Aspects of the Meixian Dialect of Hakka
±ö¿¤¸Üªº¯SÂI

Translation © Dylan Sung 2001

The Hakka language «È®a¸Ü is found in eight of China's provinces, GuangDong ¼sªF, GuangXi ¼s¦è, Fujian ºÖ«Ø, JiangXi ¦¿¦è, Hunan ´ò«n, SiChuan ¥|¤t, HaiNan ®ü«n and Taiwan »OÆW. There is a great deal of similarity between the Hakka dialects of each province, but each Hakka dialect also has its differences in the phonology, vocabulary and grammar.

When someone speaks of Hakka, they will often mean the Meixian dialect ±ö¿¤¸Ü. Usually Meixian dialect is considered the representative dialect. In the phonology, Meixian retains [m n N p t k] ending rhymes, two entering tones, and displays regular correspondences with ancient Chinese phonology. Below we take the phonology, vocabulary and grammar in a simple way to show the main points of Meixian Hakka.

1. Aspects of MeiXian Phonology

1.1 Initials

1. Ancient fully voiced initals ¥j¥þ¿BÁn¥À¦r, irrespective of level or oblique tones ¤£½×¥­¤·, that are obstruents ¶ë­µ or affricates ¶ëÀ¿­µ, are now pronounced as aspirated unvoiced initials °e®ð²M­µ. For example:

±C ¨Ã¥À p'o11 ¶¾ ©^¥À p'uN11 ®ç ©w¥À t'au11 ¸o ±q¥À ts'ui53 ®} ¨¸¥À ts'i11 Á ¨¸¥À ts'ia53 ¸z ¼á¥À ts'oN11 §É ±R¥À ts'oN11 ¹S ÁI¥À ts'u11 ¸¤ ¸s¥À k'iu44

Only a few other characters for example

«q ¨Ã¥À pan31 ²Â ¨Ã¥À pun53 Ä| ¨Ã¥À pin44 / pien44 À^ ±q¥À tsien53 ¼Y ¼á¥À tsui53 Ê\ ¸s¥À ki11

2. Ancient «D initial characters have both [f v] labiodental sounds ¾¦®B­µ and [p p' m] bilabials Âù®B­µ readings. For instance:

Ancient
Initial
Examples
«D¥À ¤Ò fu44 ¯» fun21 ­· fung44 ÒÈ pi53 ©ò pu21 ¸¡ puk1
¼Å¥À °Æ fi53 ªÍ fui53 ªâ fun44 Â× fung44 Ùá p'u21 ±· pung21
©^¥À °ü fu53 ©Ð fong11 ¦ò fut5 ªÎ p'i11 §ß p'u11 ¶¾ p'ung11
·L¥À ªZ vu44 ¥¼ vi53 ¸U van53 §À mi44 °A mun44 Äû mat1

Bilabial readings form a stratum of older readings, labiodentals initials were a later development. There are times when one character may have two readings, indicating a difference of use. For instance "µo" [pot11] and [fat11] both readings are listed below

[pot] [fat]
µo¯f pot1 p'iang53 µo»Ã fat1 kau53
µoÅö pot1 tien44 µo§N fat1 lang44
µo­·¸¨«B pot1 fuN4 lok5 i21 µo´Hµo¿N fat1 fon11 fat1 sau44
µo¤j¤ô pot1 t'ai535 sui21 µo¼ö®ð fat1 Niat5 hi53
µo©Ê pot1 siaN53 µoÄþ fat1 k'ian21
µo¤õ pot1 fo21 µo¤õ fat1 fo21
µo°] pot1 ts'oi11 µo°] fat1 ts'oi11

The final two need some explanation. Both µo¤õ and both µo°] are written exactly the same, but relies on the leading syllable to distinguish the exact meaning. The former µo°] is a 'pleasant' ¬üºÙ rendering, which some people would place °] with the illness radical ¯f.

3. Ancient ºë ¨£ ¾å initials are divided into ¦y¹Î composed of dental silibants (jianyin ¦y­µ) and alveolo-palatal affricates / fricatives (tuanyin ¹Î­µ). When there is a rhymes with -i- as a medial »ô¾¦©IÃý¥À, ancient ºë initial characters are now read [ts ts' s] initials, ancient ¨£¾å initial characters are now read [k k' h].

InitialExamples
ºë °s³¶ [ts] Áͺj [ts'] ­×·Q [s]
¨£ ¤E¸} [k] °ÏµÄ [k'] ¥ðÅT [h]
(¾å is unlisted... Dylan)

1.2 Rhymes

1. Ancient ³½¸· rhymes with ºë initials are now read [i], ancient ª¾³¹ initials characters are now read [u]; ²ø initial characters now read [i.]; ºN rhyme characters with ºë initials characters are also read [i.].

InitialExamples
ºë ®} ts'i11 ºü si53 °ù ts'i21 ½ì ts'i53 Ž si44
ª¾³¹ µN tsu21 °£ ts'u11 ¦í ts'u53 ®Ñ su44 ¾ð su53
²ø ªý tsi.21 ¾S ts'i.11 §U ts'i.53 ®Þ si.44 ½­ si.44
ºë ¯ª tsi.21 ²Ê ts'i.44 ¾L ts'i.53 Ĭ si.44 ¯À si.53

2. Ancient ÃÉÄá rhymes first division open syllable ¤@µ¥¶}¤f characters are now read [ai] or [oi], not restricted to any condition (labial initials like ¦ã®J characters not taken into account), but those characters read [ai]. and those characters read [oi], like other Hakka dialects (like Hakka dialects of Fujian YongDing ºÖ«Ø¥Ã©w and Sichuan ChengDu TanSi ¥|¤t¦¨³£¼æ¦x) are mostly the same.

âÊ tai44 «Ý«å¬pºA¤Ó®õ t'ai53 À¹±a tai53 ¤D nai44 ©`­@ nai53 ¿à lai53 ¨a®â tsai44 ®_¸ü tsai21 ¦A tsai53 ²q ts'ai44 ½²¦b ts'ai53 ±mªö¸B ts'ai21 ¤~§÷µô ts'ai11 «Ä hai11 ħ ai53 ­L t'oi44 »O­a©ï t'oi11 ¶U¥N³U t'oi53 ¨Ó loi11 ¸ü tsoi53 °] ts'oi11 ¦b ts'oi44 ¸|ÄÎ soi44 ÁÉ soi53 ¸Ó koi44 §ï koi21 »\¤¢ koi53 ¶} k'oi44 ³Í k'oi21 ·¢µ@´n k'oi53 §b Noi11 ê Noi53 ®ü hoi21 ®`¥è hoi53 «s oi44 ·R po53

Amongst them, ¦b has two readings [ts'oi44 ts'ai53], whose readings are not the same, in use they are close, but ¦b character is like "¬¡¬Ý" in speech, and must be used as a postfix, never as a prefix, that is : Ê\ÁÙ¦b (¥LÁÙ¬¡¬Ý he is still around) ki11 han11 ts'oi44.

3. Ancient ±ðÄá rhymes have literary and colloquial pronunciations. In the literary reading [@n en] there is a corresponding collqouial reading [aN], and where the literary [in] reading have colloquial corresponding reading [iaN]. For example

Literary Colloquial
µ{ ¤uµ{ ts'@n11 µ{ ©mµ{ ts'aN11
¦¨ ¦¨¥\ s@n11 ¦¨ ­ø¦¨ saN11
¥Í ¥Í¬¡ sen44 ¥Í ¥Í¦º saN44
ª§ ¤æª§ tsen44 ª§ ª§­¹ tsaN44
¥­ ©M¥­ p'in11 ¥­ ¥­¦a p'iaN11
©R ©R¥O min53 ©R ¦n©R miaN53

"±ð" character's literary and colloquial readings depend on the presence of [u] (open/close) and worth noting. ±ð ®Ü±ð literary [ken21], from ¼sÃý ¥j§ö¤Á which tallies. ±ð ¾ð±ð [kuaN21] from ¼sÃý ¥j²r¤Á.

1.3 Special points about Tones

Meixian dialect tones have some peculiarities. The six tones contain ping ¥­ and ru ¤J tones which have split into yin yang registers with repsect to voicing of a syllable's initial. For the other tones, please refer to the following table. The small characters represents a small number of characters. It will be discussed afterwards.

A
n
c
i
e
n
t

T
o
n
e
s

VoicingModern Tones
¥j-²M¿B ³±¥­ 44 ¶§¥­ 11 ¤WÁn 31 ¥hÁn 53 ³±¤J 1 ¶§¤J 5
¥­ ²M ¦h¶}¤T¦w      
¦¸¿B ®³¤ò°AŤ ¨Ó¤û¤H¾F     
¥þ¿B ¯hÂú¾m±T ¥Ýª¦¹Ï¥Ð     
¤W ²M ¿ö²Õ­ê¦ô   ®ü¨«°s¸J    
¦¸¿B °¨§À·x§f   «B¤­¨â¦Ñ    
¥þ¿B ªÀ¬W¸¤¦­     °ü³¡¬UµÇ   
¥h ²M    ¾Ú¸À¤ù¾Ë µæ°\¥h¼C   
¿B    §Ò°°´e³Ð ¸ô½æºÎ¶º   
¤J ²M      «æ³Î¤K¸`  
¦¸¿B      ¯ßÄû­h¦× ³Á¯Çþ¤ë
¥þ¿B       ²ß¦Þ·Æª½

1. Ancient ¥­ tone sonorants and fully voiced intial characters, have a few characters today that are read in ³±¥­ tone, with further investigation, we find that:

¼¯ mo44 Åo lo44 ®³ na44 ¤ò mau33 ´©´D ian44 Åì lin44 ŢŤ luN44 °A mun44 ¤_ª» i44 ¯h»p p'i44 ´ë k'i44 ®O¤¼ hi4 Âú²« ts'i.44 ¹£ si.44 ¾w©à Niam44 ÿ fan44 Õz kian4 ²ª hen44 ÄH kin44 ©ù NoN44

2. Ancient ¤W tone has many sonorant initial characters in the Yin Ping ³±¥­ tone. For example:

°¨ ½X º¿ ¿Â ma44 ·S Nia44 ¤] ³¥ ia44 ¨C ¬ü §À mi44 ùØ ti44 §A ¦¼ º¸ ni44 ¨½ ²z ÃU §f ¾T § li44 »y Ni44 ¤@ ¦Ð ¬ê »P ¨Å i44 ©i me44 §Ú No44 ¥À ©æ mu44 ªZ vu44 ¾| Ãr ³¿ lu44 ¦³ ¤Í ¨» iu44 ¶R mai44 ¤D ¥¤ nai44 Âç lui44 ²Ö lui44 ¥f¹g mau44 ´o nau44 «r Nau44 ¬Y¯a¨d meu44 ßv nam44 ¥T Niam44 ìõéo lim44 º¡ man44 »µ van44 Ãi lan44 ¬ã Nan44 ´D ian44 §K men44 ½ûÂ[ lien44 ·x non44 ³n Nion44 ¤¨¥Ã iun44 §Ô Niun44 ²rÁ¯ maN44 §N laN44 »â liaN44 ©¹ voN44 ¾iÄo ioN44 ¨â lioN44 ¤¾ iuN44

3. Ancient ¤W tone fully voiced ¥þ¿B initials have characters which now have Yin Ping tone readings. For example

ªÀ sa44 ¤U ha44 ³Q±A p'i44 ¹n ts'i.44 ¥¨©Ú¶ZÕN§Þ§² k'i44 §¤ ts'o44 ï p'u44 ¬W­R ts'u44 ¦Ý¸¤ k'iu44 §Ì t'ai44 ¯ç sai44 ¦b ts'oi44 ¯Eµq hau44 ½_ t'au44 ÅÀ p'iau44 ²H tam44 ©Õ p'an44 Ä| pin44 / pien44 Â_ t'on44 §ò hon44 ñà van44 «Ü¬½ hen44 ªñµß k'iun44 °F p'oN44 ¤W soN44 °Ê t'uN44 ­« ts'uN44

4. Ancient ¤J tone unvoiced initials are now YinRu tone, fully voiced initials are now Yang Ru characters, and there is no need for examples. However, for ancient sonorant initial syllable characters, some have become YinRu whilst some have become YangRu, which are now seen in the following:

Ancient sonorant initial Ru tones now read Yin Ru character include:

ÓÔ nap1 ÄáÆh®ºÄá Niap1 ²É²Á lep1 ½°Äû mat1 Äî lat1 °WÂìôX Niat1 ³V­¯ met1 °ì vet1 ¦H lot1 ·Ä nit1 ¤é Nit1 §z vut1 ¯ß mak1 ÃB Niak5 ½¤ºz¹õêp mok1 ¿Õ nok1 ­hºÄ Niok1 ÅD iok1 ¤ì¨N¥Ø muk1 ¸S¸L luk1 ¤»³° liuk1 ¦× Niuk1 ¨| iuk1

The Äá character as in "Äá¼v to photograph", has two readings with ancient initials ®Ñ and ¥¤ . Today, it is read with ¤é initial.

Ancient sonorant Ru tones now read with YangRu tone include:

¯Ç§o nap5 þÄúøN lap5 ·~ Niap5 ¸­­¶ iap5 ¥ß luo5 ¤J Nip5 ¥½ªj­[ mut5 »¶ lat5 ¤ë Niat5 ®®¾\¶V¤ê¸f iat5 ·ÀÀq±K»eÁN met5 ¦Cµõ«¨¨æ¬{ liet5 Ñ» lot5 °Î nit5 ®ß«ß¤O¾úÆE¦Ø°Ç²v·X lit5 ¶hÁl¥ç«³«Ù§Ð¬ÌĶ²GµÅ©ö it5 ³Á mak5 ¾ä lak5 °f Niak5 ²ö mok5 ¸¨¬¥¯Oµ¸¹TÀd¼Ö lok5 ¶kÆsÃE´j¸°À®©¨¼Ö¾µ Nok5 ²¤±° liok5 ®z Niok5 ­YÃįD iok5 ¥Øªª¿p·ü­` muk5 ³ÀÄSñF luk5 ºñ¿ýÂW liuk5 ¥Éº» Niuk5 ±ý¼¤°d¿È iuk5

¥Ø can be read with a YinRu and YangRu tone with each having a different usage, meaning ²´·ú (the eyes) when read with YinRu muk1, but ¥Ø¿ý (catalogue list) has a YangRu tone muk5.

5. ¨à postfix [-e] and its reading depend on the character preceeding it. Please refer to the table below.

# rhyme ending [-e] reading Character examples
1 m [-me] Åú¨à ts'am11 me ¹X¨à k'iam1 me
2 n [-ne] ¹¹¨à ten5355 ne ­·°±¨à fuN4435 t'in11 ne
3 N [-Ne] Â|¨à vuN535 Ne ¯f»´¨à p'iaN53 k'iaN4435 Ne
4 p [-pe] Àn¨à ap1 pe ¤ò´¡¨à mau4435 ts'ap11 pe
5 t [-te] ¨ê¨à sot1 te ¥Ýµ§¨à vo11 pit1 te
6 k [-e] ¿È¨à iuk5 e ÕÁ¨à kok1 e
7 i [-ie] ·Ë¨à hai4435 e ¨Ó¨à loi11 ie
8 u [-ve] «_¨à mai5355 e --¨à k'iau5355 ve
9 i. [-e] ®Þ¨à si.4435 e ª¯Ò~¨à keu21 ts'i.5355 e
10 a [-e/-ve] ¬[¨à ka5355 e ³Â¨à ma11 ve
11 e [-e/-ie] Âû¨à ke4435 e --¨à ke21 ie
12 o [-e/-ve] ¹u¨à hio4435 e ¥ÛÁ³¨à sak5 lo11 e

As the table shows, [-e] changes depending on the preceeding syllable ending.

If the preceeding syllable ends in rhyme

  • [m n N p], then [-e] becomes [me ne Ne and pe]
  • [k] [i.], then [e] becomes [e]
  • [t], then [-e] becomes [te], although in a small number of cases [le]
  • [i u], then [-e] becomes [ie ve]
  • [a o], then [-e] becomes [ie] or [ve]
  • [e], then [-e] becomes [ie]
  • 2. Special points in the Meixian dialect vocabulary can be summed the the following three sections:

    1. Meixian dialect personal pronouns ¤HºÙ¥Nµü, demonstratives «ü¥Ü¥Nµü, interrogatives ºÃ°Ý¥Nµü are of special interest, please refer to the table below.

    ±º Nai11 §A n11 Ê\ ki11
    I you he / she / it
    ±º¤B¤H Nai11 ten4435 Nin11 §A¤B¤H n11 ten4435 Nin11 Ê\¤B¤H ki11 ten4435 Nin11
    we you they
    ±º¨â¾« Nai11 lioN31 sa11 §A¨â¾« n11 lioN31 sa11 Ê\¨â¾« ki11 lioN31 sa11
    the two of us the two of you the two of them
    ±º­Ó Nai ke53 §A­Ó n11 ke53 Ê\­Ó ki11 ke53
    Na44 Nie44 kie44
    Na4435 ke53 Nie4435 ke53 kie4435 ke53
    mine your('s) their('s)
    ³o­Ó e31 ke53 ¨º­Ó ke5344 ke53 ­þ­Ó Nai5355 ke53
    ke31 ke53
    this that which
    ³o°Â e31 teu44 ¨º°Â ke53 teu44 ­þ°Â Nai53 teu44
    ke31 teu44
    these those which
    ³o¨à e31 -e ¨º¨à ke5355 -ie ­þ¨à Nai5355 -ie
    ke31 -e
    here there where
    Ñ¡¨à an31 -ne ¨ºÑ¡¨à ke5355 an31 -ne ¼Ë¨à NioN5355 -Ne
    like this / this way like that / that way how
    ¯ß­Ó mak11 ke53 ¼Ë¯ë NioN53 pan44 ´X¦h ki31 to44
    what how to do how many / how much

    (±º should be person radical instead of hand radical, and Ñ¡ was not in the original.)

    In the table, some items have alternative pronunciations, for instance ³o¨à e31/ke31 -e indicates [e31 -e] and [ke31 -e] readings. ³o, ¨º, ­þ, and ¼Ë characters in "³o­Ó, ¨º­Ó, ­þ­Ó, and ¼Ë¯ë" have assigned readings; °Â and ¯ß in ³o°Â and ¯ß­Ó, respectively, are homophone characters.

    "±º­Ó" means "§Úªº my", altogether, there are three readings. As in "§Úªº®Ñ my book" can be pronounced [Nai11 ke53 su44], [Na44 su44], [Na4435 ke53 su44]. When one wants to say "®Ñ¬O§Úªº the book is mine" it can be pronounced [su4453 he5355 Nai11 ke53], [su4435 he53 Na4435 ke53], but it is not possible to say [su44 he53 Na44]. Also, "§A­Ó", "Ê\­Ó" in speech is used in a similar fashion to that of "±º­Ó".

    2. Meixian dialect's "­Ó" apart from being used as a classifier or measure word ¶qµü, maybe used in the same way that (Mandarin) Beijing dialect ¥_¨Ê¸Ü uses "ªº". For example: ¤j­Ó, ²Ó­Ó, ªÎ­Ó, ½G­Ó, ¬õ­Ó, ¥Õ­Ó, ¶R­Ó, ­¹­Ó, ±º­Ó, §A­Ó, °µ¤u­Ó, °µ¥Í·N­Ó, ... , etc.

    3. Meixian dialect is spoken by overseas Chinese and when those settled abroad return to their ancestral villages, they also bring home words that have entered the vocabulary of Hakka from these other countries after living there for a long while. For example "ô³â¦è" ke5355 la11 si44 (to wear or tie a tie ¥´»â±a, in Indonesian it is »â±a is "dasi"), ­¹Ã¹«Ò s@t5 lo11 ti53 (each biscuits or eat bread, Indonesian call biscuits and bread "roti"), µuÖ³¨à ton31 kat5 -e (©ä§ú walking stick in Indonisian is "tong kat").

    3.Mexian Grammar can be discussed by looking at three main points:

    1. MeiXian dialect "¨à" [-e] postfix can follow a preceeding component as summarised in the following seven cases:

    A. "Noun + ¨à" ¨à [-e] is used similarly to Beijing dialect use of ¨à {er} as a postfix to nouns. For example:

    ®ç¨à [t'au11 -ve] peach
    Ë»¨à [ts'@t5 -te] nephew, neice
    ¤M¨à [tau4435 -ve] knife
    ¹¹¨à [ten5355 -ne] chair, stool

    B. "Noun + ¨{/°Â + ¨à" ¨à [-e] is used similarly to Beijing dialect use of ùØ {li} = inside, and "¨{ °Â" in speech is optional. For example:

    ¶m¨à [hioN4435 -Ne] in the village
    ¶m¨{¨à [hioN4435 tu31 -ve] in the village

    «°¨à¤H [saN11 -Ne3 Nin11] people in the town
    «°¨{¨à¤H [saN11 tu31 -ve Nin11] people in the town

    ¤ô°Â¨à [sui31 teu4435 -ve] in the water

    ¤â°Â¨à [su31 teu4435 -ve] in one's hand

    C. "Verb + ¨à" There are two uses. Then first occurs when [-e] is added to a verb to form a noun; the second occurs when [-e] is added to a verb, which for the most part is like Beijing dialect placing ¤F {le} after a verb, at which place the reading '¤F' is used. For example

    §¨¨à [kap1 -pe] forceps
    §S¨à [p'au1 -ve] wood-plane
    Æw¨à [ts'ok5 -e] chisel

    ¥h¨à [hi5355 -ie] gone
    ¼g¨à [sia31 -e] written
    刬 [tson31 loi11 -ie] returned, came back

    D. "Noun + Verb + ¨à" to form a noun. For example:

    ¿O¸n¨à [ten4435 tsau5355 -ve] lamp shade
    µ§®M¨à [pit1 t'au5355 -ve] pen set
    ¦Õª¦¨à [n31 p'a11 -ve] ear pick

    E. "Verb + Noun + ¨à" has two forms, and used differently. (I) "Verb + (Noun + ¨à)", creates a Verb-Object construct ³y¦¨°Ê»«µ²ºc. (II) "(Verb + Noun) + ¨à" forms a Verb-Object contruct plus ¤F, indicating the action has been completed, this ¨à is often written as ¤F. For instance:

    I

    II

    F. "Verb + µ¥ + ¨à" indicates that an action is currently ongoing, for the most part it is similar to Beijing dialect addition of µÛ to verbs, which must be followed immediately by an object »«»y. For example:

    ­¹µ¥¨à¶º [s@t5 ten31 -ne fan53] is eating a meal
    ¬Ýµ¥¨à®Ñ [k'on5355 ten31 -ne su44] is reading a book

    Meixian "µ¥¨à" can also be prounced "Ëm¦a" t'aN5355 t'i53, this is not usually written down, so we guess "Ëm¦a" is the spelling. ­¹µ¥¨à¶º would then be ­¹Ëm¦a¶º s@t5 t'aN5355 t'i53 fan53. Ëm¦a t'aN5355 t'i53 is used in Meixian speech , but it rarely seen in other dialects.

    G. "³æ­µ§Î®eµü­«Å| Monosyllabic adjective overlap + ¨à" used to form the predicate ¿×»y and adverbial (-modifier) ª¬»y. Examples regarding in the formation of the predicate:

    ­±¬õ¬õ¨à [mien5355 fuN11 fung11 -Ne] rosy cheeked, red faced
    ¸­¨à¹à¹à¨à [iap5 -pe nun5355 nun5355 -ne] the leaf was soft and tender

    Examples regarding in the formation of the adverbial:

    ºCºC¨à¦æ [man5355 man5355 -ne haN11] walk slowly
    ©w©w¨à·Q [t'in5355 t'in5355 -ne sioN31] thought purposefully

    2. Meixan dialect clause with ¦³ characters in, '¦³' can be used in verbs or verb-object constructs as a prefix, and also may appear after a verb or within a verb-object construct, an equivalent designation of "¤w¦¨ has completed". For example:

    A.
    ±º¦³¼g«H¤ÀÊ\.
    [Nai44 iu44 sia31 sin53 pin44 ki11]
    I have written a letter to him.

    Ê\¦³¨Ó¹q¸Ü.
    [ki11 iu44 loi11 tien5355 fa53]
    I have been telephoned.

    §A¦³¸ÜÊ\ª¾µL?
    [n11 iu11 fa53 ki11 ti44 mo11]
    Have you let him know yet?

    B.

    ±º¼g¦³«H¤ÀÊ\.
    [Nai11 sia31 iu44 sin53 pin44 ki11]
    I wrote him a letter.

    Ê\¶R¦³¤ì¥Ê¤F.
    [ki11 mai44 iu44 muk1 ka4435 -e]
    I bought the guava.

    §A°µ¦³­m¿ÇµL?
    [n11 tso53 iu44 sam4435 fu53 mo11]
    Have you made some clothes yet?

    3. Mexian dialect comparatives ¤ñ¸û»y can be summed in three points:

    A. Using "¤ñ" and "¹L" to indicate comparison. For example:

    ±º¤ñÊ\¹L·|­¹.
    [Nai11 pi31 n11 kuo53 voi5355 sit5]
    I, compared to you, am better at eating.

    §¤¨ì¤F­¹¤ñ¸ûÕN¨ì¤F­¹¹L¦n.
    [tso44 tau5355 -e sit5 pi31 kau31 k'i44 tau5355 -e sit5 kuo53 hau31]
    Sitting down to eat is better than standing to eat.

    ±º­Ó«ÎµL¤ñ§A­Ó«Î¹L¦n.
    [Nai11 ke53 vuk1 mo11 pi31 n11 vuk1 kuo53 hau31]
    My house is not as fine your house.

    B. Using "¹L" to indicate conparison. For example:

    ¤G©f°ª¹L¤j©f.
    [ni5355 moi53 kau4435 kuo5355 t'ai5355 moi53]
    Second sister is taller than eldest sister.

    ±º¦æ¸ô§Ö¹L§A.
    [Nai11 haN11 lu5355 kuai53 kuo5355 n11]
    I am walking this road faster than you.

    §AªÎ¹LÊ\¦n¦h.
    [n11 p'ui11 kuo5355 ki11 hau31 to44]
    You are a lot fatter than he is.

    C. Using "·í [toN53] ... ­ø±o" or "·í±o ... ¨ì" to indicate comparison. For example:

    ¦Ñ¤ý°µ¨Æ·íªü±j­ø±o.
    [lau31 voN11 tso5355 su5355 toN5355 a44 k'ioN11 m11 tet1]
    Old Vong's working habits does not surpass A Kiong.

    §A·íÊ\¤@¥b­ø±o.
    [n11 toN5355 ki11 it1 pan5355 m44 tet1]
    You aren't half of what he is.

    ±º­Ó¥»¨Æ­þ¨à·í§A¨ì?
    [Nai11 ke53 pun31 su53 nai5355 toN5355 n11 tau31]
    My ability cannot compare to yours.


    Notes

    This original in Chinese traditional characters can be found on pages 16 - 22 from ±ö¿¤¤è­µµü¨å Meixian Dialect Dictionary edited by §õºa Li Rong and ¶À³·­s Huang XueZhen, 1995, ¦¿Ä¬±Ð¨|¥Xª©ªÀ JiangSu Educational Publishers.

    I've kept as much of the linguistic terms in as possible, but as I am self taught in Chinese, my translation may be a little laboured at times. Some background in phonology is required and also traditional Chinese philology especially the She rhymes and initials.

    In syllables with tone sandhi, they are given with four numbers, for example; ¼Ë¨à NioN5355 -Ne, the first syllable has four numbers after it. The first two numbers represent the original tone, whilst the latter represents the tone after sandhi, in effect, the tone can be though of as the first and last digits of the four digit tone contour. The following syllable is not given a tone, and can be thought of as being unstressed.

    The piece neglects to explain why there are ancient Qu syllable characters in modern Shang Sheng in Meixian. In other sources, it merely states that for the most part, modern Qu tone characters retain their correspondence with the ancient Qu tones. I will need to have a look at this.


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    © Dylan W.H. Sung

    This page was created on Saturday 18th August 2001.
    It was recently updated on Wednesday 22nd August 2001.