a-bit *Hems dming a hit lcm fast.'
a?
PRT ~ ~ L ; dI ~ u lc ~
;la~l~
Adverbial mstnrdions 187 The superlative jm;or ji (9.3.5) may be applied m adverb ccmshuctinns, wtli the order of rhe verb phrase and subject often mrmW& Gam chi haih A-CMn Mau dSk jmi IMh. this time i s Ah-Clian exam ADV most good 'Chan did lml in the exam thrs h e . ' Gam do dhjeuk-ySu d$ & SO many mahjong-er play ADV
Ek bih clevpr is
-1
ar
there
sing
Ji Ilrn. ji ADV moY cos)' m
K&h dhe
@mg
Gn%gdu@
speak Cantonese
lEk g w ng6h clever than I
g h g YingrnAn. speak English 'He speaks Canrmm. bener than 1 spak En~lish. E i h chung-I6uhng faai gwo ng6h s8i thuh. (con*.) you rake&mm fast than I wash head 'Yuu wkc a shImtcr thnn ILwn w m l ~ my hnir.'
Muih a-rrd. her mother "I'he best mahjongplayer ot all s her motner.
H ~ g6cbn1h I &mg
The comparative gmw may he rsed to compare M v d a m with raped to an adwrb:
This oonstruction aka appears in the idiom:
d&
m
sy0fuhk. (radio ad. for karaoke lounge) oomfortable ' ~ t ' sthe m d mmtortable place tor wnging
The conshuction puht . . . yuhr. . . cthe more . . . rhe more . . . ' may either fdlwr the adverbial mmtructinn with rlAk or w n l r on either side d the verb: Khrihdeih jm~hdsk yuht faai yoM I&. do A W V mose fast more gmd 'The fmer they can do it t h e m . '
mey
jib Bih yuM h h . more early come more g o d 'The earlier )vu mme the better.'
Uih pht
yw
Compumnwe ~dioms:p h n 'as . . as pmslbk? is used wpecifically with adverbs Nore that a? f~ mtenpe adr*erk (see1A3), the *ule adverbial phrase comes behwen thesubject and the verb: Lkih jpuhn L a i g h u dihm lZi! yw oest fast manage V-PRT PRT 'Finish up w snon as possible.' )~trhrr-Ie~~htr~is 11serladverbially tn mean 'as wll as one can' or 'to the M t of one3 ability". for example in expresssng enowragement:
N@h d i h jeohn-teuhng h g Kihdeih ge la. 1 will ~pos.sibk help you-FL PRT PRT 'I'll do my bst to help you.'
Ng6h w i k yihm &
gwo
ltih i l r k m8ih.
more than eat rice The meaning i s similar to the English idiom I've =seen I
eat
salt
more
. . . than
you've had hot dinners'.
10.3 SENENCE ADVERBS: MODIFYING THE SENTENCE Sentence adverbs aredistinguishedfrnm verbal adverbs in that they modify the whle sentence rather than the verb phwm or predicak ahme. l i m e aduerln. fm example (10.3.3). mncern the circumstanoes of exre& and stafes rather than the manner in which they m r . Modal adrwbs. whiih desmbe the possibil~tyand potability of events. are d i s n l d in 12.2.
There are three positinns for sentence adverhx
(a) berween the suwnppic and the vefi; Ng6h waahkjP mh l i i h d8k. I perhaps not m e able 'I muiylll mwl lx able IV wmm.' N@hdeih h6w ch6 m6uh mfiaih dou paan ak. we good luck not-have buy V-PRT CL house 'Fortunately we didn*t buy the house.' (b) at the beginning d t h e sentence:
IUm &6i ~@ r h&h j6u fi llih. g d luck we early rather came 'Lucky we came early.'
Pdverbial c o n ~ t i o 189 n~
188 Cantonese: E- oomprehensive g m a r This @ion is oftem uSBdwhen t i m e is already a manner adverb before the
wh: Waahk* perhapa
E i h Mahngdihm yiu Eih Euih-pQhngy6uh dahkd8ng m6aih yeh +ally h ~ y thing your girl-friend
sung Mi 16h. give to you ' M a y k your girlfriend went out of her way to buy m e t h i n g for you.'
-5 a @hn yuht Pih y h t jungy ei&m-ST. now CL people more and more like wash-water-silk 'Noruaaays people like washame silk more and more. (c) at the end of the sentence. by wry of aftedm~ght:
KCuih jr~hng duhk-@n=cyCi, slhe still study-PROGM then 'She wrrs stall a student, at that hme.'
Saildu hmi-j6 Grin. d h m . brother w F F V play pmbaMy -Link brother has p n e to play. p ~
heui, htybh seuhnbin go rather on-the-way
bTng n@h gei
mlaih seun. help me send V-PRT letter "You have to go or~tanyway, )m might m d l psi the lettersfor me.'
jihnghoih and jthnih 'only. just' are often fnlkrwed by the prtide jdfi (18.3.5): N w d e i h jihnghhnih rAi-h4h
pa j . h L D E L PRT PRT 'We're just tak~nga look.'
w
cm?
y5t
chi
8.
dfik may also mean 'only'. but is used with noun p ~
.
'
b
DBk s W go yihn Iaih jah? just three CL people come PRT 'Only three people came?'
lihng &lr ngdh mhng ngbh u g6 h6imh. only just me with my bmther here 'Only me and my [elder] brother are here.'
B: U i h dGn haih. you nlvl hP 'You too.'
p u -enou& may be usad with a similar meaning:
A: Ng6h M u guih a. I verytidFRT 4'm t i h . '
&ut
need out
on@ one time PRT 'It's only arrr. . . '
dcu. in addition to its many f u h o m in qoantifyingexpressions(14.1.1). =rue+ m an m n i n g 'also' or 'too':
A: LHh ku-juhng a. ymi h k m w PRT 'Take care.'
yw anyway
dihaih
This option is rrstrided to casual oonvemtion (5ee 4.13).
&-u
nWwgdUrm lras a similar meaning:
B: N@h g m haih lok. I ewr~gh am PRT 'Sn am I.'
11, Ilk s k w u r 1 c 1 1 d~ .v a h uflim~nl a k uu llpmliwl41 ; m ~ a p M b m u r ; iu specifying the time to w h i a sentence refen. They may be u d ~ l l y divided aroording to present and future. a l b g h they dearly do nor
m,
system ar such. Note that the adwrb in the Cantonese examples is often redundant in the English trarslation. due m the tense of farm a
ttrtse
the wrb.
may alsa m n 'anyway'. @+&allyin negative m t e n c n : &u inh *tr k€uihg€. I alsn not k m v him PRT 'Idon'?know him. anyway.'
Nfl
~gohaeih QW ~amiyuh jau
ge
la.
we also irrtencl leave PRT PRT *We were going to leave anyrvay:
Ng6hdeih Mnlhih m6uh Ih-jyuh faan Heunggmg. w nrigirrally not imend return Hmgkvng 'We weren't planning to ~ a n back e to Hongl;onp.'
ylhcklhn 'before. formerly':
Adverbial r n s b w l i m s 191
pmRRlsdk 'br the time &ng" e x p m m the short-term or p v k i o n a l
Gwok yidng yihehihn jyuh SBnn Dhg. Kwok d m before live Peak 'DrK w k u d to live on the Peak.'
Rlhlie: Ngdhdeih jaahmslh chtng giingy3hn. w time-king not-need employ m i d "We don't rreed to employ n mald tor the: moment.'
gdjnhnslla or @@hnsi'then, at that time': Ng6h &ahmi juhng meih haau d6u chbphaih. I rhat4ime &ill not-yet PRT vehiile-liwm 'At that time T still harlnY got my driving li-.'
~
t
h
3
~
do~aih'by that time': Ng4h ch& I at-fim
hh Pngyi not like
keuih. hauhlaih him afterwards
vomn
ngmwun p u n ]wou a m geIaK. that4ime we then k m how PRT PRT 'We'll know how it is by then.'
maahn-min pngyl. slow-dow like 'Iused not to like him. t ~gdoally ~ t got to like him.' bijldid
'until now, alruays' is tsed rofferherwith
A: Heui dou arrive
&u:
%at
LHh bstlao &u gam ch0npihng ge. until-nmv also 50 clever PRT %'w a f w a ) ~been w c h c r (until m).'
W u h dim
thert:
do we do w+m
a?
how PRT Ire a n i r d g
ji syun ts. that-time cmly plan PRT 'We71 plan that when the time mmes.'
B. Douslh
@njyuh hexl'. Nehdeih gnjyuh @rrg daikyih go taihmuhk. we following talk another CL top^ 'Next we'll talk a h n another topic.'
A-Ffing y l h p j p h Sgatlhn Ah Fung now live Shalin %ung lives in Shatin now.'
y-r-jnR+n
jrrhng or juhng huih 'still':
Lkih juhng gei-hh-geiik ng6h you s t i i re-not-remember me 'Do you still remember me?' M h deui HEun&ng you towards H o n m n g
chlhntbuh future
a? PRT juhng fitin
'in a moment':
IC&ih&-% yStjahng3an heui s u n M i , they in-a-moment m e arompany-plam 'In a moment they're going to see someone off(at the airport).'
yduk haih p i n are
m
yhuhmim%n ah? h a v d & n c e PRT 'Yw're shll so mrhdent a l m t Hongkcmg's future, are you?'
hdddrl'fmm now on':
N@h
I
mh tuhng Wih @uh yih@ hw fmm nmv k g i n nvl ~ + t hyvu
*g
@.
speak stuff 'From now on 1h.l & p i n g to talk to you.' daIh yih sUr 'in future' (often reduced m dojh slh):
N@Bei
jqhngyihn wdih gaijuhk hhlihk. we hll will mtinue h u e 'We w l l still mntinue to do mn M.'
Dalhylh d h m h h maalh nl Jzk fialh~jl. another time don't buy this CL brand 4n future we shouldn't bny this bmnd.'
Adverbial-
192 Cantonese: a cormrehensive asmnsr
as a time adverb m m 'hrxt ot an'. often tofFth-3 with the delimitative a m marker hdh (11.2.6): Nflhrlpih we
s&r~wht (dcu), n l t h g h usually translated as 'always'. is often u d ~rbolically: L&h &bngyahl (&I) wah d u h sihgaan. you always (all) say nor-haw time ' Y w alwayx say yw don't have time.'
sin
iii-hih dim joi first lwh-DEL how wain
Ih baahnkat. think solrdun 'Well see how it gws fim and then think of a sdution.'
IJserl follow in^ a time *-ion.
I ~ d u$u (14.4) as an adverh has the meaning 'rarely': YTnggwok kh s h y6uh gam yiht ge 6nhei. Emglad rwy little hare so hot LP weather 'The weather's not often rn warm as this in England.'
sinlsmfi wji means mb'vr hvt
until' (see also 16.3.2 fnr thew use in ccmditionals):
Reduplicated time expressim ( 14.1.2) form adverbs of frequ-:
Ng6h mgyaht
s - M jidor~ &ng-mh-chhg d5u ga. 1 mmorrorv first know apply-not-applg leave 'r won't hnow until tomorrorv whether I can take leave.'
Lihmlihn
s
thh s i i . not k m f
a-m8h
aangyaht.
K&uih chixhi
dw haih g$m wn. time-nme all is so PRT PRT *She's lik this tv,,, Iind.' dhe
ddsrdji empthe ~ P e d i n wprd e pr ph=, which may be an expression of Gme or of same olher c i m m s t a m : Ng6h finaaht sinji Mi d i h n d \ah IS. I iomorrmv only give telephone you PUT 'T won't call you until -Iv'.
meiih 'each' (14.1A) also combines with time e x p s i a s to form adverbs of frequency. Unlike reduplicared adwrbs, these form may be d i by numerals or quantifierssuch z& g& 'a few': rnliih chi 'every time' rntirn yaht ' e a c h l w q my' mfiih go Ihihbaai 'every week'
Yiht-lmht-laahi sir@ Wu 9hk eama. warm-hot-hot only good ear PRT-PRT 'It only tasres good rvhen it's hot, you hrrorv that.' d n is also u ~ zsda sentence part&
hingjiik
A-Ktr~hng yaht-ynht & yiu pani hrqf. AhKeung dayday all need delnm newspaper 'Keung hlo deliver newyapen every day.'
:
Keuih Snjr s i i , rrg6h s l l ~ only know 1 'Only she k-. 1don't.'
floh
yearyear all have celebrate grandma birthday 'There's a celebrationfor Grandma's birthday every year.'
I n this functirm srnji is not resZrided tv time. hl i$a h w d to m t r a two m
193
(18.3.5).
Adwrbs of ftequeiq are fotmed using the meam of qtmntficaliunsuch as &u (14.1. I), mdIh (14.1.4) and reduplication(14.1 2).
Tun+uhng dou hdh yuhng nl go bnnhnht. usually all i s we this CL do-manner 4rs usually don= this way.'
mdih go yoht 'each month' milih l ~ h n 'eachhery year' mCih gaak ySt lihn 'everyother year'
m6h a m chi ' a ~ r third y rime' moih leuhng yam 'every hvo, day.' mir~hleohnggo Uihbaai 'mry hw \veeks' milrh gb go yuht.every tew mo& mdih h n nhn 'every six months'
As time advwhials. these phrases cwne Wore Ihe verh: Ng6Meih dii Wng film yiu k4h yst chi me each two year need move one time V e have to move I i m once ~ every two years.'
Ck. house
. .yr% chi ' o m (in . . .3' is an alternatiwe expression of frequency, tvhvhich may combine with mdih: .
N&
go ldihbaai yiu W yit & m CL week wed we one time docrw +have to see the Baror once a week.' yit
I
Mfiih mrn go yuM yiu E i pi chi l e i k l . tdclh t111at CL r11u111lr l~mlp y urle tirnt. in'You have to pay i n b d every h e months.' Compare the question form gPitofi (17.3.5).
. . . )vlt
chi meunimg 'bow often?'
lOA ADVERBIAL PHRASES The follnwingm s e sfun*
as time and manner a d v e r k
chllrn 'ap'may e i t h e r f o l k the time expreseion, as in w i s h , orprecede it: Ng6h @ h cWm pin-gvm Euih. I few y r n ~ I X k meet-EXP hlm 4 met him a P w years ago.' KCuihdeih haih cldm g+i sin p yoM they are hefore a-few CL months iid b=gin
pak-m ge
Zdlurn: &hn 9 p h i I 1 l p a a i 'a w h k ago', has the bed orclm N@I
chlhn
I
befvre a
R m h 'later" is the mn-
of rMhn but mmisrently follows the rime
eKpressan: h h n g nhn hauh two y-m after 'two years later'
fan-j0ng hauh -ds after 'a few seconds later'
johng d6u
Wuih.
while bumn V-PRT him
'I ran into him a while ago.'
Cwnpare the exprepsion nip6aihlM Lfhese day$'. @uA @@ih 'it's been a winle' is used with m W k (13.3. 15.4) to refer to non-oceurrence of an m m in the recent pst: A WClng @uh p p n i m6uh &ut-yihn-po. Ah-Wmg have one while not-lave appear-EXP 'Wmg hasn't p~t in an appearme for m e time.' ydarhpbh orydupbaih 'it'll he a while' suggests an indefinite &d, typically extedlng into fururn:
Keulfflelh ylhm pSaIh dOu mi gtdk-ml~. they have while still not-yet manyahle 9t'll be a while hefore lhey can g& married.' a, lhl? when graduate PRT you ' W h am ycn~pin^ tn @laate?'
A: W d h batyihp
je.
dm PRT PRT T h e y only started dating a few months ago.'
)$it @ih
8: Juhng flub @ih E. still have while PRT Tt'll be a whik yet.'
g5
a-few
dahkdiiAg means %@ally' or 'deliberately':
Khih
dahkdng l8ih taam ngihdeih. specially oome visit us 'She'sming -ally to we ~n.' she
K h i h dahkdang jhg@ ngbh. dhe qecWly playtrick me 'He deliberately played a trick on me' The cmvmw i s rn-gokyi brrintentionallu': Nd11 m-pkyi ch8i &n k.+ulh. 1 un-intenticnal W V-PRT him 'I didn't mean to step on him.'
p r [daajifier] y6t [dasifier]
f a r e d u m e d c o r n d o n -iw by m e ' or 'one after adher', usually used w h e r w i f h dOk (10.1.1) or@
{inlq: Di m n yiii fm-g yiit fing daahp &k h6u jingchaib. CL letrer one CL m e CL. pile ADV rrry tidy T h e letters are piled tidily o w on rop of the other.' Ni dihp dmi yiu pt daahm @ daahm I gAm sihk. this CL food need one bite one bite so eat This dkh should be eaten one mouthful a t a time.'
Ng6h yst go ldihbai yiu t4i pi chi W n g . J me CL week -& I we one hme doctor 'I have to see the docfor once a ~vmk.'
i &clilhn ~ ydf : pblf~lpbal'a whik am', Im tlhlt fixed u&r. N@h chlhn
M6ih dam go yuht yiu bki pi chi leihd. &h tlhu l~dm~th14p y UIIC 1i111r illlcreal *Yo11have to pay interest e v q three months.' Compare the qwstion fotm moih (17.3.5).
. ..
pi dri meaning
amv
often?'
10A ADVERBIAL PHRASES
if
KCuiideih b i b Eh)b g+i an hhaf go ynM they a m before a-few CL month first begin pak-m p je. date PRT PRT 'They only started dating a few months ago.' haufi 'later' is the MnveKC: of rhihn hauh
@i fin-jiing kwh
ah~r
a-few
'two
years later'
worn&
K h i b d a h k h g Bih taam m h d e i h . slhe specially come visit us 'She's mming @ally tn e 11s.'
K h i h dahkdng j t n m
ng6h. q m i a U y play-trick me 'He delibera~elypbyed a trkk on me'
dhe
I
I
Keulhdelh m h p h l h &I mdh gh-dak-fan. they have while stin n o t - p marry-ahle 'It'll be a while before they can get rninried.' A: G s l h w h p
a, I€ih? when graduate PKT PI Whpn arc ycn~@ne tn gmd~latr?'
B: Juhng ySuh $aih
8.
still have whjle PRT ?t'll te a while yet.'
ydt[dmsifier]9[classifier1 is a reduplicated construaion meaning 'one by m ' o r 'one after anmher', usually wed together with d&k(10.1.1) mg6m
(10.1.2):
IX seun pit fing yzii Wng daahp dak h6u CL letter m e CL one CL p i ADV m e letters are piled tidily m e on tcp of the other.'
'This dish ~houldbe eaten one mouthful at a nme.'
'unintentionally?
L M ~&an
y6uhpkih o r y d u ~ d h ' i t l he l a whk'soggests an indefinite +,
jfgch2ih. tidy
Ni dihp choi yiu W daahrn fl daahm g6m sihk this CL W need m e bite m e bite so a t Mdh.
un-intemional tread V-PRT him -1didn't mean to step on him.' I
y h h pt pl:ih mduh chHny11n gwo. Ah-Wong have one wtule not-hawe appear-EXP 'Wong hm'l pn in an appearance for smbz hme.'
after
'a few sea%-& Iater'
dahk&n~ means 'specially' or 'deliberately':
The convew u -kyi
Compre t k q w m h nip&u~711pdai'these days'. yrZuAfitp5aih *it's been a while' is used with mduk (U.3.15.4) m refer to non-ormrrenoe of an event m the recent pa:
oomistently fdlows the time
doll:
F m
khih.
W U y extendrng into the futum:
N@h @ fihn cMhn gin-gr~o k h i h . I Icw F r kbe m i - E X P hlm 'I met him a few years ago.'
hm
phaih j c h g &u
A-Wbg
adverhx &hn 'ago'm y dtherfollow the time. exprmiion, as in English, or pme& The following phrases function zs time and man-
ltuhng Tihn
Ft
I Mm a wMe bump V-PAT him 'I ran into him a while ago:
l3i yhihhaak Mu y&uhdihtjuni gAm @ go gin 3 CL twrim very have+rh so one CL fotlow m e hahng yahp heui. in go ' I he twmfs went in m e by one in an orderly fahon.' go
CL walk
11 ASPECT AND VERBAL PARTICLES
fl-t chi p m 'all in one go':
NflBeih
eung
we
wish
chi gwo bun saai di #h. one time pass move all CL t h i r p 'We want to mme everything in om go.' 10.4.1 VIEWPOINT ADVERBS
Thew phram pr~serrta point of v i m to bpgrn a sentence. m g j l i n 'to tell you the truth' i s used to confide opinions: Gmh6 Grn~ a, ~@lh mlnlh wiilh @ b5 Uuil> speak In= PRT I not will many to h m PRT 'To tell ym the truth, 1wouldn't many him.'
. . . ldih g#ng 'asmxwlwmition:
far rrs
.. .
i s concemd'
establiies a topic of
Gmgjui Ihih gdng, Hi3ing&g @nu dllk mha. economy m e speak Hmgkong manage ADV m-bad -As far as rhe economy is concerned. Hongkong is doing pretty well.' Yahttdn choi Ihih @ng, nf @an jsudim Tun Japan food come speak this CL hotel mnt hsih pt linh. s fim-rate 'As far as Jaw-
fmd is mncemed, this hotel is exrrlknt.'
Chhhng sin bib bng term come
tsi.
r&ih
w e buy
Mu h6ylh Wu Rat can
F e w
jihk. (radio int.1 value Fmm a longterm point of view. buying a flat can be a gond invmtment.'
Eu
nngh t5i. @m-msahn y i n e jouh d8k @hn. I wr tmighl should do able finish 'As I see h. we should be able to Anish up tonight.'
as
As is well known, Chinese grammar lacks didnuions of tense. asmch:
mrn
is. the notions past, present and future are not encoded gammatically by fonm of [he verb. There is,however, a relativelyc o m p k wein ofverbal spa, diptinguishing notions such as events. states and p-~ep. Through the d w relationship behueen these aspecrual d m and time, the q e c t marhen colmihile to the expreshn of time relations (Il.l), ro@her with adverbs of time (103.3). Ais a subjective notion in the serse that i t enaMes the same situationto be v i e d and d e m i d in different ~vays.Aspects can he seen m'uwwpninWwhii can hp akm nn a GPjnlnhm: hm-mnfhP: m e ihmtinn may he Bescribed rrdng two or more d i f f m t a~pzctmarkers. for m m p l e rhe p-ve g h (1 1.2.21 and the continuous jyuh 111.23): Ngoihbihn hhk-gdn y6h. ouwde fall-PROG rain 'It's raining arMe.'
Ngoihbiin lohk-jph ybh. outside fan-COW rain '1t.s raining oritside.'
adion ofrain falling, whilefyuh presents the weather as a continuing situation. The choice of a+ marker is &ermine4 partly by byhe m r e x t a 4 partb by the speaker's own choke of how to p r m t the situation. A further element of &ice is i r m c d u d by the fact that unlike terse in En$&, aspeet markers are in mwt cdm grammatically optional, is. they may he omitted (see 1121). The Cantonese system of aspect ccyqrw& broadly to thnt in Mandarin m shown in Table 11.1 Desplte ths approximate correspondence. aspxt is an area w k r e the hw I a n p a p d~tfersiprnfmrrtty. The Cantorme markers at all follow the verb. behaving emtially as*. Cantmese a h has a habitual marker h%which Mandarin I-. a d there are imponant d~fferencesm the usage ofindividual aspeFts. I n addition to a m markers as such, Canlhas numerous verbal pWTicls whose f u n c t h are dosely related to thwe of a* (see 113). Many of these are peculiar to Cantom, in partiailar the qoarrtifylng particles saai and mhriln (11.33) and the adwrsativehhitual than (11.3.4).
T k progressiregdn describes
A& Table l l d Aspect r m W s h Mandam and Chinese
and verbal parlicks 199
It oomhines with p s t time adverbs such as &hneng
'hefore':
K h i h chhhngpng Ib-gam jCong. dhe e,ously mke-EM' award 'She has rocnved an a w r d before.'
jb,which i d i t - an event, also normany implies p t time reference: N@h mgiwj6 tluh fib. 1 lcM-PF7P CL kcy Tm last the Ly.'
I r mmbines with a d v e r b of reoent pas such as n@mm@%m'juW or r r i s k n 'just now': 11.I
ASPECT AND THE EXPRESSION OF TIME
In the absence of explicit ten= marking. t e m p m l relations are ev-d by a combination of adverbials. z q x d markers and contextual fauon. l i m e adverk G U C ~ as bdxIdIh '&ipinalTy' ond yih&ihn %bcTorr', fw example, amhor the time wference of a wrrterpce in the p s t (see 10.3.3): Ng6h Wnlbih jyuh (%lulhhrg ge. I originally live Korvloon PRT 'I used to live in Ko\vlwn.'
bask meaning of the arpeaual particler concern not the time of an actkm, hut the m y it is k w d : as a state of affairs. an m a or an action in process; these aspectual m e a n i m are discuaced individually in sedion H.2 Nwerthelea, in the a h c e ofspecificidimtionsoftime, the aspca markers imply refereme to certain times: The
@n i s normally used of ongcing acriom. i.e. in the absence of any i d carion m the corrrrary, it k u n d e m as retemng m the present: Wbhng GujC ghg@n
Wvng
Mi= .,all;-PRCK;
dihnu6. telephnne
* M aW o w is o n the phone.' iyl* denote5 a
of affairs, typically present or timeless:
Di w4hn JC-jyuh go taaiyeuhng. CL d d Mock-COW CL srmlighi T h e clouds are biding out the vunllght
'
p,like the petfect in English, implies ttmt the situation took place prior to the poim of speech or rererenee: Ng6h hohk-pm DBkmdn ge. I study-EXP German PRT 'I h a w studied C i i a n Mom.'
LiwhMan ngsam4gEmrn ckut-ji, heui. bosg just-jmt out-PFV p T h e boss has just gme an.'
Thesetemporal implications m y h e thmght of= defsultinterprerations wnlch hold when mner t n r r p are equal. The aspea mafkers ahwad nor be
equated with ten=; in partiollm, j4 and grva s h w M not be mgdrBed as pasr tense ma-. For example, j6 is rmd in imperative sentence and compkmmt clauses refenkg to the present ar funwe:
Sihk*
khih sin. fm
eat-FV if 'Eat ~tup.'
Ng6h &ng maaih-jd ga chE 1 wish dl-PFV CL car 'I wsnt to sell the car.'
Cwrversely, s e n t e m referring to the paft do not q u i r c j d or gmw: Ngc5h k$hm&hn rhhng rg6h ukkCi-flhn silk-faahn. T last-night with my home-people eat-focrd had dirmer with my family last night.'
+
markers i s mlmiw m t M than Note also that the time rrference of as@ a W u t e . Thar is, the temporal meaning of@ and p u may rrot be ~1 in nn n h l r ~ t esense, but only relative to some other reference time. This in seen clearly in subordinate d a m :
K h i h h h yiu heui-gwo npihgwok sin j i b liaih dlm ge. they need p M P abmacl trrst know e Mw Y k I They'll only k m w f i a t it's lihe when liq'we been abroad.'
In such cases. lkvmh m o d i f d by pw 6 actually r e b r i n g to the future: it is psi mly relative t o the main verb, jib. Similarly, a ve* with j6 m y refer to the antkipted Completion of a f ~ ~ event. r e Ngdhdeib sihk-j%halrn h 11cd r118ud1 yell. we e a t - P N - f d hrst go goy thin@
' A k r eathg we'll go shopping'
11.2 ASPECT MARKERS The m p c ~ markers gon, h h , h,gww, hbh and h-i are h n d fOm, behaving cssenhally as s u k e s : in their fudm as markers, they may m t be separated fmrn the uerb, which d~stinguishesrhem from verbal prl*
(11.3).
H Z 1 SYNTAX OF ASPECT MARKERS In general, aspect markers are g r a m m a h l l y o p t i o d . i.e. fw evwy context in which one occurs it is t o have the same senlencewithout rhe aypen marker. Ihls Is s m n dearly la rhe case of the p c g m s k gar! which. unlike the: English w i v e , may freely be omitred:
N g t i h h l yihga @g(-@n) ni gn mahnMih. we now talq-PROF) this CL problem 'We're talbrg about this problem now.' In w b 4 n a y n b z t k contens, however, r k a!spa~marker is amngly preferred, if rot oHigatwiy. The perf& jd w reqtrirpd where the verb
har a quantified o+t
and refers to the past:
N@h
kbhmrnfiahn dj6 lttihng fOng m n . I laa-night write-PFV t m CL letter 'I wmte two letters I& ni*.' This may be o o n t m e d wi~ha similar wntext withait a qoarMed object. in which 16 is not r q r r i d
Muih kbhmmsahn d=d~hnwS Mi I-@. sIhe last night can-telephone to mie 'She Rave me a call last ni~ht.'
The position of aspea markers is m p l i c a r e d in rhe case ofcomplex verbs hcse of more than one vllable). %HAm p o u n d s fall inm three kinds: [a) In the caw of eypiwl v e h b j e d m p o t m d s (2.3.3). t k two p r t s a m sepamble, the -a marker wmirg between them:
Wuilnkilt y t h g pk+dO. they rmw date-PROE-date 'They're dating a t the moment.'
yThgTng Cawj6-gam. already fall-PFV-asleep 'She's already gogone to sleep.' muih
slhe
@I In a a n d grarp of c o m p n d verb., the two parts mnml be sepmted:
N@h 6hgOk-j6 y8t y ~ u l m gfl I discow-PW one CL thing 'k d m v m d mething.' (c) A third m p oF verbs may either be separated or not: yiIwj&m?~hnor yihrnAhwj4 'emigrated' teui-+ySu nr WuiyHu-j6 'retired' W i l e aspect marken are normally sufhxed to the verb they m d f y , g w may be attache$ to a phraw: Ng6h meih Jauh gEirmih 1% gwo. 1 not-* h a w chance hear EXP 4 h a m n t had rhe hame to hear it yet.'
s~
r~ng rather than the verb alone. m d s r s often appear in fonmction~with an apparemly The as* passlue meaning:'
pw here mDdifw the d w l e phrase Huh Bpng
ChLhng Isu ylhg7ng M+n. CL building already buil+PROF The building is already being hi~lt.' l l , ; b ;s m a
p s G v t n l w n i n , hut rcsulh htnpidimtim of tbc objcct cI~fiRngI& 'the buildng' with the subject rmderstmd as a g a r i c 'they' ( ~ 4 . 2 )Similarly . with the pcrlective marker#:
Ni bimsyti dehngj6 ge lak. this C'L b o d order-PW PRT PRT Ths b m k has k e n -red.' Nnre that a n t o n e w m l d nor use the Mi@ve here becatse the objd m m m d (M hrin syr? in the a b w e example) is n u adversely affecred by the action (see 8.4). rdrom: pn-p-m expecred' is an idiom 07 this form: F h n g j 6 wo. China again win-PFV PRT 'China won again.'
A: JIInggwok yauh
B: Yrih-jk ge lak! m i d P F V PRT PRT 'Exactly as expu!ted''
Aspect m d rerbal ptides
-
1122 m ! ? E S S R ( E : G h , Hhmwl
The most familiar of the a m lo the Em@& w k e r is the m i = , marked by the pwticlelrmffnr gdn. Its meaning is similar to that of the Emgl~shpmgressive -ing form In its r w . however, the CantWcle is much more msh-kwd than the English p m g m i v e fwm. It aflplw only to Wivities desaibed as ongoing: Khihdeih l h h n g p pak-g6n-16. they two CL dam-PROF T k two of them are dating.'
W h hsiffruh jouh a? you be-here do what PRT 'What are you doing?' ill cnptssing w i v e
meaning: Keuih h 8 i h @ng@n dihd. slhe behere taw-PROG telephone %he's(talking) on Ihe phone.'
CONTINUOUS: Jnm
While the w
v e marker @I is used for dynamic ongoing x t h i l i e s , implying change o v e ~time,jyuh d a c n i s a wnhnrious adivity or slate w i t h i t change: yihhauh ehngyaht phikjyuh Yh. (fihn) wan1 afterwards a l w s ~ accompmy-CONT you %mm now on I want a l m p to be wilh you.' N@h *mg
b6 c h t a? hurry-COW lake car PRT
car?'
gwrr-jjah his?-':
Mckruh, which literally means 'm be herelthere', i s an a h a t i v e meam of describing an Mion in p g r e s s . Its me as a pmprrssive marker is pmbably influcmd by thc Marrdatin nir Nich mcam tither 'ta be nmniakd' a,.'luht doing'. hdidoslh p r e c e k the wrb:
I
he-not-be
'Are p u in a hrmy to get the
G5@hmlh ni hlmg lAo jrihng Mi-@. that-time this CL Rat stilt build-FROG 'At that rime thi3 block of Rats was still k i n g hill.'
11.25
h6i. CL sea
go
G L n iik deli-jyih U h w s e f-CDNT T7-e house -f the sea.' Wih h a i k m h i h g&-jyih
gdn applies to the p r e m if thereis no indication otherwise, but may to the paw in Emjunaion with pmt time adverbs.
rJuCur~g ~ ;i n
decncn-&I7'face':
you
tmwn saipai. Chan Mr enjoy-FROG w r l d 'MrChan k havhg a gnarl time.'
Jdkbuh is ~ ~ * l l n l ukd ~ n l lu ~
It i s closely associated with p a h l a r verbs. with which it denotes a continuous activity or StaR T k f n l l n w i ~m h i n a t i o m are e p c i a b common:
g&--jvlrh 'be in a hrrrryrrry:
Chihn S a n g
Ng6h hdidwh g6i mn. I be-here coned paper I'm grading ppm:
ZW
Ng6h w6ih h6u gwa-jyih nlhh ga. I will much miss-CONT you PRT I11 miss you a br.' j&iw!fr 'keep hold of:
Mgti k i h b m g ng6h jsjyuh duh sd$~h. please you help me hnld-CONT CL key 'Would you hold on to my key br me, p l e a w r f l j y 1 A 'blmk. obstnrt'
G a c h t j&jyuh
a
wr
bid-MWT
yhhndeih. jM&
'The car is causing an ohhudion.' molmg-jyuk 'stare at':
M h mohngiyuh n m prih you stare-CONT m e &I 'Whm nre yori st3ring st me for?'
mmHty€h? what
In a few mxs the m b i n a r i o n verb -jyuh has a slightly d l k n m t meaning fmm the sin& wrh, e.g. h - j y r r A 'inrend' rs. Ium 'think': Ng6hdeih Ism-jyuh Wn Ilk. we think-CONT mow: horse 'Weye thinking of moving '
An important funchon of f i h is in serial w n s h r d o r n (w 83). marking the first of two verbg denoting simultaneous activities:
204 Csntonese:m compebmiw grammar R&h i mohngjyuh ng6h siu. she starsCONT me smile 'He smiled while looking at me.'
Go b i h h &ni-jyih
ng6h haam. CL bahy face-CY)NT me cry T h e baby was q i n g in my face.'
-
(b) in reporting p s t evwts w%houtany such M t , [verb] - jd meto the simple pa: Giinm gmhlin jaahwj6 msfu cMn. mmpany last-year eamPFV not-little money 'The m n p n y made a gm?U &I of money last year.'
(c) to exprm a pxid of time up up aand inclrding the present:
Mhdeih glt-j6-mn jyslh has certain other hmmcrions in addition to its mtinoous meaning. In s e n t e m , it is used as a partide d the end of the c k , meaning "yet':
KCuih tnh dung gimn jyuh. not want many fl ' S h e d t x N t want to get married yet.'
%he
W i h ) mhki $u (you) don't go 'Dwn't leave yet.'
jyuh yet
a. PRT
A similar meaning 'forthe time being'oocurs in positive sentences with the adverbial p n i c l e dn: Mhdeih sihk jyrih sin. ym-PL eat PRT PRT 'You cmry nn eating.' M h thhng go MhbT H6an jyuh dn. p i wth C L haby play PRT PRT 'You r a n ~y c* playing with tlrt bl%y.'
The p c r f d w agpea is basically used to rpport an event. seen as a whole or as mmpleted. Typically, such an euent is m e situated in the past; however, jc should nor be thoughr d as a paw rense maser. h has a range of meaning which overlaps with both the English perfed and the simple pad. We may distinguish t h w 1usage of 16: (a) the re9ulMk meaning. which may be translated hy the English perfect. where the event has a m i l t :
Ng6h
p
I
CZ car W e n - P F V
che waaih-@.
'My car's broken d m . '
g 4 10% a? puFt mamyPFV now tong FRT 'Howlong h a w you been m~rried?' Ng6h p chE j%j6 ICahng Mm g&im I CL car driwF'FV two years some Tw been driving the car for over two WE..' may mmeqmd to the perfed progrcsriv*l in En@&. A similar sentence with gwo in place: of jt5 jduld ~mpiyt h d the state of affain ra lwgcr hdds (11.2.5). j6 d w s mt occur in negative s e n t e m . Instead, the rrgative existential
Note that this
-
mdrrJl is u d before the verb (13.3, 15.4): Ng6h sj6 ddn. I get-PFV money. 'I got a m m o w . '
Ngal m h l l 16 &in. I not-have get mney 'I didn't get any money.'
To q m s the failure to a c h i i an objedk. a wrbal partide m h 8s dnu (see 11.3) may be used in place ofj6 in a negative s e n t e m : Ngdh m6uh 16 dou chin. I not-have get V-PRT money '1 did& receive any money.' j6 fmnu pafective y
h
s with meih (17.1.4):
Lkih @an-j6 mi meih han&PFV tax not* p i paid your taxes yet?
ck
a?
PRT
jh iir nap11 in A 1 mm#nrfinmto Prfrpw a s e q i p r r p of d o n e (cmtraft jyuk which 7 s i r n u l t a m u a d o m in a similar m!m-whn: jaoh h e d awh rrmhr-yuht. marry-PFV then go spmd honeymoon 'After getting mamed we're going on w r heymoon.* Ng5hdeih git-j6-fan we
Agpect and verbal p d & s
The meaning of this particle sriggests e x p e h . or something having occurred 'at lw o m More'. I t ~orrrspan& closely to the experiential meaningof the premt perf& in English, rn in:
Mih sihk-
@hdn
m h a? you tat-EXP shark-fin m-yet PRT 'Hm you ever eaten shark's fin?' Khiih duhk-gwn daaihhohk, yingwi h& @hngyih wAn study-EXP u n k i t y should very easy sIhe find gong.
V-PRT pb 'She's been to uniuersity. she should be aMe to fmd ajob easily.' Anorher meaning of g w ,like the English perfed. is described rs 'indeimte pa' meaning. The rotion of experience is rot diredy applicable if the p b w is nm human, fClr example:
Hduchlll lohk-gw yiih wo. seem fall-EXP rain PRT ?t seems to h m been miming.' F a dihnlhh w a a i h v &i chi. CL computer break-EXP few time This computer has crashed a few rimes before.'
207
L i i h hai HEungg6ng jyuh-gwo g& loih a? in Hongkcmg I k E X P how long PRT How long d ~ you d live in Hongkmg(before leaving)?'
H m , dW: to the subjective nature d aspmuat choice, alt-M are nftgn p.xdW in the m conCllt. For example, Id wuld be used In place oT gwo in the a h example. referring to the W t e : perioB of time immld. jd and gwn atso combine with different aduerhs, jd with adverhs referring to the recent past s r h as nghm-nflam 'j&. and gww with distant past adverbs sur* as ylhdukn 'hefore':
Ni
birn syii ng(rh n@am-npam t6Lj6. this CL book I just-just wad-PFV 'I've just read this book.'
N7
b i n qi?i ng6h
this CL bonk I 9'- read this book
yiihihn
tAi-w.
before
read-EXP
In addirion to its aspma1 furdon, gwm serve3 several o w grammatics1 fumhom:
-
(a) as a directional verb, g ~ w mans '-'
(83.2):
N$II hbu d u gwu h u l Heunggdng dblhn. very little go Hongkmg that+ide I '1 rarely go wer m HwngkwngIdand.'
Mi akhbahn jauh gwo Ihi The erperiential gwo m t r a s t s in meaningwith the @mtk j6,althwgh hth may be translatd pnth either the English perfeFt or the past t e r m d i n g to the context. Theconmast typmlly hingeson whether a m u l t ofrhe went horn (perfective)or nor (exper~ential).
Ng6h yiiging sflan-j5
rnhhn.
I already shut-PFV dmr 4te already closed the c t m (and it's still clmed).' N@h yFhg7ng mn-gwo yat chi mbhn. 1 aIrezdy shut-EXP one time door 'Tve already c k m d the d m once ~ (and it's open again).' Similarly, whh expr~rsiomof duration. @ k used where the situation dll @ i (is still relevant) and gwo where i t does not:
Leih I d i H&III&~ j y u b j 6 ~& luZ1 a? i in Hongkmg lave-PFV how long PRT Hnw long have ymi lived in Hongkong?'
king-gii 1%. then over come &at P W 'Comeover and chat when y u i have time.' you free
(b) as a verbal panicle (see 11.3) pw meam either m t t or 'magain', as in sP gwo 'rewrite' (cf. A r m r h n English wn'w otw):
NT tw Iwi
chin-keilr
m L u rhu
gd.
rhwsand-py don'r miss p a -Don't miss this film.' this CL film
King seun yiu d gwo. that CL, lener wed write PRT 7har h e r needs m be rewritten.' See also the i d i m [verb] ddkhfrli gwo (123.1). (c) a s a trarsirive verb, gwo mans 'cmss' or 'spend (time)': Y~hga hqoh gwo mt-. nnw can Smad
M
'We can aoss the mad now.'
208 Cantonese: a oornprehensivsgramnar
&m3 and verbal m%cW209
--
Ngfh hhahnghhahng-Mh-gon@ phng dbu go I wlk-walk-DELshop bump V-PRT CL
Eihdeih heui
W o u h gwo Hnlihn a? wlwre spend New Year PRT 'Where are you going to v n d New Year?'
you-PL
go
gauh Whnghohk. old clamate '1 mn inlu w d d c l m a t e : wl~ileshr-ng.'
(dl as a comparative marker (9.3).
Idfom: [uerbj - hbk . . . sin is to do m h i n g temporarily, for examplewhle waihng or to kill time:
.
This particle has the meaning 'do . . for a while', or 'have a .. . '. I t k typically wed with v e r h denoting x t i d e s , with or without an object haahnghah 'take a walk' kinnghhhgi 'have a h a t ' $m-hAh+h 'have a drinh'
Nm chEm hi hbhng-Mh gjn.
tai-hah -have a look' Mng-hsh@n@i 'do some &*gg di-Wh-syU 'do some reading'
I out go walk-PRT =I'm going out for a walk.'
Eih chMhbh dn. please pi sit-PRT h t 'Please take a seal for a while (until I'm ready)." Mgh
N g d ~ h6u guih a, &ung W I M h . 1 mry tired PRT wan4 rest-a-bit ' r m tired- Ireed to t a k a d
'
Nore: when lsed at the end d a sentence as a particle. sin has a high falling tone (183.5). ~ ~ i ~ 'in the I blink r of an n eyelid' serves = an M a 1 phrase:
I n thin fumon. 1i&h resembles the reduplicatedmsrmcrion [verb]- F[verb] in Mandarin(termed defimhthe by h and Thnmpson).2which may alsa be r w d i n Cant-. Thus, e q u i d n t to kiizghf18, we have: kinflh-ng chnt-one char 'have a chat'
first
16m-yat-lAm thimkme-think 'have a think'
Slhgaan h6u rwg
lllln
faai g m . jkmh4h-ng8ahn ik31 p w I~llllh-D-F.
yauh
@t nhn. one p a r T ~ m e R iin i the blink of an eye another year has passed.'
Note that this constructim is often mntracted. with the Ims of y7t and a change of mne (2.2):
wPFV
Siwyst-Siu4 Sjll-siu alllil~vllc-~nlilt 'have a srnik'
A ~ Q u p l k i t everh d followed by Sdk implies repetition or pro)on&m of the actnm. Thi usage offen m s p n n d s ro the perfect pmgresslve in Engli N@h Ym-lsnWh, &u hill r r ~ l u h bill EL. 1 think-think-DEL dso is mt-good mme ~DWSZ 'I've been thinking, it's k t not to m w e horm.' This construction may also expres two simdtanwus scrims, where the reduplimted verb demtes an activiry intmipted by another event:
Go iohbi
sihk-ainc-Mn l h i h fan-jeuhk-jb C L haby eareat-DEL milk fall-asleepPFV The baby fell asleep whik drinking milk.'
The marker denat= a habitual, n m a r y aFtivity. Unlike the English uwd to commtction, i t is not restricted to psi time, and in fact is typically rmd of the present:
I
u
slhe
h & I
Jhg
fl
.
(rumv.)
e H A B Chinme doctor PRT
'She usually goes to a Chinese doaor.'
i '
K h i h jouh-hEi j[lngdlm ge. work-HA13 pan41me PRT 'She -ally w k s prt-trme.'
(wnr.)
dhe
I
I
To exps paS habitual actiom, hrsi combines with pst time adverb such as yfkddkn 'before* and g6jahnd'then':
210 Cantm?3e: a m m i w g m a r
BE&
K h i h W I h n jR-G
before
dri=HAE
@.
Bern PRT
"She rmd Do d r k a Mermdes.' biz is often u x d in relative and subordinate dau% where the main clmw e x F m a s dqwlure r ~ u r r at cualu~~lruy 11abiL. N W h h e u C E g6 gHan jsu@ jSpj6-13p. we go-HAB thal CL restaurant W P F V - d o w n The restaurant we lffually go to has closed down.' Mhuhleuhn Mhbi s i h k M m8ty6h. luhh p yuhr daaih -matt= b h y pat-HAR wbnr six CT. mnnth nld
M
ktuih sihk
@ve her
...
lu tatidg.
her . . .'
(a) rliredi~mul p ~ l i l c J(11.3.1):
~ 'mvlly'
'out' dai 'down' &an 'hack' &ut
lohk 'down' m h i h 'cla?e(r)' duhng 'up' yahp 'in'
gwo hr pag; w i n ' hCi 'up' @) resulmtie p r t i d a (11.32):
Wad.)
eat
'Whatever F i r baby 15
(beginning. Emtiming or er~Iin~).~These partideszrre comparablein form and functim tn the wick of English phrasal almch a% up, which &nms dirmiion in psck vp h~l ~rmpletmnin tw rtp (sae 3.1.7). These:partides may be divided by theirfumtim into categwries:
when slie's six month old giw
Nore: k i is also uwd ES a di&maT panicle. with the meaning 'away' ' (11.3.1). which is clearly distinct fmm the habitual meamng. The stative verbgwamr k also used to indimte hahitus1 aspect. with the more spxifrc m n i n g 'be accrrYomedto':
Ng6h ylhgx jouh gwan taaithi. I now do used wife 'Pm uwd 'tn h n g a homewife n m ' Y h p a a n ni jek sBui jauh mh w h flm p6utmg h i . drink used this CL water then rtot will drink ordinary warer W ~ e ny o u k u4td to thas kind of water you won't drink ordinary water.'
gwmn is rot shictly an aspxt mmker. as i t is a h used indqxndently as a stative verb HEunWng d n p i h t mtih a? you wd-PFY Hpngkang lifestyle not-jet PRT 'Have you got rued to the Hongkong lifestyle yet?' M h paan-j6
Moreover. gwmn may mmbine with an q e c t marker (see nMe 5). and may fimcrion as e vcrh! perticlc in thc pototcntial m n s m i o n (12.3,3>: Ng6h huh gwaan-j6 daaih tik. jpuh h h g m a n sai uk. I live used-PFT b g house live not useJ small house YSnwl I'm u d to l~vlngIn a tng house 1won-t be used to a small one.'
1I 3 VFRRAL PARTICLES In addition to the aspect markers, them is a rich range of verbal partrcles irrdicating rims such as result (effect on an o b j ~and ) phase of adon
bBau 'full up'
h a %rmplcrron' jihng "remain' mlhng 'dear' skhng ' ~ st1 'to death' wbhn 'thoroughly' waaih 'bad, M e n " flhn % the end'
cho kungly'
dihm 'dmiiively' dihng 'ready' &HI 'accomplrslrme~ dw 'arrival' gihk 'to the limits' (c) the quantifying prtides:
(d) d v r ~ a t l l i d ~ a b i l u a l
~
"
swi. mdoik and fim (11.33); (19 3.4).
TheDeparticles are c l m l y related to ain fundon, and are treated rrs q x x i markers in some d w v e wnrb SKII Kwok (1972). For example, the perfective jd and the particle ddu are dose in menning in m e CaYS! Ngdl
n-m
ngMm n i - @
&in.
I just-just rece~ve-PIT m e y T'vt jm rece~wdthe money.' Ng6h n@am@am S%I 66u chin. just-just receive V-PRT money 'l'm just remived the money.'
I
The partide ddu indicates a successful rwxxrmplishment, and wuld be used where the money has been expected, white the p e r f d v e j6 indicates an event without any alrh warppsition. This mntmst i s dear In the corresponding question. where &I would be wed to Ehedc that the money has been received: d u d6u d11n mdl? receive V-PRT money not-yet 'EImpiwavd the monq.?'
M I 1
you
Note a h that the particles may form questiom with 1l0tl"k.like jd and gwo (17.1.4): mi repremls amher similmily herwem verbal panicles and
m a markers. Ve&al panicles differ syntzdidly fmm aspect markers in
rwo main
twqccls: (a) Verbal particles may be separated fmm the verb by the modal d6h (123.1) and the n e e rirh (12.3.3): Muihdeih sahr dhk dsk saai. sure eat can all %ey Fan Mnifely finiSh it (eat it vpk'
they
Ng6h gEng gsmyaht heul MI d6u. 1 fear today go go s u m "I'm afraid 1won't he able to get there today." Aspect markers
asp may not occurin these cnnstructions? In view of this separability the particles are witten separately in this h k , while the a s p M markers are m t e d m wfhxes.
@) Verbal particls may he wmbined with certain aspect
B h qil s5 h h $5 laak. a bwk write up PFV PRT The bmk has been wrmen up.' The particles hiRf and f i i here are followed by the aspect markers jd and gwo. By m r r a s t . aspect markers may mot be combined with o m another. e-g. there is no such rorntnnal~on z [verhj -jyuh - gdrr or [verb] -j5 - g w .
Verbprtide commmiom are also clearly dkainct fmm serial verb cmsmwhom (8.3). Althaigh many of the particles also exist as uerbs. such as doir 'arrive' and f&n 'return', others such as &I 'away' and ddu Luccessfully' do not. The particles thus form a didnxtsynlacl~crntegory (see also
3.1.7). given are immded to be illmtim of typical pattern: as these construmam are hghly pmdudive, ir is nol feasiMe to list all the posiile cornbinatiom and nrmnces of meaning. I n English, similarly, Oldmanes ot phrasal verbs e n s t to list wrbfmrhcle coniblmtmns, and w h a dictionary is -rily mcontplete to the extent that new uerbpartide cmhinations are always possible. and i n d d are cantinually being formed.
The exam*
11.3.1 DIRECTKWUAL PARTlCLES Tk!e particles basically denote d i i m . although many of hhave additional. figurative or metaphoircal meaning w h i h are not predictable
fmm
the mmbinatirm of
verb and particle. I n this they resemMe w h a l
pnrtidesin English (wntmlsir up with freshen up). They me alternatives m the use of direaiond verhs (8.3.2), and many nf the same m d are used in both constructions: thru ftim a p r s both m the verbparticle fongtrucrion ksru fmn and the d l verb construction f i n hcrrr. b ~ h meaning 'go k k ' . Despite this overlap. the part& differ fmm d~rpch a l v& syntactically and wmanhmlly: doT.Idi and do n d omrr in the ramWuctronwith h i d k i h , while r h e which do. 611Ch IS fmn and pm haw a p t e r range: ofmeanings when used as prhcles. The panicles are illustmted belrpw in alphabetical nrder.
cawrr mn'i s u
d in xveral figurative senses:
Ng6hdeih yiiMihng
..e
yiu
Lgm
chml go
baahnfaat.
definitdy need think ~ u t CL sdutinn
'We really must think up a solution.' L i i h dfm @ung you
I K ~ W mlm4llmnt
gaau
c h ~ t& a n gam
lcdb
wl
dm. w
Yk i.lllaml
hohk-ng ga? LP student PRT 'How do you pmduce such a clever group of studen&? d#uf is also wed as a particle with perceptionverb (8.13).
LEindicah downwad motion. as in fimg dm, j6~dni vut hw': Gv Mhbl h h jiiqyi
ybhndeih fm dii khh. poppeope l pr11 down hm i 'The baby ddwsn't like k i n g put dorm.'
CZ baby not like
Ddng ng6h sP dFai go dihnwa sin. me write down CL telephone PRT 'Let me write d m the telephone number.'
kc
Also idiiatically in dloquial sbnp: L h €i
si.ung jwh-d3i
you wanr
n@
d m k w n me
gh'
Mbuh gam so
PRT not
yih! emy
'Ym wtu\t lu du I n n ;~Aruhkulr: rluwlm? Nu1 su wsy?' I n expressions likejiht$ A5 'remain' and I h h diii way hehimd'. dm has the meaning'behind': Lkih l h h dai @I ng6h IS. stay behind accompany me PRT T w l d you behind to keep me company?
fdan used as a partide hm the primary meaning 'back' when it is used as a dim~wnal verb:
or 'in return'. as
214 Cantonese. a canprshensivegrammar
Aspect and verbal
Di ern
LRih gisih fi r i HEundng a? you when ily k k Bongkong PRT 'When are you flying back to Honghwng?'
di dZlk h h gkjehng yiu sh! gwo. clothes wash ADV not clean nePd wssh over These clothes are not washed properly and need washng again.'
CL
M h mng y& Ei ng6h. n@ armg faan yeh Mi l&h. you send ming to me I send badc thing to y w 'You me a pmt. so I'm giving you one in rwurn.'
It may jnd;Fdte resumptian of an Mivity or a rrturn to a state which k e n interrupted:
Keuih g a a u - l h ~ g j$harih dhng go mu saai. dre t e a c h - h c k - h k dtcr wholc C L slim all 'She has lost a lot of welght since she resumed teaming ' L&h joub&n-y+h h h gwn hsi Okkci chawj5i. pi do-back-work better than at home raising4ld ' I r s hetter for yuu to p back to work than slay home to raise kids.'
Gnrnyahl lyiihn Eian rli la. mday warm back some PRT .It's a bit wanner again tday.'
xrmp d i h Paan yW go. quitc wish h y hack me CL 1 rather fancy buying myself one.'
idianatlc meaning (123.1).
Mi 'up' has a *tin1 KJuih
rnwning us in Id
h& 'pick I@:
j i k h k Ihg Mi go dihnd.
atlift im Ci. phnm 'He w e d up t t w phone straight away.'
dhe
L i i i gwa
M giin a m hang up C L clothing 'Hang up this shirt. will you?' yni
a. PRT
M 'look
up to.
respfft':
(corn.)
I
Sb @uh p
tPhn@ih &u all have that colleagues all 'All her wlleagues rqxa her.'
W look
Mi kCrnh. up her
Referrkg to rimc. h6idcnotcs mrnplctionwirhin a certain time limit saht jmh drik Mi. tomormw sure do m up 'We can catainly finish up mmwmw.' Ng6hdeih tTnpht
U i h jXhWik SwMr@ k n y3t eung I#! ( W a d . ) you ata@y back one CZ PKT 'Why not apply for one [a credit card] m i g h t away7 gwo has two distinct meanings asa vertml pamcle. in rtodition m i t s use rs the experienhal aspfft marker (112.5) and as a directional wrb (8.3.2):
(a) ' h y , p l a ~ ~ n c h : k n ~ ' m i s s o u t n n ' . & p l e t F j :
Cbinkhh mhbu c b p o n i go @iw*h! (ad.) ahlurely don't miss-past this CL chance ' h n ' l J I M llll> ~ dldll-. ~ I I A ~ C -d& V~I.~OU
Mmi
je g w ! pkase let past -Emme me (please let me pH).
we
I n Ioih Mi a d Idm 17.5 the particle denotes turning one%m m m a t i o n or rhotwghts to m e t h l n g wlricli hns k t 1 wl ul 1 1 1 +ulc: ~ run a dlilt: (13. En$& bnng up a ropic): E i h mh6u pi OI ni gihn dh. don3 again bring up this CL matter 'Don-t mention this matter again.'
ym
Ngdh @n ddu nn bin gyu jauh tam mi bn. I see V-FRT this CL honk then think V-PRT you 'Ithink of you whenwer I rn this bonk.' I n modal m t r u c t i o m daR LW may have hmeaning 'can afford to. (see 12.3.1):
(b)'over again': ~ g a ~ c ky~on yauh taun n o i h l j m h we need fmm head hegin do 'We have to start again frwn the beginning.'
Note that the above usages of p do not occur in the m n t i a l construetions with ddklMi because t k combination (&) dfiklriJr gum has an
fii may mean "tipwards' in n fiyrative aem, as in Edi
More idiomatically,@n may be used refle~iuelyb dcnulc quisition or retention of an ilem 'for m l f :
Nfl g
215
pwo. over
Gam do chin ng6hdeih sii-hh6nr dsk h5 sin? much money we 1a.e-not-lose can a f l d PRT Qn we afford to 1me ?umuch money?
w
. .'
ladi 'away' is used with both intransitive and transitive d:
E i h mh&i W n g yw don't walk -Don't walk away yet.'
I d
jyuh.
away yet
yiht &. (news) more many 'Che numher of pewple i n f m d with AIDS is on IIM I n mZ . '
KGhdeih m s h g Eih h6i Heunwng. they not-wish learn may Hongkong They donT want to leave Honfiong behind:
yahp 'in' occars with verbs denoting aquishion:
N m :It& a h seneg 85 a marker of M i h i d aspea (11.2.7). lnkk 'clown' is used as a prticle primarily in the potentiat mstructions with cbk (12.3.1) and &R (123.3): Gam d6 yih dim &I d&k lohk a? so m n y t h i i hmu place able down PRT 'How can we fil so many mmgs in?'
Keuih ksp yahp h&i d6 duhk k. h a t h e in =ry much poison gas 'She ha5 inhaled a 1m of p c h r m gas.' ~
Gam yiht, ng6h ~i h h lohk yeh. hnf 1 PA^ nnt dnvim thmgs 'I can't eat when it3 so hot.'
1132 RESULTATIVE PARTICLES
lokk-lwi, which as B directional verb means 'go d m ' (8.321, has the meaning 'continue' in the verb pnkk psition:
mdak
Ng6hdeih giin@
s i M lohk-1Rui
mr
Ime m t i n u e nothkay PRT
ge.
Yhrrcompsny can't atford to Eonllnue m n g money like this.' Similarly, wuht@~h wwld mean ' m e up' as a directionalverbverh, but hFi&lmg-ldilt as a verbal complement means 'begin' (Mandarin qilcfii: Keuih h dahtylhn ghn dhe very sudden so 'She mddenly &st4 crying.'
haam E~lmg-181h. my rise-up-cme
mdaih as awrlml partbcle meam "closed' or tOpthd, relatingto i t s use as a directional verb (83.2) rather than as a quantifyingpartide (I1 -3.3): Lkih fi d i h nghhn jauh pi c l m V-PRT eye then 'Clmyour eyvs and it won't hun.'
i ~ htring ge Iak. not hurt PRT PRT
Ng6h jDngyi t&ng lth Mi mhah yBWhh1. (film) I like mth ywu be V-PRT together 'I warn to be with mi.'
d u h g 'up' is -ionally
used as a prticle, for example to contrast with
Iokk 'down?
b m u M
yshn
chaao h h n g chaau ~ohk. people spcculae up specufate &nm "The sham prim are mnved up and down by speculators.'
CL share by
Ng6hdeih d i h yahp h&i d6 wthnggarn. buy in very m r yellow ~ gold 'We bought up a lot of gold.'
w
she
w
@m *ung company such way
o d from Mandarin such as ngoidulxng 'fall in love' and ylylm-duhq 'get infected Ylm4uhng n p i - j i behng ge flhn yiht l&h infed-up AIDS d'lselse LP people more ~ o m e d u b also appears in a few verbs b
These pa* me usad rnetherwhh a transitivewrh to i n d i e an effect on the ohjm. anrl they fwm rompourds dsh the. verb. Many d t h m exist idqendently as verbs w adjecrrues: some, kwver, such as h k with the mning'hish', do mlo a m independently. They may also be u dinp a w fwm. wljecltn thegeneral mltArtinmnnLhe u%crfIk -.(1(.4,1(.4.2). Bdau 'full up" m l l y apple m earing. hn a h figuratively to other &ties:
sihk bdim I6aih h. haby eat frill milk PR1 gihbi
'7he baby's had enough milk.' U i h tsi Mm dihndh mi? yru watch frdl television not-yet 'Have you seen cnwgh television?'
cho as B particle means 'wtongly' or 'by mistake', as in dfi clm iffinwd'dl the wrcmg number' and ping clm y d h %israke mnw0ne.s identity': Dcrkjyuh. n& 91% clw yihn swry I u.mng, person 5orqf,I rnistmk you for someone else.
v
Ngbhdeih tauhsin
h&Phng &o kwh. walk wrong r d 'We wem rhe wrong way jrM now.'
we
just-
hauhfui lkj6 Yih. regret know m g - P F V you 7 regm thar 1ever m d e the mistake of knowing you.'
Nfl I
P I 8 Cantcnese:a canprehem grarrrnar dihm 'decisively' denotes an activity reachinga wndusion. as in gdou &hm 'settle. deal with', g&g dihn W l e a matter (bytalk~ng)': E i h Ym
dihm
meih
a?
(TVad.)
Ng6h sihk gihk dCm h h Eih ge. I eat at m r d alsu r i d fal PRT 'Idon't get fat even though I eat a lot.'
thmk settle mt-yel PRT c : v e you made up y w r mind yet:j'
Ng6hdeih h h n g go king h h d h . we hvo CL chat not ~ t t k ' T k rwo of us can't m e to an agrrement.'
I n a fixed expression, [vwb] gihk F ~ I i - I m hmeans there i s a limit t~ the action or state denoted by the verb. #uh-hahn. E i h yiu jihg6i Wuih Wng gihk d l Iklr at r r m x t have-lirnir y mcd xlf
d i m 're;ldf denotes an &on done in advance or in preparation:
Eih juhng yiu ~ Q I dlhern leuihhbhng. you still need p ~ c k ready th~ngs go travel 'You m11have m get things ready fm the trip.'
*
Gang fi. jlh@ med hear child now
Ng6h jaohlbih yiu
mw3zdh dRmg
I
huy
Sam
soon
dung brtahnfaat think sdrnion WS only w much that she can do to help. You'd berter think of a solurion yourself.'
ready
LCih gc hrmuht, n w h ji gihk #oh hnhn. your LF s m t I knrpw at most have-limit 'As much as I know about your secrets. there's still a lot that I don%
sin.
clothes fid 'I'm having a child soon so r m buying clothes in ptqmration.' diru is an imponant particle indicatingaccomplishment or ~~l plerion of an d m :
know.' corn-
N@h n-m-n@am tmk d6n hah ySt hSan gEi. I justjust mnn& V-PRT next one CL plane 'I only just cariht the next Right.' Ng6h&ih we
nSdouh Sin MI 66o daaihlrihk tbih. here raeive not V-PRT mainland channel + W emn't r c d w thc mairrhnd [tclmisionl munncls h m . '
m.
ddu is also used to form vwts of perception, such as MI dbu We' 1.3). I t &mild be distinguished fmm dou denoting arnvd as in heui d m or Iriih dou 'arsive':
(21dim
Sam Fhahn SB a? fly a m v e &n Fmndsm PRT 'What time dn we arrie in Sari Frannsco?'
tEi d m
b w time
M u ' h i c h ' r s f e ~ sm the mmplerion of m ectionr U u i h ge
leohnmihn
meih
d
clause with
h6u.
n o t - ~ t write up 'He h m ' t finished his thffis yet.'
sIhe
LP t
b
Jyri I& Faalm meih a? cook finsh T 4 m t - ~ tPRT 'Haw you finished cooking?' J # U I ~ -remain'
as a particleind~mtesthe result 'left over':
Wmyaht s i i j i h g h6u d@ sung. yeslerday eat remain very much food ' Y ~ w r r l a ythere was a Int nlfwd left over.' png ng6h @t p. die remain me one CL -NowI'm the m l y one left alive.'
now
Ng6h @m jiu h&i j b b t%Z ni, a m J6n dm. I this morning vmy early get-up so early a r r w 'Ipt up early this morning so Irrriued early ' takes a &ve
Adjectim can also aDcur togelher wirh this prtide (9.1.3)
Wh@
Note chih dou 'he late' a n d m dou *beearly':
gihk 'had. at m,to the l i m M *tally W u %ilk
giik diju rhh mihng lPih @g mat. I th~nk hard also mt unde~stand p u my what 'However hard I try. Igill can> understandwhat you're sayng.'
Ng6h Um
IaaIm 'brnken':
hbnil~ WI~-jb la. shoes w a r hroken-PFV PRT 'These shws are worn out.' &u4
pdr
Jek g h nghmh h h n - j 6 douh d h n . CL dng ht hken-PRP CL door 'The door i s broken as a rermlt of the dog's biting a+' mlhng ' c b r , u n c k m l M goes with peroeption verb and verbs of tRih t a g
mlhng *§+ah listen undersmod Sir giai Wi ng6h Rng. explain to me hear you
'After you'ue listened and und&
g6ng mat @nub pi what lhen again
say
what the teffher io saying, -Id
mihng &-+%fin jnuh jikltHak gpeak clear marry-PW then i m d i
Ng6hckih g h g
y i h d h n ge. emigmte pRT 'We've said very cle*
that after we get married
ae emigrate
immediately.'
wuihn 'full' indicatethe state of being mkd to q m i t y : Mgd yahp mdhn Wurh r. please m t e s Full it PRT Till it up, please.' (lilling fuel tank) Ga che ch& mOhn smi. CL car sit full all T h e car i s f dl.' dhng denotff m x a s f u l mxmplishment (md s o 10.1.2,173.7):
GiingM Eih, j i i n m g i t d h n g f i n la! camgramlate you finally mamy-ed PRT 'Congratularionsl You finally managed to get marrkd.'
KPuihdoi
g&
PBnjnng jmh
@g
Behng
daan m g y i .
few mnutes then talk succeed CL business 'Thcymanugc to *kc e (business) dcol in a Fm minutrr' 1%
fi 'to death' is much used hypdalical?y: Ng6h Ei Fib glk I
by you annoy &ad
'You're driving me crazy!' dl go HhM h! ( n o r e x h w w d ~ ~ e e 4 ~ 1 2 ) hunpy die CL baby PRT .-The by% sawing.'
Ngoh
You ll wear nut ymr eyes that way.'
GBm yhmg w6ih gaau waalh mi di hohksaang ga. this way will teach bad all CL students PRT nK students will be taught an the wrong l m s thii way.' wdRn Y h m g b l f may he used in a ooncessive m s e to*
you explain it to me then?'
w
LPi g&m y€ung d h ELfl waalh devi ngdalm ga. , wch way will l w k bad pair eye PRT
with ddrr:
N@ win
wihn cbu mh gin E u i h . I seek m g h a h n u see him 'lhc b k e d cverywbm and J still can't find him.'
m n may also serve to quaqtify the qbjed I$the &, in t h s fundip it m M e s s u u i (113.3), with wl~ichit may m b i n e : (saai) AujSu Ng6hdeih ysI go yuM b h heni G h n wc m c CL mmtk within go r b u g h (all) Lurqx gzrm do (go) gwwm m y (CL) ccmmtries 'We travelled thrrrugh all the mntries in Ellrope in one month.' fib 'finish, to the c d in addition to denoting m p l e t i m , also gerves to i m l i t e tmnpmil m l a t h s l i i p ~mm c h m (lh.?..I): Lkii gaa-flhwyij meii a? yvu teach-finish-book not-yel etT 'Have you finished mhing?'
Mi yuhng flhn
yw
@
dihnchih Eyih wuhn
finish C L M e r y can chaw When p ' v e used up the battery you can change it.' use
ge.
PRT
Mo?l of the above wrbmrtide o w n t i d o n s mav l x used m tbe modal @ng&h d6u 'can't (patential) wnstnmiom i i t h rid! and dak (12.3). M,keui &k d h g 'manage to go': @ m - d a h n hDul dSk &ng. gwss tonigm not rmcceed 'I think we'll manage im tton~ght.'
Ng4h g6
go
wieuhng r h hh1i h61 h h s + h ~ M time hotd-meering M d not succeed 'Laatime we wem'i able to hold the meeting.'
N-h we
in the porrmial fonm thus dtitappears in gsn ddc chir 'manage to arrive on time* and g6n tfih ckrr 'hi1 to arrive on time' but the combinationg6n d& alone daes not m r . Certain addMona1 parride6 are used exh&wZy
t?~uhfaal ehng go kng saat. hair whde CL pretty d l 'She looks really nice now she's l a her hair grow long.' W h lhuhj6
113-3 QUANllFYlffi PARTICLES
The pwricles snoi and m h i h behave q m t x t m l l y like other v&l part i c k . but ka distinct quantifying funernon. ffm has a syntrm of I&own which is different from smi and mcimh. They are all peculiar to Cantonese. having no dl& oounlrrpartb In Mandmin.h The l o m l pop?niesof stsri are d ~ m & in Lee (1987). sum 'an. complelely' has m its p n m q furrction to quantify either the sub@ of an antransitwe or the object ofa Wanative verb:
(b) to ememphasize a vwb&jm idiom:
p gehn janhaih IHh-saaCp6u. that CL pffson m l l y leaveall-score That m i s mmplelrly off-the-wall (outrageous).(;i,
go-go q&u+asi-thh C L X L scratd-ml-head
N-h
Di yjhm
j5u
saai.
leave all 'Everyone's left.' CL
Nmdeih dhk mzi di dianggu6. we eat all CL fruit "We've eaten up all the h i t . '
'In a transitive sentence with a plural subiecf. m i may refer either ro the ot@ or m the subject. or to both once: KZuihdrih hcui-gwo suui Auj8u. they go-EXP an Europe W v e k n everywhere in Eumpe.' OF Thcy"VC 911 h C I l hr~pc.' or 'Tbq'ye all been everywhere in Europe.'
HFungg6ng a? w a d . ) H o n ~ k o n t PRT 'If e v w o n e leaves, who will take care of Hongkmg?' @an vifln
di
CL
h&tal
CL
ni
jek
llih-fan.
bihbi c h * h n h h h b y whole-lot
hahnfw. v-PRT means We've all k e n scratching our heads and we g t i i ain't see a solution.' chi
Ng6hdcih ylh* gau mai Hhng we now emugh all poor 'Nmv we're reaRy broke!'
saai. h-ngo Eih Y O h g d gvgo &I jfiu if CL-CL all leave all whu cat^
this
ddu l h hh still think not
Idwmp ~ saai (Rau 'enough*) emphzsizes an adjective:
In its quantifying function m i may combine wth other quantifiers such as &u and rftyhJInbuk (14.1.11:
Ni
chhhng
gmw-PFV long
d
ydm
sad
this CL m~lk-fxswder 'All the h b i R this h p i t a l drink this brand of milk powder.' m i may also be used adverbially, with an emphatic rather than quantifying fumchon: (a1 with an adjec2ive. d e d n g a change of sate: U l h dl-hsh. p a n f h g wjehng saai la I d - D E L CL mom clean all PRT z k , the mom's all nice and clean (ww)..
PRT
mt 8ooi @is an idiom used only with sm'( w k - p kdws not exist) meaning to ae owmmched or fradcally Grsy: Ng6h yst go @hn Wfaahn b8i ?ahp I me CL pxwn mk-fwd fm go flhn silk. jSnhaih tek gaai geuk In. CL person eat really kick all feel PRT 'hwrvkilg t u (ell puplle
drink all
la!
UII IIIY UWII,
vle~lllyd l d d 4 . '
Nute that the meaning dd-teidiomsthe m i t e of the English kirk one's feet m i n p to be idle or have nothing to do. mddh 'in addition' or -along' has a similar syntax to mi,modiFying the d an intramitivc nr thc W c t of o transitkc wh:
suwt
FnRIIm'liVO
Ilhn Bill dm liih d h . ewn Bill also come V-PRT 'Even Bill mme along.'
h
$11n wu, H l y b l ~l&li wd.11 lrl&nil~ Ii. people PRT rather you play V-PRT PRT. 'There aren't enough people, wby donY you join us?' pu
mt enough
mdaih has two other distinct uses:
Tmrrsirtvc
Ngdh hi m h i fahn bwjl heui Mi. I take V-PRT Q mwpper go red
Cia N h n
&i+n ng*. awwckPROG ahore The ship is appmaching Ihe shm.'
'I'm taking along a nnwpaper to read.'
U i h dsllg &ih you wait aka
CL drip
n@h l3! me PRT
Uii ddh-jh
'Wait for me m!'
cnmplcfinn:
Ktuih Jouh m&pth g&n nhn jauh jfiu gc lak. slhe work V-PRT thk y m then leave PRT PR'I 'She's going to work for the rest of rlns year and rhen leave.'
YPhgw6 n&~h d a m if not-have also
ni
go
gEiwuih, ng6h
thin ~9.cnam
I
jauh cllsarn la. then deqmate PRT 'If I lme this hsr cham 1'11 be in troukk.'
The meaning of aummuMon i s seen in the phrases p mrioih and Wn Mfi'includim~':
m h i h ga
blly
@m
go
this
CL month's salary
yuhtge
yihngiing, jauh gau then enough
cht.
a, r f l
-Includingthis month's salary. it11he emu* tn buy a utr: hl ga CE Iih rnsaih seui yiu m h p maahn. t k CL car indude ako tra: need eighty fen-thollsand 'This car $800.OW imluding tax.'
Fli tiis
gEi
nhn ng6h few yews 1
Qm ihh gau
a? (atAstaur8mletc) I'RT
dlian m h
clwcPW bin not-@ 'Have you paid the bill?'
you
In its quantifyingfunction m h i h denMes exparsion of a domain to indude the last of a series of items or to bring certain ongoing actions to
G i &I add also
(a) as a directional &, meaning 'approach' ~a +close7(8.33:
&aha earn
chin &I bi V-PRT CL money
ylhmhhn, sill nor enough emigrak 'The marey I've k e n saving up lttmz few years is still nor enough to emigrate.'
L3i mh6u mblb Isrh a. (see8.3.2) yru don't &se come PRT *Don't get ~ d o s e r . '
(b) m a asulltwive pwtide waning 'dm' or 'together' (m11.3.2). h thh m&ih 'can't say for sure' only exists in the form where the m i n g of mtkdk is difirrnt from & usual
rdiom: m ne-
meanings: w h ihh miaih ge,
Saisih
ge y41
-Id-matter
LP thing say
red sure
m6uh
PRT no
Jahn @ iingyaht wi%h dhn. person know twnormw wll how 'One can't say for sure abDut things i n the world; no one knows what's @g oing h a w tomorrowrrOW'
Both smi and mhh may m r follming a diredim1 or r e s u b h e pnide (113.1.11.3.2): Pin dhnjeung s4 h6u U M e write up The art#& is all written up.'
~ a la. i
Ng6hdeih h l Ean d a l h w arc h c k also 'We're badc logcther again.'
yWh8ih. togcthcr
all
mdd~ and m i may also oocur ic@her
Yhhgub k h i h it" dhe gau
PRT
(in this order):
di
pshngyiuh hi
CL
friend
m W i 4.jauh
come along
-iyimlaaun. enough a l l lively 'If her frimds all come along, it'll be nice and lively.'
all
then
&X and I verbal ~E*licles227
113.4
a mm m q be used with a pelmti= meaning, implying that someone does eveqt111ng (swi) even including [ m e ) the outrag~ousor e x m v e :
Idiom: the combination [ve~b]m
1
KPuih d h mhaL sssi g6 d i gaakyeh sung, dhe eat V-PRT all that CL l e f b e r fd
Ihh gwaaldak m h h
ylhngyhhng. surprising wt-have n ~ h i l i 0 ~ "She rneats all the leftover W,no wonder she's in bad shape."
M h sfudm, m b lhhng than. yw d l don't cold V-PRT a wid.' 'Be caret31 nor ta
D i sailoulq%i @wh h ism- di faahnfmt ge *h.
CL drildren do
also
all
C L illegal
Similarly:
LP thing
T h e r h ~ l k pi n up Inall mta of illegal thing.'
ngoh chsn 'go hunm' dung than @ dddd' pfik chsn Trip up'
D c l w thc usc d m1 i s d i s e u . . IImvcwx, noZc that thc pmitiom it m r s in ate very dierent from thme d the particles s w i and m i d ; in p h m l a r , it m n o t occur immediatelyafter a verb. SyntaUblly Fm h
With manative
h h n g yiu fim faahn sill need add rim ' Y w need mwe rice?'
'Dont frighten her.'
Ngdh f i u h - m h
I
ah?
Ng& I
w6n tCmg Gm an jjsu. 1 dknk une buwl S U U ~ V-PRT then 1'Let me eat a bowl of soup and then leave.' iii
pl
can a h functinn a?;a mtcnEe wide in aentenwfinrrl IWQjtim SW
chapter 18.
jek
duji
Mi douh
mDhn gihp chsn.
CL finger by CL h lam V-PRT 'My finger got nipped by the door.' Mi man nghuh chsn. I by mmquito hike V-PRT 7he been btten by E mosquito '
N@b
W s i k y8t
Ng6h y6m
chAai chsn 16h a' havenocham r r d V-PRT you PRT 'Did I tread on you'!' 1
chiin naturally wcurs in &%e mnshudons, emphasizing the efCen nf the action on the subject:
PRT
jahn tim joi hhahng. m e moment V-PRT again walk ~ ea blt ~ m t m for a while and walk agmn.'
me adremhve m m n g ot chm a p p l e to W e n (animate djecr) rather than a [hang.
Mh6u hmk &an ktuih wo. don't ware V-PRT her PRT
When functioning as a quantifying element, hkl h8s a m l a t d meaning, "-. The positmn where lim can mar i s very rpstrkted: i t only mcws after a complement phrase (mually with a quuntifter or n u m r ) -
rest 'Let's
V&E.
obpct. h c h must st a a
not hehave as a verb prticle, huwcm, it tbx. serve mquantifying function. has the meaning 'add' as a d Tim ding faat chhih! (greetingwed d C h i m N e w Year) aW male make mmmey 'Haw a son and make more money.'
ADVERSAllVEWHPJAL GM-RI
The verbal particle chan i s pculiar m Cantonese. It has two distinct meanings: the adversative meaning'to one's d s a d v a n t a g d m ~ n eand ' the hahima1meaning 'whenevererer Thr byntan uimlv&ivc u h m m b k Illat dmti a ~ &iIs d ill Illat il mod& either the subject of an intramilk u the object ofa tramitiue wrb. With inhansinw verb, the disadvantage is m the subjxt:
1
Itisalsoltsed dexivelywifh lmdypam:
than go t h h bump V-PRT CL head h4m
-bump one's head'
chin rarely m m n e s wan q x c t maficrrs or mner vemd parDcles. The perfective jd. for example. i s redundant. as &II already mmep the notion of result:
12 MODALITY: POSSIBILITY AND PROBABILITY
Mi haak M n tib) khih. you scare V-PRT (PFV) her 'Ywscared her.'
Adisrinct u s e o f c f i n is in habitualcontexh, with themeaning'whenever'. This diffm fmm habilual Mi (11.2.7) in that it oonirs only in the first of twommecutivpl clause% jauh maak d m Go bihbi siu go h5u dSn C L baby laugh v-W'C ~9.m r h rhen open rill
The nohm of modalii i d d R ~ i b i l i r y ahbili , and r e W conwpE. M o d a l i k expresed in Cantonese mt only by d a l verbs [IZl) and adverbs (12.2). as In English, but also, often more idioansrically. by a number dsptacticmnstructiom (123). TherPl is m subjum3ive mood or anything comprable in Cantonese. Imperarim. wh~chare h m e s begted as a fcim of mndalily, are d i d in chapter 19.
w
Every time the baby Inu&s, his m w t h opem wide.'
121 MODAL VERBS
K h i h hhu-rllm-sih c h i 16 jeui g 6 ~ ffin ge. she rake V-PRTexam all FL mlal ~ r ~ a r kPRT "ever she takes an exam she gets the highesl marks.'
Ktuii g h g f h M h n ~ 4&%I
mh tlhng da7r ge. wyV-PRTphme all no€ stop able PRT 'Eyery time he talks on the phone, he can't stop.' dhe
tllr: firm c l a w i s marhod by qhc quaNUPClhal Illr:puilidc d m (14.1.1) in the second. I t may also oocur reinforcing&-chi and m a chi n'ever':
K h i h &ISM
dClu
aai4Em-@m
she time-lime aqueV-PRT a l l 'Whenever she argues, she has to win.'
N g W h Aih
lsfh
n
ehng ge.
must w n
PRT
w6ih WilUwmlG h6ylh 'can, may' Sik, 'know how' lbhnggau 'be able+
&u
*h.
LP thing Whenever we m e , we cat the same thing.'
sihk ystyeuhng
eat
0-me
yTn@ shwld. ought to' yu,e d y i u 'want, need' m a , mxuiyiu h o need' dung 'wash'
-
As d a l verbs these mllst cwccur with an!verb. although of them (&. (--)ym, mwffil may also be u x d alone as main verb. These rwdah -ally precede the main verb:
Ng6h ylh@ yiu
hm-wui. need hold-meeting T have to attend a meeting now.' I
every time come V-PRT all
we
P
chi
yiu
A- in FnpJich, rhmf i e a m a l l rlaw nf mnrlal vertrp, nr uuxiliarks which behave differently fmm ordinary verbs. The main mcdal wrbs are:
now
They may k separated from the verb by an adverb:
DT
@khsak wbhn. immediately return 'We shwld m r n those books immediately.' s*
yine
CL bwks shDuld
Colloquially. modal verbs are often heard attached at the end ofa clause as such modal%men come after the an 'afterthorn (4.131. Note senparticle:
Hb
fmi jnuh flhn ga la. y w . very fast do finish PRT PRT shwld "We should be finished very soon.'
Modal8 maybe used in w impersonal sew, without a subject:
gukdak mh yim& lyuhn gam di chh. feel not should random so spend -money feel one shouldn't go around qmding money wlldly
N$h
I
'r
MsSi
k w e u n g g. nuneed so e x a p t e PKI "There's m need to exaegerate so.'
gmn
Modal vertn may hbe classified d i n g to the m d l n d o m II-WY +note. such as passibility. n-lty and obligatim. 121.1 ~ I B I L T T AND Y PERMISSlOhl
wriih has a complex set of meanimp relatingto possibfliv or pmbablity. Although mmt d m l y glmed as 'will' or 'vould.' it sh~uldrwtbe fhmght of as a future terse x such. F~raly,reference to the future i s made largely by advelts /10.3.3) and d m not q u z w 6 . Momover, the verb tdih itgelf has a n v b e r of ~ l a t e dTuncrlvns. of which predinrng the future 1s only one: {a) futurity or pdiction: Ng6h wdih M u p - j y u h Eih ge. 1 mll wy ~~s-COW you PRT 'I'm fling m miss you a lor '
(b) mditional (we a l w 16 3). N@h h h wfiih g8m @ng ge I not would thw say PRT 4 w l d n ' t put it Ilke that.'
Myfh means 'can' w miin the of something being pc~ibleor p-Me. It has tm senses, a d i n g l o the distinctinn hcrween demfk and ep~slmicmodality:
I
(a) permission (deontic: ginng or requesting permisrim):
1
I
M h Myfh yuhnrjyuh ng6h ga dihnl6uh sin. yw can USC-COWT my CL m p u t e r fiKt 'Yw may use my opmputer for the time being.' Ng6h M h - h a y r h j6u jh di a? I can-not-cm early kave PRT
'Mar I kayt a bit early?' @) ~ i b i t i r y (epistemic: mfemhg to an eventuality which may m r ) :
thh h6yIh daap b8sl Mi M3hnfa Jiing%n. you can catch bus go Cullural Centre 'Yw can take a bus (to get)to the Olltunl Centre.' Jauhsyun Eii mh a, dm h6yih gU-nah. even-if you not know also san guess-DEL ' E m it y w don't know the a r m , you can have a glle.'
and p o p s l i i i may alm be e q m z e d by the potential curshuctmns w t h dak (12.3.1, 123.2), a d impsibility by the [wrb] I h - [prtklc] m m n x i n n [12,7.3). Thew allernafiw am vfm m v idiomatk than Myfk. Tlie w i v e meaning 'could have' may bc by Myfh -her with W n l i h 'originally':
N m
~~
My& ganching M fahn gimg p. apply this CL job PRT you originally can 'Yuu w l d I~uvcnpplialh t Llib juL.'
LAh
(c) willingncs3: G h dih-mh-Wih Wng ng6h would-nm-would help me Would you do me a favwfl
-
MxIMiy 231
a?
PRT
(d) habitual action or occurrence: G h wiih-mh-wCih 15m hti keuih a7 yw wnuld.not-would think up her PRT 'Do you (sometimes) think ahout her?' (e) Alternatively. wuilr may have the meaning 'know how to'. thk being one of the meanlngs of the corresponding Mandann auxiliaryhrrk K t u ~ h wOih gdng M diS long flhylhn. she aMe speak wry many CL languages 'He can w k x w r a l languagw.'
Ngcihdeii bbnm h6yli m6h 9 h n gwo laih ge. we originally can sit bmt over mme PRT 'We mid have come over by boat-' p u n 'allow' may a h e~presspermi&:
Halaauhjhng j4un n w e i h j h jsu. headmaster allow IE early l e m T k headmaster is aowing us to leave early.' The negative f
m rsli&rm (brsr p cm in formal w d written Cantonese)
exprsses p d i i i o n . I t is usually used -ally,
q n nhng&. here not-allow slq)-car 'Ym're not allowed to slop (the car) here.' Ni-h
withwt a auqieEr:
. I I
1
G%wm&hn mgun gSng s 8 ~ g y i wo. lwnight nbl-allm talk buslntss PRT 'No talking abut hsinms tmght. okay?'
k h p m h i b i t h .apply W everyone V
I
n t or concerned.
1212 ABlLrrY sik'know3 is used fur can in rhe sane of k i n g able to do something:
fnh
sik
j-ht
I not know driv'I can't drive.'
ga. PRT
(~bnv.)
by a modal adverb such asp'fdilrng,meaning 'musl':
fJng s m n
ysWlhng yiu
Wih ch-m m h g
lmer definikly need ynu sign
name
sin
*M3auh. find havwz1'idiiy 'This letter must have ymm signature in order t o be valid.'
Note that the epistemic sew of mrst (meaning that, by inlerenm, 9wnething m W be the case) is exby Fdihrrg kmh (12.22): K h i h yitdihng hdh mgMtik-j6 hk. slhe definitely is forget-PIT PRT 'He must have rorgntten.'
klw r e f m to the knowledge of how do d o something:
Lkii ystdmng haih s& rho dcihji lak. you dehn~tely IS write m g address PRT 'You musl hove written t h address -81y '
bk. ng6h h h Mu dim jouh. you teacn me PRT I rm know h o w do 'Tve m ~deaholv ro go a b w r it. yw'll have m teach me.' n m
need: The cumpnund form s3tCyird unambiguomly fuhm6uh g M13ih go smiouhj8i d w sai-yiu
l and written
Cantunex (cf. M a d a r m hi).
each ability:
all
need
prenl
LP
pint.)
care
'Every child needs a parmVsare.'
&.L*M"i+
1 @I as a main verb may m eilhm 'want' or 'need'. As an auxiliary, y k
CL child
WarGirn.
go migaai ji $uh lCih 1 8 h n e mihngbaak ngSh. this CL world only h m you q m b b underwd me 'You're the only person in the world capable ofurrderstand~ngmc.' Ni
has the meamng 'need' or 'have to':
-
this CL
LCJi rlrlr m i diik e n gc mE? you not know can distinguish PRT PRT 'Don't you know how to tell Ihe diCference?'
Icihnggau 'be able' k a formal word referringto a
emrndahn yiu cWut heui sihk. ronigm rrped out go eat
'We h a w to & cmt mnigbt.' Jouh A hMmg yiu dAng h6u loih Sinji jaahn d6u do this Ime wait wry long only mr~ W R T daaih chin. big 'In this busines yw have to wit a long time to make big money.'
Ni
M h @je h6u slk duk tiuhji ga. p r sister bmy know can imesl PRT 'Ywsister r a l l y k n m how to invest.'
mZlh (12.1.1) may a h mean 'know how to' in h
w
Lkiideii h h n g p godihng giu gin-hfihihn. you-PL two C L definitely musr & - D L & 'Ywtwo really I-PM get together.'
s& is also used together with &k. meaning X n w , how to':
u h gam
Ng6hd-3
yiu maybe rein-
Wh sik-ihhi y&vh-&yi a? ynu knw-not-know swim PRT 'Can you swirnT Ng6h
Modality 233
& m , " h l h nuWb uli d 4 - n o t - n e e d - m t whole buy all PRT 'IMwe need to buy the whde lor?'
sdf
m= SG
Ji t l i y%t p dihnwd jaih rlihm sy la. just need ht one CL telephone then done PRT PRT 'AM it takes is one phone call and it's done.' Senten- with y* or yIngBiai (12.1.4) may be reinforced by the phrase Hn dbk. used to give m3viadvioe or admonirion:
1
1 2 1.4
@ng
jam
ws
sln
nh.
need s p a k W e words only good 'You need w tell the truth. o k a q
geui y& ms6 fi pi la. this CL thing nuneed again correct PRT "Thm's no nood to oorroct this scntenoc again:
Mseui-yiu pi g6ng lnhk-heui la. nm-need again talk mtinue PRT ' Ihere's no r e d to go on taking.‘
m d i is r e p l d by yiu in replies m A-noa-A qwstlms: A: % i ng6h lhih jip kih a? need-imt-need 1 drivear come m w t you PRT
'Doyrruneedmetopickyouupinthecar?'
B: TN need
a.
PRT
'Ye%' The poslhveform cal questiom:
occurs in notionallynegative Eontextssuch 8s rhrhelori-
JUnng sai gong me:l shi need what 'Need any more be said?'
(raQea0.)
(see 17.3.6)
PKI
dsUGATlMJ
whether the modalilyis &tic
i distinct o mearnnp accordlng to or epklemic:
(a) obligation (deontic: i n d i i n g a requirement):
Uii f i n e dm8m di. shwld d u l a-bit 'Youshould be more careful.'
you
Ng611 gakdL h h y i n m y h h jfingiuhk k$ihsih I
ge.
&wld
have r a x discr~minarionPRT '1 feel there shouldnr be racial discrimination.'
fel
:eel
(b) prolmbilii (epistanic: making a prediction): Ng6hdeih y i n m chB-m& sei dim douwc should a h t four o'clmk c k M 'We should be there s b w t four.'
The negative coun?eqmrt of yiu as a modal is msdi or m i - y f u 'need nor':
N7
jek?
p@, like shuurd in English, has ~
This aiom i s a b usd in impwatives (19.1). sm Mu is a similar pttem, which e m p h m the i m p w f m of follonrng the advice pisen: U i h yiu
douhhip
T-~ere'sno need to aprkgize.'
E h yiu hhoh dSk faai bi sTn dfik p! you need learn ADV fast &it only okay PRT 'Youreally reed to learn a W t f-, you know.'
y m
miil
need what aplogize
Idioms wiih yiu: jfyiu 'all you need to do' is typically used impersonally, with na s u w mentioned, for example in advertking:
fin& mhh maMh g i la. should nd-haw problem PRT PRT There shouldn't l x any pmb1em.' may refer retrosp3ively to the p d , with the meaning 'shmild have'; in this c3ise. an adverb m h as Mnldih 'orig~nally'or ycst-jdu 'much earlier, at the outs& may l x added to indicate referem to the p s t (see 10 3-31:
yi-
N@h T
Wnlbih ymggUi onginally should
gamyaht Ean-hohk. today w o o l
7 was suppwed ro go to dtoday.' Ngbh y?nggOi flt* $6ng Mi ICh Eng. I h i l d meearly say to ym heahear 'I should have told you much earlier.'
1215 VOLITION: WISHES AND DESlRES ~UII~Y~IIIW. ail, IhMli. take-finishleave only t a w a m The students donY want to have their exams till after the holiday.'
M hohkskng &IE CL mdent want
Ng6h rnhaih @i dung pi M lohk-heui. I not-k quite want e n drag m t i n u e 1 h * t m l l y want this to keep dragging on.'
Now. yiu
as a mmain verb may mean 'want', but as a modal aunilkry i t expresses b t y (12.1.3). Similarly, the mmhination s h n g y i r ~'want' also .expresses desire, but is a tmmtive verb rather thm an auxiliary:
KCuih m n g yiu dzr go bihbi-lhi. she wish need more CL baby-girl 'He'd like to haw another baby girl.'
(a) Ngdh &ng tituh Eih yst piu. I wish w t ~p u one vote '1 want w vnte for you.'
-
hdng rneam 'be willing', i.e. nd o w i n g to dning w h m g :
M h mahn k€uih hSng-rPIh-Mng je ghn G&m bEi ask herwill-not-wrlling lend CL shirt for you ask leih puk IS. you war PRT 'Ask her if she'll lend yw a shin m wear.'
jui 'comply, agree' and rkhjai'mt comply, not agree' is sinnlar in meaning to htjng and mh Sdng @ml?y used in response to a prqxsal or a hl; unlike kdng. jni annol occur with a follmslng verb but is itself a verb and can only be wed transitively.
Ngdh +ung I wish
(b) Ng6h a n g Eih tsuh r$6h ylit u '. I wish you mte me one vote 'Iwant ycd~to mte for me.'
'
I
Modal@ 237
K€uih thhhhg je cMn Ei ng6h. h e not willing lend money to me 'She won't lend money w me.'
Like hghsh w n t . rn'$ may l x followed either by a verb pMse wkh the same subjecl as in (a) below. or by a full clause with a charge d subject (b):
tlivm. ~ f l IP~w~SC l ~ ~ L L an inanimatesubject
I
daahnhaih ngdh my
many but
lizhmp5hngyAuh boy-friend
jai.
ltlh
not
mmply "I'd like to get e t e d h t my boyfriend won? comply.'
d a d d p,cd;etion and may take
can appear in A m - A qmsiiom. A N@h&ih
we
H6uchlh &ng lohk-fib gim. smn want fall-mn so 'It looks like i t 3 golng to rain.'
hhhnplouh heui walk-md' go
chE jaahm.
Eihdeih bus station you-FL
jai-mhjai a? a g e e - m t w PRT 'We are walking to the bus statition, are you willing7
Ri
h4uchih dung w a i h ghm. fruit seem want bad so That frurt I& like it's going bad.'
n
3: Ng6h jai ktuih inh jai. I agree .she not agree
'1 am,he isn't. hmmhg'hnpe, wisW hrs a similar syntax to s h n ~
Ng6h heimohng hah chi k?au diik hhivL 1 hope m l trme exam ADV god 'Ihope to do better in the exam noR time.' Ng6h hRmohng ltih wliih yahnleuhng ng6h. 1 hope p i w111 forgive me '1 hope youll forgive me.'
ylJmyi 'be willing' is a more formalterm, mhMe for solemnundemakiw: di. a-bit
U h yuhn-rhkyuhnyi j i u 1 1 ~ f f gu G i r l a? y will-not-wllling accept this CL challenge PRT 'Are you willing m take on this challenge?'
g h '&re'
and the colloquial gar &m
'haw the
m'also function as
auxiliaries: U i h gh-hh-gdm jeuk sEzm dim slk wlhngyl a? you darenot-dare wear three point style swnn-dortnng PRT 'Wculd you dare wear a bikin~?'
i
U i h jOngyi heui Faatgwok dihng heui Nnggwok go England gn yol~ like Fmnce clr
Ng6h h h gau dsam d n kCuih I net enough guts x e k him '1 daren't appmzrh him.'
121.6
d6
di a? m m a-bit PRT
Wkh do you p&er to gc~tu, Frrmrr: u BIilai~i'r
PREFEREWE
jiingyi cheung bm leuih @ a? l ~ k e sing which kind s c q PRT 'Which kind of song do yea prefer to sing?'
L h h jeui
nhgyun 'rathd expresses a preferenceamongtwopa!ibilies. It may be u d , for example. to express the speaker's p r i m t k
N@h 1
fihn@n rather
d6 61 tahng ngdh m o r e a h i t with my
p u rrmt
iikk&@hn home-&
ywchsih. mh w h gam&. mgether rwx play so much 'I'd mther tR with my family m m , and go nut lm.' K&ih she
h nhngyjn &, &u mh ~ i jouh rather die alm not w l l do
faahnfaat illegal
I
ge sih. LP thing 'He'd rather die rhan break the lm.' Note the mnjunctions jringjj % long aS and ji yiu 'if only', a prominent function of which i s m i n t d u o e a clause following Singyrin: jk% Ng6h hhngyin jaahn siu &. 1 rather earn less some as-long-s
?hh siht not lose
jauli d%k ge lak. then okay PRT PRT
I
I
'I'd rather make a bit lm. as long as I dar't make a low' Wih P m jibe dhe rather self
jfti
ski. Pylu Myih @u t%m go die if-only can save back C L
m b l i t y and d t y may also k m p r s d by advadve Like mlence adverbs in general (10.3). thw iterr6 immediatelyp r d e the verb. Wht-n used in wnjumhm with a modal auxiliary. they precede the mcdal rather than the main % ~ r b :
N@
dhou wfiih chtirmngij l(duihdcih & fillii. I probably will attend their LP wedding 411 probably attend their d i n g . '
Note that the typical English order. with the adverb between auxiliary and we*. is mt p ~ b l here. e Collcquially. modal adverbs may cwne at the end of the sentenee (10.3 1.4.13): A: A-Whg hsi bin a? A-Wmg is w h e r e 'Where's WongT
PRT
B Heui-j4 mAaih yel. dasou. p P F V buy thine most-likely 'Gone shopping. rnrm likely.'
tiuh rnehng.
son CL life
'She3 prepared to die. as long as she o n save her son's lie.' As h e examples s u e . R h n g y h often implies a rather negative form of pderence the preferred option re rmt particularly attractive. but the alterrrative is worse (i.e. the preferenoe is for the 1-r of two mils):thus Ng6h CitngyBn jd@ hm! 'I'd rather go myself' i m p l i i k t the m k e r prefen not to trust someone else with an errand. Mme positive prefemces m y be expressed by jnngyi . . . d.3 d7 'like . . .m'otjeui pngyi 'mmt Ilke':
I 1
iI
!
hdkkng ' m a w typically mmes b
m the subject and wrb:
hNAhn~f i i h @ mui. government m a w will raise tax 'The government might 'be going to vise taxes.' linfll
whkp'perhaps' may also begin the sentence: Waahkje n@h haahng-h%hmn@ ni$
~ r h q x1
wlk-PEL4m
fnst
CBan
ikk€i.
m m
'Perhap 1 1 do some shopping before coming home.' do11mdihng is u s 4 as a tag after a sentence mising a e b i l i t y :
I
A: A-MUi dnl@&k-@ @aU Abfdui prdmb1y forget-PIT pay 'Mui pmbbly foFgor m p y her taxes.'
&: $aht
meaning ' p r o w :
& 'mostly' may be d as a modal ad&
sure
Ng6h chtut-lln d m w~Xh heui Meihgwok I Arnerics next-year probably will go
M h
13.
Is
PRT
S2d.
'She must have done.' I
ivlJW'deiiaitely. ahhrely+may m d f y a modal vertt Ngah jyuhtdeui rhh wGih jungyi ril ring $hn. I ahdutely not will like this kind p a ~ m ~
jwh
dangyi. do hsiness "111 p r o mgo to the !State an IXE%ES next year.'
IThere's no way Imuld llkc this k i d ul ~CEUII.'
1222 ADEWS OF NECESSITY
snhr, fltdillng and khgdrhng all q m w ctrrainjr ~definibtly').They am often used to rein€orcethe niodal verbs, such as d i h and yiu:
G6 jek m6h d d d i h Fhng ge. that CL horse sure will win PRT That h m is h n d tn win.'
mtih bH is a negatiw counkrpn of t h e e a d w d x . litem* meaning no mpl"ion', i.e. 'nnt necessarily';
G6 jek m6h
meih bit *hng ge wo. that n horn nol necessarily win PRT PRT - I nat norse may mt win, p u M.' (expmlng huh)
It may combine with a d l verb:
L&h hsh chi @tdhng $In d s i l m di a. p u next time definitely need careful a-hit PRT 'Yru really must be more careful next time.'
-
Ng6h meih brt wGih GI1Ching p h h h n . I noi necessarily win apply emigrnte 1 w n Y mcs?arily t o emigrate."
T k w adverbs, together with h d ~ 'be'. alw q m s s the episfemic w inferential
of m W ('x must be the case'):
Idiam: the phrnses [wrbl
L€ih yMRms haih Mrp %ang Iaak. p u definitely are YIP Mr PRT You must be Mr Yip?'
W di mi MiylIhg that CL furniture certa~nly
Like the modal wrbs kp'h and pH, retmpxtively, meaning'mhave':
-d-hand
%e.
PRT
thii cmmtmction can alw be used
yardim haih keuih Iim go p & y m this CL d v e n m definitely is she think
Ni
cheut Wh
. .. '
k u s i d . dT @piu M @ng. @A rn 17 rfockq riw hmld 'With m much @ news, stocks a m h n d to g up.'
Cwm &
!mih ylhsaU
B T h a t furniture must be second-hand.'
w [verb] n p h n g ' h n d to
exprrss the inevitable: sa
much
Giim di mngrehng la, ldhl thm time di hwnd PRT you 'You've had ilrhis time!' ngaafrng ir an sdjeenw meaning'bird, h'as in klih n@ng
%and
firm'.
ge.
come PRT This advertkment must have heen his idea.' out
Scuhng chi hhgdlllng hrrlh Uih last time certainly is y y 'It must have k e n your fault last time.
dm. CL wrong
12.3 SYNTACTIC CONSTRUCTIONS EXPRESSING I\nOoALrn I n addition to the modal 6 and adverb. modal notions such possibility mn be omwyed by v&us s y n t h constructims. These
as
pclrtiadarly m m m n in their negative mtms. i n d i t i n g i n a b i l i or impsjbiljty. 123.1 VERB
- DAKMPRESSING POTENTIAL
'Ihis u x ofdbk shouldbe diiinguished from drSk in adverbid WmhvCtion5 (10.1.1). a l t h q h the same character i s used fw bnth. This wnstruclion i s qdd rn indlmte w n t i a l . indudingM h posslbilily and pcmnssion:
J6u a k g e Ink. kave can PRT PRT
I
I
d&
I
The construction i s also widely used in neffmive and int-ve
di
uk
thi
CL
h s e
dm~ haih masih also are buy
gm, miuh not pass not-hm
with peroeprion verbs (8.1.3), verb -dirk d?W In addition to its an indicste ability with a negativemmtation, mcming 'cpble nf
form:
doing':
!M@ad seui
yihhah yshmih inh yahp dik heiyik eighteen yean under person mt enter can cinemn
i
m m ksp pln. watch three class film Tkm under erghteen are not allowed to enter a cinema to watch a -gory IllAlm '
A: Ni jek d u h h euh-yihng wol this CL mrth wry havc-stylc PRT That w t c h is pmtty ~4~1ishl'
I
Ngah Gi dak cheut lfih jiingyi khih. (ne-0 I see c a n n u t youlike her 9 can see that ynu like her.'
hhl k w i i mW@h dOu Mh &k CL Madc society what all do can cEut our
ge
(negative)
PRT
T h e rriads are capable of anything."
B: LRih m H a i h - M h dGk Ei sin?
G&m d m g6ng dHk chCut ~1 (qatke) dso say can ouf PRT 9 didn't k m w you were capable of saying such things!'
you buy-ml-buy can up first 'But can you gfford itT
KEuih G n syii h6u nmmh dill? wo. slhe CL tTak yery d l able PRT "is bmk is very marketable.'
NT
maintenance PRT 91's nor safe to buy these houws, there's no maintenance.'
T a n I try this on?'
~i go i e u i h ~hbu ~ ds d a ~ ga. this CL girl very Qht able PRT This @rlreally k n m how to fight.'
hjk
m h @.
a? (used in clothing stnres) PRT
Tkc diik c n n ~ c t i r m mey Isc modid by hdu or g& or alsil~q:
of &k has a
mning:
Yahp diik lhih meih a? enter can come not-yet PRT T h n I m e in yet? lJy*l-Ly
rhese; figures are not worth believm&'
Tlw nepptive munkrpart with rith in p b x
'We mtt b n v c : t n w . '
Si-hh-si
Q S k [m] dnk g w implies-that something is safe or can {ck:vms bermad N&h seun dak gwo N h . I bcluvc can pw you T can trua you.' Ni 61 flfu h h soln d ~ kgm. thii CL information not belw can p s
so
i n d d n g potcntinl
Cdi sihk d8k wo, Wh! quite eat able PRT you 7011 mainly can eat a lot!'
&-k alone may be used as a predicate, meaning 'dcay': M h khrm4h
dnkmdak
takee~am okay-nol-diay 'Was your exam okay?' you
a?
PRT
Cki
dm
ynu
sn
y h n g mdik ge. way n o t d a y PRT 'You can3 behaw like that.'
h h i l i t y or impwibilii may a h be expressed by the € % s t e n t i a l d yduh and m#uh cespectively {see ch. 15) followed by dak and a verb:
DSk m i a? okay not-* PRT 'Is it ready yetT
JsdPl &H ~il~b. Is. (mcptliug lllar a n w l b ready) soon h a w can eat PRT we csn eat soon.'
rhh d ddk is a m n p k dim with m l related meanings. With a noun as its object, it means '-not do withwt':
Mi h h 1
dHk l€ih (go) leuih-phhngySuh hh? you nol miss can your (CL) @+friend PRT 'Missing your girlfriend. are p u ? '
Fdkrwed by a verb phase or clause, it means m n m t face': bak I&% jjsu. inh 8.5 not mi= can you leave 'I can't face your leaving.'
@ ;
Khih dlrn daW hh d &k mamh-j6 keuih slhe how all mt mi= can sell-PIT his p
n
4
G a W h m6uh dSk dehng-th (referringto restaurant) holiday n d h u v e cm reserwtable 'There's no way n sesem a table m hlidm' Y h h h& do faatsang haih nduh gwaai sih n is not-have have very many strange thing m ask gthi ge. can explain PPHT -of
Idioms: mduA d6k Mi there's mc o m p a M is isllsedwlth the w e r b tlrhng:
*&a.
Yinggwnk rini thhng Fad@ food with Frwh English
me-car 'He can't fax selling his sports. car at any cost.'
aMe
n&'
The rheroricol vmsion with b-dm&jVbrk (sm 17.3.1) in flare d m h h is equivalenr BIndouh e u h dsk M a? where have an compare PRT H o w csn yam compare the t d &h
&k ding u r dub JQk t . . .':
M r r
illcula
'thweb
IN
'there's nothing like
a m h y i n g h h e s . when
diik
mmpare PRT There's no mmparim between Engliih and French d
a h gam haan, dim gbai wriih gmn &dEk frugal how m e would so wilting you so m3aih e r n @? buy cloth- PRT " H w m ycu're w a t m a g a n t yw'te SO frugal?
thoi d i h f m d nw-haw
ge-
The p i t i v e C m s+ d& means 5uiIling to part with': l X h sddBk yuhng g m d0 chln Bih m h i h se much money mme buy yw wining use leng j&u Ah? fine aim PRT 'You ran priwiW t h a m1n-h m m q to buy fine wine?'
61mnp thin@ hmppunw h i i cmnnot ba explained.'
Gun-hhh skilldea
mhng ni di d'msam jmhah with these U pstries really
mauhdak ding ge. cannor sumstirure YKC The's no beating kung-fu tea with these: pmhie%'
h l ; ~ g 'w
This construction is alm used in qwaion h, i.e. ~ ask a l w t a v i l i t y : Gddouh yhh-m6uh
dSk yhh-shi
there ha--haw can swim 'Can you go swimming there?'
M diikd [verb17
1m
ga?
(w-VERBAL PARlXLE EXPRESSING INAStlrPl -
-
The combination [verb] riJr [psrtkle] i s the negative c a m W r p l of [verb] -diik - [prticlel, as seen in the fnllming exhange: A: N&h @ng &an hh dihm a. I h r nunage mt V-PRT PRT 'Pm afraid I can't manage it.'
win
enter
no1
then need
giing jouh.
seek work do 'If sndens mn't get inm university they have m find d.' NMhderh
a k h b Bsai di
mng.
eat nol up CL food 'We can'tfinish (eating) the food.' we
M h ySt
go
you
CZ.
gohn h n a m h ddihm s#am f!p ]dl. V n care mt manage t h m CL son 'You canY manage three sons by yourself.' one
Yiuln fi
wiijX
have m e -in
+
&i-yi3ei dGu h&uil~ washingmachine also kallvith it
mh dihm. not manage There are some mim even the w&ing
machine can't gel rid of.'
y h mh jywh h l M by a verb meam 'canno# help':
h h jyuh siwj6 I endutt not V-PRT lau&PFV 'Icwldnl help bunting out with laughter.'
daaihhhk jauh yiu
V-PRT university
+
mi
Ng6h y6n
The negative mnshuctlnr~Is very widely usal tu irlrlitala &&lily; ally d the verbal p t i c k s d i d in sechon 11.3 may he wed in this way:
CL mudent
(d.Ng6h giurhhdngkhih.)
Ng6h &j6 b$u h h , d?ju k$ih l h h. (fihn) I seek-PW you very Long sbll seek yw not Y-PRT 'rve been lookingfor you for ages and Istin couldn't find you.'
id&:
13: Gbnghih g h dik dihn IS1 o f a m nianaF can V-PRT PRT 'Ofcourse p u canl'
Dl hnhlrssq p h p rhh d h
T help you.'
Ng6h gin Wuii a h shg. we call him mr awake '1 canV wake him up.'
PRT
G6 jling hehng yhuhm6uh d& JT p'? that CL disease have-mt-have can mt PRT T a n t h d d i w w be hated?'
12.3.3 ME8 -
Ngah bhg l6h inh d h . (d.Ng6h hmg h h d h Wh.1 ITV) I 1wIp yo11 not suooperl
Ng6h ffm h h hiii g6 deui msaang jimiii. I tell mt qm-l that pair twin-born sisters 'Imn'i tell t h e twin r i m apart ' As an alternative word order, an c+ctpmnoun orshort noun phrase may wme behKeen the W and the -rive dzh:
cheut 1& h.i out orme
inh jyuh g6ng Wi Kih eng. endure not V-mT talk to you hear 'Ijust had to tell you.'
Ngah yin I
13 NEGATION
13.1 LEXICAL NEGATION: NEGATlVE VERBS AND ADJECTIVES
I
Canhw a rich range of negativewards accordingto whd is ne@: the word (13.1). the adjeaive (13.2) or a verb (133). Crlmonese alsa makes extensi%euse d double negation cI3.5). The native Cantonese neptive words are dingushed by beginning with the naslll mnsonam rn- m d low-reg&- tmes:
An importsnt distinaion is tn be made between 1negation. which m t e s a an& word, and WFWIncgatim which negates a statement (13.2. 13.3). A large number of v& and a d m ~ v e sare inherentl) -ega tlve in form. For example: nhgin 'he' mgeidak 'forget'
mh6uyisi ' e m h d mgyafuhk 'unmfonable- or 'unwcll'
Such words are wrirten here as prefixed with m. as the M i n g r ~ m d p fib tends not m be clemiiy heard.' These prefined negative fwns are distim from negatbn w t h Mi in m
inh 'not'
mhsih 'nnmot'(iAh + the q m l a r karl~'be? m6uh 'hme mt'(negative form d the existential verb y h h 'hme'; e
(s) The waningd w t i v ~d h sad adjntives i b mt simply thd of the verb or adject~venegated, but often more specific:
15 4)
gin meam W but mtn means specifimllv lase"; IAItng meam 'with or '-me' hut m&ng rn onony l mean UiFFerenl': syufuhk 'mmhrtable' butnrsy@ihk 'unoomfortable' or 'unwll. sick'.
mcih 'mt yct' (uacd to form qucstims: wc 17.1.4)
mMu. m%h 'don't' (in imperative mtences: mz 19.4) mji. mh daan j i hot only'
(b) Verbs and sdjeaivcs with the negative preiioc rimy fake zht: @dire
I n additinn to these, the follmng Manhrin negahve words are lsed in formal or literary Canrnncse and in faced expreswms:
ztspxt jo, which is inoomprltiile with the neganw prticle t?di { I 1.2.4. 13.3):
MI.thc Cnnrnwcsa wading fm thc Mnndnrin negpgarivc rnMkcv bfi, is hcard in m e mied e x p t m o m adopred from Mandarin. such as:
ern
h t tlhng haam not stop so qf 'cry without slopping'
in
-s Ng6h hat SE dsk Wh. I not lose mn you '1 miss you.'
(cf. h h l dBk: 12.3 1)
f i is an nmhnic ncgativc wmd mraning * n dW in Mandarin. Like h,it ir also used in Cantnnese primarily in hed expressions and compounds:
Mi m&l%ik-j6
I
bM h6 B-ylh not c m think "unthinkaMe'
MI may aim bc suMlutcd fm rbh to @c a literary quality, f m ma@
1 repas
I
sii ddsgg. forget-PTV rum& light 'You forgot to rum nff the light '
you
N@h m h G m j 6 hbu loih. I un- hap^-PW very long 'I've been unhappy for n long time.'
(c) The prefxed forms dstative v e r b and djectivesmay k pmmcld hy modifiers such as M u *very' and fPisPeakng 67~"mhemely': Ng5h h6u m&ng heui. I very notwant p 4 vary much don't want to go.* Ggm lCih hiru you very
mdakhhhn
11'
mt-free
PRT
&mp, sih-@i
so
talk right-g 'gw4ip'
"Ywmust be rery b y . then!'
fii hi l%t M (Mbe the h b k neptibn: 135) not gn m possible 'absdutely m w p-
Mhdeih j w h dsk Eishhng WIT do ADU atmrnely 'Youdidn't do I d l y w all!'
-
37
mdnl not bad
The difference is h g h t out where the adjective k qualified (see 13.2):
-
G6 p i n mhsih h6u leng jE. that CL nd-be very niw- PRT That one's wt very nk.'
Mhaih hbu sy~fuhk.
not-be very cnmfortabk 'It's not very ormfortable,'
G$n Wung mhaih p5 @-nplhq. an way mt-hc quitc f01r -It's not quite fair that way.'
H6u rnsy3uhk. very un-mmfnrtaMe
'ITS very uncomfortable.' (d) Only sententialnegation with rhh a
h an indefinite i n t q m t ~ t i o d n
a qu&-m word (15.4):
Ng6h Bmyaht hh &ung h w i HnTndcuh. I tday not rn m, where 'I don't want to p anywhere today.
The same vMb prpfimd with m- dries nnf allmv this (it i'invl p?Sikk tQ modify the verb as in (c) and have an indefinitequestion word, as in *N&h hdu r&ng keui bind&). Wh~le the d i i n c t h betweenmenth1and d dn@on is clear in principle in the above mnstrudions, in some casm either form of negation in particular with adjeaives and stative verbs: will be +bk,
Ni
thh m h h naarn. this Ct figure mt rorrect Wu figure is not Sight.'
A: A-Mng slng-jd Ilk wo. Ah-Ming rise-PFV grade PRT 'Mng's km pmnwwd. you know.'
B: klh gwaai no
d a
khih
wonder ADV she
em
~s~
la!
sn
hqqq
VRT
'No wonder M s rn pleasedl' YnhnMih Wn finally CL
haih Eih Ejjb,
book
is
you
inh
take-PFV rm wonder
d k ji d n mh d b . ADV k m w find not V-PRT '1 see, you to& the bwk. no wonder I couldn't find it.' riih chFm k+ih means 'not surprising'.
ur Ni
Idiom with ihh: mh gwmi dlik (13w r?~hg~t'm'jidiik'no mdei i s d o n rearing an explanahon:
tluh
sou
m-ngiiam.
A: A-DSk
kahmdahn yhwjwkjd Wh. dnnkdmnk-FIT PRT 'Appa~ntlyDak pldrunk last night.'
this CL figure incorrect T h i s figure & wrong.' N g d ~ gmyaht I tday
Ah-Dak lastmght
MI ahng jwh-@h.
nor wish d-k 1 don't feel like working today.' or Ngdh gamyaM d u n g p u h
w.
I n such mses the difIerenoe in meaning is minimal (with ~ i v verbs, e thc: rwo m y be diiinguished by criterion (6)above.).
132 ADJECTIVAL NEGATION
B:
h
chmt k2ih e. nor surprising PRT 'That's rot surpriang.'
It may also br IERI) rh~~orimlIy, with the firm1 partjdc ml(18,3.1)in place of rk11: H6u cheutkkih mE? ~ r 5uipi5i11g y PRT
That's hardly surprising?
To ne@c an adjective, the prtide &A prwedm the adpctiw:
a m f i ~ h leng. CL shin not nice T h c shirt h n ' t lock nioe.' Gin
Where the adjective is modified, mhuih, the negative form of huih 'be' i s ud:
13.3 VERBAL NEGATION In tlre w e d v c r h tlrc negative marker wed dcpends on the t h e b w h i i the verb p h m refers. Where the verb refers to the present or future. rkh is is:
B:
Gnm-yam ngdh h h gin haak. torlay I nol rn client 'I'm not &ng any dientstoday.' liingyaht ng6hdeih ihh heuiwian. tumorrow w r w t w day 'We're! not e o i r $ out tom-.'
meih f d m Idih would imply that the person is expeded to return whmduhfmri #h wmld MI haw, any such implhrlon:
B: Keuih giim)aM m6uh
Where the drefers to the past, and the funclh of negation is to szate that some event did not -, the &stentit11 negative word m6rak is used ilmxul: Wgdh l(bhmymM m6uh
chgut heui.
I yesterdsy bve-not out 9didn't go out y e s t d y . '
faan
Iaih
rercrrn
m PRT
wo.
'He ham3 heen i n today.'
meih may he reinForced by the adverbs juhrrg W and d m $I@ 'up till @u
nor-yet pay 'We haven't paid the rent yet.' still
we
K h i h gmai y?n psi inh dhng. dhe qu~t smoke quit not succeed We can'l manage to amp wndring.'
@I. rem
Ng6h don @gii hhng meih heui-gm I36iy&hng Gngyiin. I until now ail1 -I e E X P Oocan Pmk 'Even now Istill haven't been to Ocean Park.'
mcfh is a h w d to h
im
q W h , @ally
pet-lecrire and eqmkntial
(17.1.4): A-Diing &n-j6 Bh mew? Ah Dung return FFV m e mt-yet 'Hss Dungcome h k &3)Y
--
Idiom: j u A q m R 'still not' is used rktmhlly to make a fwceful suggesnon: rhh jbu Ah? mt leave PRT 'Why haven't you gone yctT juhng
No such quesricmcan be formed with M . m i h . . .jyuh in !mCemenF and m&
. . .@!I
in imperativesalso meam
'not yet':
ynu mill
faaim heui fast-ish go
m-have
Ng6hdeih juhq melh
I n the caw of verb1 prkh (11.3), the negative marker d ~ h m s e n the verb and the psrticle, with a meaningof inability (12.3.3):
Lei juhng lfih ynu still not
m y
ILW.'
go
Gsm-yaht mduh lohkyjh. not-have f a l l rain
Mi
K h i h meih Ban I b i w. he tlOt-yet return come PRT 'He h m ' t mme bsdc yet.'
anchfng? (did.)
apply
Mmh dm
jyuh.
nol
Y
O
~
w
"It's not ready yet.'
mi
mhdu @ guh. yaldDn'tleaveyel
'Don't go gn"'
Thii urn afM differs syntactidly and semanh~allyfmm m a t jyuh (see 11.2.3). Note also the uw nl rn& in meih chi3 'it's not too late' ITEWlkf h t t b i T k 1 tim6 hl A(r:
'MY not hurry UP a8-d wPyT
phng h@i SHnching ga, ylhg d€iu meih cMh. you still can apply PRT no^. alm not-yet late 'You a n gtin apply, it's not t m law.'
Mi Bnth rnM nnd maih c w q u m d tn Mandarin m
M u in ne@ing yerbs.
They differ in meaningmd grammatical function: maih e~pressesthe s p e d h meaning 'nor ye€':
A Cl&g
IIW &IIEI~ IIII %11g ~ I & - I ~ ~ I - I I A ~ ~ I I ? reqwa a& Tang Mr h-t-here 'b Mr Tang there. p h &
Wih nngynht
gsau @it@ c h m i chlh. m ~ m handill hnmvrk alw na-Kt IMS You can hand in your horn& tomorrow, it'll still be in time.'
4.9~ I
Note that mne of the negative d &, lllduA or meih can m
r
fihjoi 'no more' combines with wfh@hn
preEeding a verb with the perfective marker$. jd i 6the existence of an event (nmally in the papt d 11.2.4) and k imrnpahhle wilh n e g tion, which would entail that such an event did not take place. By conIran, the ey@ential marker gwo (11.25) occurs with both m W 'and me&, i n d i i i n g IhP h k nf an r q t x k n c t or m n c e : N&h
mhh
N@ I
'I'll t
h i - g w o dasihbhk.
I have-not p B P mainland 'I h m n ' t ken to maininland China.' K h i h ylhm8hnj6 p l o r 1 juhng long still miw i rlhe
fsan-gwo
nnfyP1
mtmn-F.XP
'N","zy ~b mji
Hmgkong Both mdrrA a d miI~may bc reinforced by the adverb &hngI&k to mem %ever' when &ing to the past. -1Iy 4 t h rheeaperienrial p w
"
N&h 1
'I%
W. t
I
the present, ~I~uhngIbih is used with the modal verh mh d h (I2.I .I): rkh m w 6 i i jc ~ chin not would lend money
b€i yhhn ge. to people PRT ch>hngf&Fl i s rwl -d *r d d to tlk future: ilubtad, r l l r h ~ Jd6u ~ and wi7mgvhhn d m are used with rirh kh.
yfhhauh
dou rhh w6ih
&erwads mlsa 4 1 never come bsdi.' I
rot
wifl
a n Ihih. mrn cnrne
(film)
h h wdih r~~gri&k1611.mill) also not will forgel you 'In ~ h g e t y o u . '
Ngdh wrhngy~Ihn &u
I
fnrpver
'not only
. . . but alsd i s mmpleted by the w r h l prticle
slhe
not-only help
cMn
flm
me
chnose even
prry V-PRT
I)rh&njiorbiirddan
jfkdjusl..
.' i s d i n t h e s a m e w a y :
yiu mbaih f ~ k tlm. wml huy hl?e too 'They're nor only staying here, they're evm taking about buying a house.' mJ.
. .+rhk
is IWIG
rurrrd:
Ni vdi du* ybhn leng, ylh& mji this CL young-lady ndanly person bewtiful also dng thm. wice meei
'People 11kehim would never lend monq. to anyone.'
pl&
scrrttntxs:
yAhn
Wuihdeih rhh dam ji l h h M i h h , juhng wah they not just only stay here even say
As noted above, the choice nf r n d i m p l i i that the speaker may have the eKperienoe inthe future, while m6lJl bno such implication. Referringto
I
. . .j u A q
kng,
money too 'She not only helped me chome, she even paid hr it,'
marry
d-dhnglbih m i ihk-gwo &h-Sng. ncvc? not yet aat EYP c m k e m p never eaten snake mp.'
K&h m jdng yAhn ~ .the thin kind p m n ever
business
mctoiR (11.33) a n d h the sentencepartirk flm (M.3 5p juhng M d a i h Kkuih mji h g ng6h @an,
'She ham't been kmk to Hmgkong since emigrating.'
Ng6h d-dhngbih m6uh lam-gwn I never no?-have think-EXP I thought about getting married.'
dangyi.
do
& kng bi. (lTad.) hot0 pretty person a b prew some in than lot lxtter too.' the pictures l m k @,the
&ng
Mji
mngg6ng.
jwh
@iWordy'
mjr'not oaly' is used to m h i n e meih
to mean 'never win':
wh&bn Ihh &I tbhng k h i h forever not again with him never do business with him again.'
T h k young lady it not only beautiful. 8he hss a h d y Mice.'
mjfmay be used alone as a mpomtu a statement or question;
eung h6ud-h mmsahp@i appearance seem thirtyShe looks abut I-hn i g.'
A: Khih gn
she
CL
B. Mjl pal not-only 'She must be more than that!'
m
seui g8m. y a m so
256 C a m : a comprehensive grammar
mhdu wah hei @hn Eng wo. people hear PRT
bihdonh jf. with the rhetorical w ofbfndoEak (17.3.4). is qivalerrt to mjl in rhi sense.
(yw) don't my to
rnhufh meaning 'it is not t h e e ' may be used to toan error or Fake
CMh) d i h g8m g h g #h la? (you) don't so talk rhlng PRT 'Don't talk like that.'
(LRih)
'Don't (you) tell anyone.'
impression: Ng6hdeih mhaih f l u h a m
jfnggS
Eih ga.
See further 19.4 on n e e i r n ~ v e s .
wi-be have-heart do-hick ynu PHT
we
'We didn't mean to trick y m '
Mhaih (mgyaht. haih hauh-yaht. nor-be tanmrmw i s afterday 'It's mt tmmmw. it's the day after.'
Note that rnkm'h. unlike the other negative words, can be used with the perfective j 6 N&h mhmi dBl'~-p Mu krlh p. 1 not-be w i t - P N very long PRT 'Ihaven't been waiting very long.'
m h i k is dm the form of n-n
used with quantitied phrases (14.1.1).
Idiorn: m h i k rvlok 'it's not m if i s &n m d i n n h b k n q d v c wnstruction (13.51 and fnllowed by a h r p o clause: Ng6hhdeih m b i h m h m h h chin, kitgwm hmn we rot-be say not-haw money but srlve
di
sC
h6u
bi.
m m d d a-tit
'It's 's as ifwe have no money. but it's better to spend a bit frugdy-' Ng6h mhsih wah HI JOI@ Wuih, htgwa I not-be say mt like hlm howwcr yfhging yhlwj6 Pahm-pZlhnmuh la. I already hsve-l'bT byfriend PRT 'It's nor that 1 don't like him, bur I already have a boyfriend.' np6h
m6UA IS the negative fwm of ydrrh (15.4), and means 'have not' or 'there idare not', m M ( m e the low falling tone) i s the C a n m e pmmnciation of Mandarin lvli 'without'; it overlaps with rrrdlrh a d hence tends, to replace it in formal and written Cant-. dis a h used in a number of phrases and i d i i :
m d w w n h o matter. whether' (16.2.4): Mbuhleuhn chhhng dihng W n , leih df tauhfaat n-rnatter long or short your Ct hsir
dou haih gam leng ge. also is m fine PRT 'Whether it's longor shon, your hair &llImh so good.'
rdwRwaih 'no need' or ho ux': Ng6hdeii mbuhwaih grrm hlan k. we nwrm?ml so frugal PRT 'We have m need to be so -1.'
h M h w a i h la cry also nwmmm PUT 'It's m use crying (over spilt milk).'
Haam
Blhh @uh jahn dh &hagon-dyUn haam Mi Seubqq-lhih. baby have wme time mreamrem cry up be* 'Baker. metima emn orging for or no-.'
13.4 r ~ W and u rf&~h
The words mhm and mdrh serve ro i n d m neganvemmmanbs: rnlaou is the m a 1 4,whrk t d h is d a t i d y dl& and more likely to be rrsed close friends or peers. The subject pmnwn is optiorml:
lunong
.
INDEFINE NEGATION: 'NOT. . ANY'
Indefinite expressiofis meaning 'not . . . aqmdanything', etc., are kmmd with a q-ion word (173) k@her with a negative word guch as hh. d i r k , m i t i or mM#. There are two distinct hrms, with ~li!#~tly dishades of meaning: (a) h k , mduA etc, t d W by the question word:
253 GantwRse: a aorrpeheegrammar Ng6h @m-yam m6uh
heui
Ng6h gam-yaht Yndouh dixl m h h hi. I today anywhere all not-have p 'Ihaven't been mywhere today.' 'Ihc s h w t u r c (n) is lcse cmphntio man (b) w h i i might be mnslnted 'any . . . al all'. This dihference:in force k brought out hy the fnlknuing two wntexs:
Ng6h em-yaht m h h heui I tday not-have gw
bindoah. jihnghaih hiahng walk anywhere merely
hbh giSngyin je.. a-while p r k PRT 7 haven't been anywhm (much) m y , I just went for a walk in the
prk.' heui. jihnghaih Ng6h g;bn-yaht k d m h dCm m6uh merely I today a n m r e all not-have go chdh hB ukWi je. sit at home PRT '1 haven't k e n w h e r e (at all) today. I just sat around at home.' Note thm bind&
d m m6uh I- i s inmmpstlbk with jihrrghmh h&n$
g%~un P
nnmr;ls~n M h s
fnr nther qu&m b h a r merning -mything' and dtm yPung 'how': A rlmllnr
Note that i f the indefinite phrase i s the subject of the sentence. only the W u wmtrucnrm (h) may he
hndcmh.
I today not-have go anywhere T haven't been anywhere today.' (ti)the q d m word hllowed by the quantifier dm (w14.1.1). both mming before the verb regardless d rhe grammatlwl futlctlor~d Ik q d o n wnrd (m8.2.3):
wnrds. such as ~ W f ~ 6 h
g&mg mity6h ah-. not-have my what PRT 4 didnr my arrything(much).'
1
1I
Gem-pht b-ngo d m m6uh & Eh. tnhy who all nothave emtact you 'Nohody has contacted you d a y . ' I n the akmarive srruculre. undoglod .rw 'wh?':
PS
in (a) above. brrrgc would have to be
FBmyaht hngo m6uh wAn Kih a? who not-have wntact you PRT
roday
'Whu didti1 w~ilm you d a y ? '
I
I I
I
I
Mmkh. . .mtWy6h) with a noun means 'hardly any' or 'mimuch':
mS$h Ng5h b?mg thh d& I help not PRT m y
du. daahnhaih hand but
hfyh $i-hah. can hy-DEL 'I can't be d much help, but I'll give it a hy.' Khihdeih dou yih@ h m h h d n d6u they until now also nd-have find V-PHT m w h jinggeui. wbat evidence They still hawn't found much in the way of evidence.' Similarly. m&h mEi dlm is an adverbid p h s e meaning 'hardly':
U i h m6uh
m i t dim tin wo! mt-have what how change PRT 'You*ve hardly chnged at dl!'
yw
(a) Ng6h m h h
I
@g r n m )dk~ mduh what all not-have say rhdnr say anything [at all).'
@) @ ; I
'I
mean 'mt ak.
a
PRT
i dim h ykmg chaamu ge. they not will how manner interfere PRT 'They won't interfere in any way.'
. .anyway' or 'm matter what': m
,
u
I
I
tag
n&ll
how all not willing hskn me *Hewon't Iisren w me. m matter what.'
(a) KhiMeib h h ~
(bj Khihdeih dfm yhng don Ihh wdlh c h a m g ~ . they how manner all nol w ~ l l interfere PRT There's rm way they'll interfere.'
,
13.5
&ll&
talk
DOUBLE NEGATIVES
A b r e of negatiun In Chinese is the us%d d w b l e negatk!., typically to make a p n t in an indirect or suhtle way. The meaning is m that of
douMe m e g a h in mm-srandard English, as in Cmkraey English I dunno
14 QUANTIFICATION
mhmg meaning '1 don't know anything', b ~the t logiFal w m ~ n whereby g the tw nephves make a (qualified) positive statement: N g d ~ mhsih &g heui. I m-k m-wan1 go 'It's nM that I don't wart to go.' A: Clp daahnpu
lkl sihk-hhnhsihk &k saai a? U cake p u eat-nofesf able all PRT 'Cam y m eal the whde cake?'
B. Ml-I,
,,&I,
not-be mt-have -Me PRT 'I wwkln'r say it's impossible.' Sirmlarty. the existential negative m6uh M o w e d by a negated verb g the meaning Aall'or 'every': R G u h ftlkm6uh rhh sfA
no
pmt
f911 parents
"ot
jih@
love self
i
gc jbi-hi p. POSS children PRT
Imp their children.'
M&h yhhn hh gA d7 $hngOngno one not want rarse more A t salary 'Eveayne wane a pay r k . ' DouMe negahves are widely used in modal oonshuEtions. for example to express obligation: mh h i mh d& e. I nM go not okay PRT 'I absolutely have t o go: N@I
~ e i h mh h4ylh h h t a g keuih gdng ga. you nc4 can not l i e n him speak PRT 'You ham m listen to him '
~
~
Quantifntion con~emsterns such m aU, meqwme. mryfiing and s m t e w M , which do nc4 refer to specific d$e& bur define c l a w s of objects. Quanfifiers in h g u a a generally have a syntax which is dishnct fmm that of ofher of speech, and C a m is no exceptirm here. The express~cmof quantihcation in Cantcmse d i e m substantially From Engliish There are n o wmds corrrspondinp, stra~@lfowardlyt o 'everything' w 'something'. fur example. and each o t h types d yuamificwioncalls for a d h n t srmcrure. To express unkerull q u a n t i h t i o n ('alllwegvtany') a quantifying expewon is used in conjunction with d& before the verb (14.1.1). T h e are astinct -&om comsporading approximately to the meanings ' dl'. 'eacNevery* d'my': h o h l c s g dih e u n g jdu. (14.1.2) 1111 wmt k m e 'Al the students want to go.'
Go-go
C L d student
Mm yaht &I haih @. (14.lA) each day a h is so 41's like this e m d a y . '
h o h k s h g aKm sik hem &kyii@n. which student all know go library 'Any s t d e n t kthe way to the lihraq.'
(14.1.5)
l o express exldenhal qumt~hmbcm(+some. none'), me existentiat verb ydrrk and its negative counterpart d u k are used (malso ch. 15):
Ydoh di *h misrk h h d h @ (142) have U thmg explain rot W-FRT PRT "Some t h m cannot ~ be explained.' h @hn b o q - w h . not-have person help-me-hand -PJaone is helping me.' W
(14.3)
Cornparkom w i n g quantififfs ('more' and 'W: 14.4) follow the mme pattern as comparison of ad+ves e.3).
--
14.1 UNIVERSAL QUANTIFICATION: 'ALL', 'EVERY' AND "EACH'
A wrietyofmeans are w d to exuniversal quantification. ing to English QII~my and pach. Quantifimhon in C h i n e ~ is d l m d in Lcc (19%). o throrctimt study of Modorin Hfin which Is largely applicsMe to Cantorwse dm. (Notethat Gnmnese ddu, bwever, may have the ~ n i n - ga W . cmmpnding to Mandarin yP. w z 103.2.)
Quantificatan 263 Similarly. y e s t i o m invdvmg quantifiers are formed with lun7mRaih (17.15) sather than a rlrnple A-not-A questim: Haihmhaih c h &ng Jauslk h=-not-he CGCL. all w& rrst 'Dws evqonc want a hreaW (nor T w g o d m s & r g d u n g -us11 a?)
a? PRT
Wh-mhaih 14.1 -1 SYNTAX OF
The adverb &,appearing immediately before the verb. is wed in neady an h s of universal quantiiicarirm, i.e. in expressing the meaninp 'a11'. heq' and 'each'. The mims mnshuctions w ~ l hddu have a similar sptax; in particular. quantified objects wrh d6u p r e d the verb (4.1, 8-2.3). W l e dbu imrneditely p o e d e s the verb. the qtiantified p h x may come in dther of hw positions:
In) betwen the wbjeFt and Ld: K ~ l h Ihril'S c h jtui ge. srhe CtU girl all pursue PRT 'He chases all the RirtS.' (b) preceding the subject. a s sentence tnpic: G a g I h i f i i k h i d6u jcui ge. CLCL pirl dk all pursue PRT 'He ham all the girk.' W h m b a h an auxiiiaty and a m m verb are m n t ,the quplnntifd p h m a d &u typically pecede the auxilraty N@h rnd h yiu jih&i mmgaih. 1 what all reed self buy 'I have to b!iy mrything mysplb' Ktuih jpk-jpk SBubm d6u d u n g maaih. she CLCL watch all wan1 h y 'He wanb to buy all the w a t k ' The negative word w e d in sentetms mth dm i s mlmik. which immediately plBCedes t k q u a n t i k l phrase: Mhaih go* d6u gam &khsahn p. nor-k CLCL all LO free PRT 'Notevet3pone has se much frre m e . (nor *Go-go &% mhaih gam dakhiahn) I h i I ~ l ~ d~ndrniln ~h Linngfi CLJ a 1 w. university nor-be who all accept PRT T h e univenity doesn't jmt m p t myone.'
douhaouh dOu y8t-yeuhng ga? Wt-be t h e t h e r e all OnPgame PRT '1s it the same everywhere?' ddu is also wed in the expresm MuRng L
U ] dGu"both"and slm~tBrlywWll
other numben:
LRuhng ga
dOu leng.
two CL. all niae "They're both n W KeuiMmil s-m
go W k u i . they thnx CL all go 'All three of ahem are going'
.
I d i h x haih . . & may express the meaniq 'way' or 'any' in colloquial v:
d h ji ga 11. people all kmnv PRT PRT
Haih film
k
'Eyeryme knows thm.' Haih y+hn
d6u wiiih ~ h n g d i i h q Wh ge. people all will sympathii you PRT "Anyone would syrnpthiee w ~ t hyou.
is
sPkng ?he wimle' is optionally accompanied by &u andlor the quantifyinp, verbal particle & (1 1.3.3): sehnp, gn
whole 'The &whole:
CL
gei
(h) Mau saai.
plane (all) plane is M I .'
full
V-PRT
Note that the presenceof d m requires an objea with &ng the verb. while m'alone does not:
to come heFore
~ ~ h d e i&hng h gaan uk d m chaak sad. we whde CL hwse all d e m l i i V-PRT
'We're k d n g the whole hcme down.'
--
N@h&ih
chaak
e h n g @an Ok. we drmdish V-MTT w h l e CL houm We're kraacking the w b l e house down.' Phrasa with &g
saai
may k used e d d y :
Keuih khrtg gu hrthjm j a u d i h hsahngpng+i. slhe whole CL afternoon around walkdore ' S k went arcund s b ~ p i n agll 3ftemmn.' Idiomatically, sPhng has the emphatic meaning 'all of: K h i h k h n g %?lawahps 4 dm% meih @-fin & whole t h i i years, ako not-yti rnarry 'She's an of thirty and d l 1 IWX mrned.' Ghng h h k dim jiing dOu meih N@h go ldtii CL daughter yrlwle six o'clock dm not-yet my finn nkkFi. return hnmc 'It was all of six o'clock and my daughter stin wasn't home.' Gl~ngvaht-always' i s an adverb which may oprion;llly be: reinforced by &u:
K h i h dhngyrrht (dm) chih dav Jhe
always
(all)
w-
late arrive PRT
We's always late.' Note that sPhngyhr is raed hyperbuliwlly, m Ihc nbwt- anmpk, and should n M be taken to mean iiterally 'every time*. c f i y h b o u h . . . dm 'the whole lot' is a mlloquial quantifier phd W;UI JGUU&I t l k q u b ~ i f ~particle l ~ l ~aaai (11.3.3):
fdb~rc6 ~ h r r - l m h n ~ m I musually g. reduced to Imkmba'Iaohng. b. used cdlquially to m a n 'atr or 'cwnpletely': Hahmhlaahng (dm) haih 11Bh p cho. completely (all) is your PRT fault 'It's all your fault.' Note that ddu can be omitted here, or replxed by the verbal parhcle m (11.3.3): DF yhhn hahmba'laahng CL people m p l e t e l y T h q y t e all gone.'
jhi
saai. leave Pl?T
di ch*hnbouh (&I) this U whnle-lot (all) 'All this m f f is Japanex.'
Ni
haih YahtWn fn Whga. is Japn goods PRT
Ng6h chflhnbouh (dm) yiu uai. I whulcckrl (nll) want all 9 want it all.' Idiom: IUrn
. . . dou 'even'
emphasizes a noun p h m or pmnoun:
h i Yih &u rhh M m h nMh. even p u a h nc4 give face me 'Not even yw lPsPfft me.'
Uhn jeujeui
d h o h k a n g d6u t1h3r that CL student alre not
@
li%
even mosl smart
daap. k m amwer 'Even the brightd studenf?:didnt know t k answer.' sik
sf c forher ~ sentence l y p s with ddu, objcms modified by IihnmlMprmxktheyerb: Nnte that
N&h guih dou fihn faah &u dhk rhh lohk. I tired unhl men food also eat not d m m 'Ihso tired 1 can't even eat+
'evetyone (here)" i s used espacially in plblrc contexts. addre* ing or referring to everynm present: Yuhgwd daaihg mnngyt if evelyorae a p ~ e e
ge
wah, nmhderh
the
fase
we
~auh then
kyutdihng gdm jouh. do
decide
so
If eve-
agree%well
deEide to do it this way.'
W j c h &&a &nu-deng. (radlo anmncemenr) thank everyme receirne-hear Thank you fm listening'
$ok wrii, Ilsinp, the polite classifier lvlri (6.2.4), i s a formal term to address everyone ptffent: F w h n g pbk wAi. w e i m e we^^ 'Ladies and pntlemen. w e l m e . '
E6 Centcnese: a mprshensive gammar 14.15 REWPUCATED QUANTIFIERS
A dasifier (6.2) may be reduplicated to express qummhcahon, with dm mming Mgre the verb as discllssed in 14.1.1. The noun K, which the dmifier refersmay beomitted where the context m k s in identiw dmr:
Go-go
(yhhn) dCiu &wng yiu d0 d rnhhnfi. CLCL ( p m n ) all want need more m e demorrncy ' E ~ e q m ewants a bit more demnrracy.' Mhaih jekkjek (WN) dGu Sng p. not-be CLCL (&share) dl rise PRT Wor all sham go up In prlct.'
Haih-mhaih yeuhngyeuhng aLrv &u sihk @? (at meal) all g c d eat FRT 'Is everythinp,good?'
(w
1 ~ ~ 1 - k
N d e -ally douh-d& dou 'ewqwhere' (do& being d as the clasdher for o r i n s mrch as Whfang'plxe'): his T ~
di
dnuh4ouh dm y6uh p lahave PRT PRT o find u these pmple everywhere.' yahn
CL pcoplc thcrcthere all
In a d d i h to classifiers. certain m m o n nouns have reduplimted fm, such as yRRn-@Im &M 'everyorae': Mhr~@hn
dtiu yiiggdr b6uwuh whhnging. slrould pmtfft environment 'Everyone should ptutect the envimnment.' person-person all
euh
Ng6h&ih Si-gwe (WJ rig@. we W E X P whatem have (LV e v j d e m 'Wr've a m all the evidence t h m is.' Ng6h daai mal s6 y h h (ge) jiIfu Wih. I bring all whatever have (Lq material rn 1 1 1 bri~~g all the m~uttrialswith m.'
Time dare reduplited to form adverbs with habitual meaning: $Lru haih g4m time-t~me all i s bo 'Ir'q l i k ~thiq p ~ p r y limp '
Chkhi
s. PRT
Llhn-Mm (chi) flub ni go mhntsih. Farye;lr (all) have this CL diem 'This pmblem arises every year.' K€uih yaht-gaM hetii yhuh&ui. she day-day gv wimmt~ ' S h e w swimmmg every day.' In cumpound m n s such asftsnmg 'minute' and mfuhjung Jemnd'.
. . . fhere are', and is wed in relatively fwmal m w n t e x t s as an emphatic ball'. If the: quantified phrase comes beFore the verb (as the ~ubjector topicalized object), i t must be m p a m e d by ddu: $6 flub (E) fihnmih d h tiihngyi. whatever have colleague all agree 'All our d h g u e s agree.' Ng6h s6 fluh (gc) fliu d h dasi sasi Ihih. I whatever have (LP) material all bring at1 m e Tll bring all the materials with me.' 56 y h h (ge) j~liu d w yiu daal saai bin. whatewr have (LP) material all d brlng all m e 'We need to brinp, all the materials with m.' If the quantified phrase is the object of the sentence, it may remain in its usual position after the verb, which msy take the guantifyine;w i d e swui 'Ibis phrase l i l l y mesns 'whatever
K€uih tou-lou (hei) aLru wuh mh6u @. (film critic) ma (film) all say n a - p d see PRT 'He pays every film is not wwth seeing.'
Ni
the firsl syllable is reduplicated, givinp, f i i m j n n g 'my mnment' and mluh-mfuh-jhg hny second': Fan-fin-lung &31Mdhhnp, bfi chaail6uh jnk d6u. mmuteminun all m n by q m catch V-PRT '(Tuu) mukl k caught by Mc cop a t any moment.' En-Wwjimg mi-yiu H h . (titk of a sonpJ minu*minute need ya~ 'I need you e v e q moment of the day.'
cmb
The w w d d i h 'mch' fiiractions like br-n relevant dasiiier and a m p a n i e d by d& Mulh go h o h m a n g yu each CL m d e n t all n e y 'Each student has to pay tuition fees.
'which', h i n g fdlawed by the I d w e the:verb: @au h o h k h . pay tuition
oxmmak269
b i w and m@h are used similarly wirh n w n s to m n 'any7:
Lkih mhih gmg &an
you
each CL
c h yiti dn-m. fom all nccd sign
dm h6yih *g p. you which cdleague a11 can i d PRT 'You can mnwte any d your dagues.' Leih mnpo tirhngsli
'You have to sign every form.' mfih m b i m with time exprasions to form adverbs of frequency such as mrirh yahr 'eachlevery day' (10.3.41. d h cht "evetyrime' s e w us a conjunctinn to mean %herever'. often W t h e r with the verbal particle ckn (1 1.3.4):
.~
NgM rnvb s i l k g. I what frph all eat PRT 4 eat any kind d M.'
(chin) nr Ng6hdeih mdih chi lsih gaan j5ul3tuh every time wme (PRV this CL restaurant we
The questbn words may have the indefinite meaninp, -any"in a n u m h of
mu h8i
(a) f o l l d by dm. m abme:
gddwh ch6h ge.
all at there sit PRT 'We sit there whenever we come to H i restatirant.'
Khih m w h
baatpw *h dFu yAuh-h~n@mi ge. stuff all have-interesr PRT 'He's interated in any kmd of p-mip.'
slht-
14d5 'ANY' The quantifier 'any' difkfersfmm 'acw and 'every' in tmplylng an elemenr o f c k : the sentence is tnw whichever ywi chocse. Ttns Ree clmice 'my' is clwely related to the megalive p o k i l y 'any', which o ~ r u r sin negative mtenoes (w13.4). the t w o t y p being expressed by similar means in hoth E n g l i i a d Cantcmse. Cantexpresses t h u oonoept using the appropriate question wmd hllnwed by dm:
bingo &u who all 'anpe'
what all 'anyrhing'
h*lh where
@isih dtiu when all
dm all
'allywhcre'
bin [a] dW which all kny'
mB*h
&
(Wng) how (manner) 'any way'
Bindovh n@h dUu hdym heui mywhere 1 all m m p 'I can go anywhere 1 like.'
gossip.
(b) in regatbe mlexts (13.4);
N@h d u h gbng m w h ak. I not-have say wbat FRT 'I hsvcn't said anyth~ng' (c) in condioral sentences (163):
Y f i h p 6 flub mbty5k mahnthih, E i h jikhlak wAn ,,gdtw. if h m e my problem you atonce seek me PRT 'Let me know W i g h t away ~fthere's any problem.' Lkih e m y a h t y l u h d t i h gin p u today have-not-have we
dliu
a11
Like d h e r &u-ph(14.1.1). these phrmes must precede the verb, whethcr thcy lurpction a s subjem or o w :
Ng6h bindouh c h Myii heui. 1 where all can go 'I mn go anywhere I like.'
whnL
Id) in A-rat-A questirms (17-1.2):
*any tim '
dfm
mntexls:
rnFiq&
what "Havep
chi
PRT
sSang h - y i h n a? onfarnilisrqmsm PRT i m n any stmngen today?
G h d e i h fongga
dih-fmh-wGih heui bindouh a7 go &re PRT 'Will yw be going anywhere in p u r vacation7 ym-PT.
t n k p - l ~ m will-tmt-will
Several a h e m a t k terms meaning any- exisr:
ydmh6h k a 1term for 'any'. As with other quanmkm, d6u is required when the , m m M p h m comes Wore the main verb: Yuhrnhbh flr w yhhn dou h q h sancnmg. any ore CL p e ~ o nall can apply 'Anyore may apply.'
Yahmh*
Yhh
'Ey
hare
nhng€i dtiu finghng. age all w l c m e age i s w e b e . '
y&h
mhaih
(CL.3 thing rwt
g&
t6h.
quite r i g 1
"Something's nnt qulte right.'
The adverbs sihdaahn 'at random' and ~ h b f '85 n y m please' are cdlquial alkrnatives to ~xpressthe choice 'any'. As adverbs, thqy m e &fore the verb: U i h sihdaahn 16 yfit go dUu minlh s6waih. you at-random take one CL all nor-have importance 'You can take any me, i t makes no difference.' Eih & i @an yat gihn. you as-you-please h a we CL ' C h o c ~any one you like-'
(m
(1.eferriq to clothing)
Simrlady, cMuiis111'at any h e ' : I i i h rhhlihdh PI Aiu dlk. you any-time leave all okay 'You can kave any time you like.' dlm & 'anyway' lypblly expresses resigmtiun or determination: Ng6hdeii dim d m yiu ylhdhn. wc how all reed migwte 'We have: m emigrate whatever happens.' KCuih dim t3%1 rRh hang k m g ng6h. dhe how all not willing help me 'She doesn't want to help me anywsy.' U i 1 1 Mi k&uiln kit jvdpk, EuJr dim d611 jni. you allow h i do leadstar she how an awgrt 'If yw give him the lead rde he'll agree to anything.'
ylrtfh mmhines with time and place wnrds te produoe indefinite adverb%
ylruh
m)A ' k m e s '
Y4uh (jahn) sih ng6hdeih l h h g giingpb dou d i h have (CL) time we rwo couple ailt will
aamau ge. PRT ?Eedmeamesw (as a mple~ mil argue: yduh dideilfdng or y6uh gP7 dmh (deih@igJ m
An alternative form of inMnite quantifimtion is a quewion wvrd faowing an expression d possibiliry s w h as h d d 3 r : '
Mi bindonh g i q w o Yih. seem at where see-EX?' you 'I seein to have sen p u mewhere before.' Hduchih
rAA~Wh&uh 'I rkm't knuw where' m y alw expres?an IndeRnheW i n !
Mhigwck Amrica
rlrh @ mdouh y h h nM know where have
@an gim C L such
ge
hohkhaauh. LP ~ h m l 'Sornewhsn in A&
there*^ 3 school like rhm:
Similady. rhh ji gPirlh 'I don't know when' might be wed to express 'mnerime':
Ni thrs
14.2 EXl$TENnAL QUANTIFICATION: 'SOME'
e places':
d e i h h g rlrh bti )9l\n sihk ym @. have some place not let people eat smoke PRT 'In some p l m they don? kt yw smoke.'
'IlM Bi
tluh tsihmuhk n@hc!eih CL t m we
h h ji nM know when
gh@. talk-EXP
'We've ~ w W thk tcqic Mynetime hie.'
1421 INDEFINITE 'SOME' Jndefmite or exiwentiat quanhfication ('some') is expresd by the exIwential word jiuh (we dr. IS):
Y h h (Bi) yhhn pk&k ni tou h& hbu dhi-tdi. have (CL) pwplc IGCI ~llaC L 5 1 ~w a~y ~ ~ertlk* 'Snme people feel tKis film is well urrrth seeing.' (i-e. yw get your money's wnTh)
1 4 2 2 NEGATIVE N"ONE.
NO ONE N W I N G "
Negative quantifiers are h e d with rhe reprive existential word dd~ (15.4): nduh ylllm 'm one' 8nd Muhy& 'nothing':
M6uh @hn mlhng(imnkk) ltih mat. nc4-have pmon understad you my what 'Nu cme udeelands what y w k talking abour.'
The~maybedified,forexample:h6udd'ald',gm&'somny/much', ~ "dddi
